Yerba buena

by Nina LaCour

Emilie knew that things could be good—beautiful, even—and then, without warning, they could be over.

She knew how this worked, had been through it before. Someone she loved would leave her. Her job was to stay quiet and still and out of the way. To wait, to not need anything, to trust they’d come back.

“I try so hard to be good. To be easy. To not be a mess. But maybe it’ll be okay with you if I’m messy. If I fuck up and do the wrong things.