Better Than Fiction

by Alexa Martin

Whereas books have never been my favorite, music has been a dependable confidant for as long as I can remember. There’s just something about concerts, the music overpowering any thoughts you might have had and the bass vibrating throughout your body. It forces you to live in the moment and feel.

I first saw Red Autumn on a whim. They’re a group of four women—two sisters, and the other two are friends they made while gigging around Colorado. I don’t know how they categorize their music, but they’re like if your favorite pop girls decided to go alt rock, with a hint of folk.

Hiam?

I can’t imagine having to show up to work each day in pantyhose and a blazer. Talk about hell on earth.

Agreed.

I’m in charge at the Book Nook, but it still doesn’t feel like it’s mine. Every day I walk into the store, I do so trying to preserve the vision Gran had for the space. I need to make sure it evolves, but in a way I know she would be proud of.

Friends are overrated. There really is something to be said about living that recluse life.

I was worried about offending you because there’s a one hundred percent chance I’ll call him an asshole in front of you at some point. I thought a little distance would be better than fighting over him.” “Oh my god. I think Dad is an asshole too! You should hear my sessions with my therapist.”

I almost bought a notebook at Target the other day and started journaling.

Because Elsie has been with Brandon for what feels like centuries, she missed the hell that is dating apps and the casual hookups of adulthood. She’s been trying to live vicariously through me for years; it’s just that—unfortunately for both of us—my dating life sucks.

One of the things I love most about Elsie is that she’s the total optimist to my pessimist. She can find the best in any person she meets, even the totally shit ones. She’s the first person I turn to when I have a problem because her brilliant mind—literal rocket-science smart—can attack any problem with logic and reasoning, but in the next breath she can point out all the bright spots and how I can overcome whatever challenge is plaguing me.

Also, the flower crown was still top-notch.

I know I’m not a relationship expert or anything, but there’s no way this is a sustainable feeling. It has to fade away at some point.

“Death by licorice isn’t one I’ve seen before; it should lead to an interesting obituary.”

Do I know anything that can come in handy and help me turn my business into a cash cow? Absolutely not. But I do know random facts about licorice, and who is to say which is greater?

I’m convinced the only reason Elsie’s kids like me is because I give them their birthday presents weeks before their actual birthdays and then buy more so they have something to open on the day from me. Elsie calls it the parade of presents, but hey! Gotta win them over somehow.

I am my father’s daughter and I’m def not that good of a person.

What in the Keanu Reeves hell is going on here?

While I wouldn’t wish having a dad like Andrew Young on my worst enemy, there’s an understanding that comes from people who’ve also had to deal with the emotional torment of a manipulative parent. A sort of kinship that allows you to feel seen and less alone.

I love Elsie to the moon and back, but the last time I went on a double date with her, she scared the guy away before dessert arrived.

She’s somehow convinced herself that her method of rapid-firing questions at people makes them feel comfortable and not like they’re under investigation.

“Not to get all Mother Earth on you, but it’s so important that we start protecting the planet we’re on. But I think in order for it to happen, people have to actually connect with the world around them. It’s why I love nature photography so much.

Cue after school special music.

There’s something that grounds you when you’re entrenched in nature. I don’t think humans were designed to never experience fresh air and stillness.

Add in the constant rise in the cost of living but never increasing pay? We’ve forgotten about work-life balance because we’re all killing ourselves to survive.

*more after school special music*

I’ve released the anger and disappointment I felt as a young girl and enjoyed the stories for what they are: an opportunity to relax and allow my mind to wander. When I get lost in these books, life feels a little bit lighter, as if there are endless opportunities for me.

What I love about photography is that while I take the pictures, everyone who looks at them sees something different. They create their own stories.

Some people are meant for happy, while others are meant to merely exist.

That's Dramatic.

“Wait.” I take a step away from them, a sense of betrayal I didn’t know possible seeping through me. “You all knew?”

Duh

She didn’t want you to have the Book Nook to continue her legacy—you were her legacy. She wanted you to have the store in order to take care of yourself so you could live out your dreams like she lived out hers.

When I went over to her house the other night, Brandon told me she ate an entire pint of ice cream after I told her things were over between me and Jasper.

Get a life. Geez.

Maybe I could forgive him now that I’ve cooled off, but he has to apologize first.”

Nope.

This could go wrong in so many ways, and according to my history as a human on this Earth for the last twenty-eight years, the odds are stacked against me.

You do tequila shots and end up singing Tina Turner songs on the bar one time and you’re judged forever.

“And I forgot everything other than I wanted to get to know you. Other than . . . I wanted to be your hero.”