Never Never

by Colleen Hoover

It’s by far the nicest one on the street, but only because the yard was recently mowed and the paint on the window frames isn’t peeling off in chunks.

I can’t tell if I’m going back to her because I feel protective over her or possessive of her.

“My sister hates me. I live in a dump. My mom’s an alcoholic. My father is in prison. I cheat on you.” She looks at me. “Why the hell are you even dating me?”

“Well, according to Ezra, I’ve loved you since before I could walk. I guess that’s hard to let go of.”

“You must have some fierce loyalty, because I’m even beginning to hate me.”

bag of Doritos in her hand. “Is that what you ate for dinner?”

“Fourteen-year-old girls can’t eat chips for dinner,”

want to ask if she’ll come with me, but it was exhausting just to get her to come to dinner. Another time, I think.

“It’s strange how money seems to silence a neighborhood,” I say quietly. “On my street, where no one has money, it’s so loud. Sirens blaring, people shouting, car doors slamming, stereos thumping. There’s always someone, somewhere, making noise.”

And now he’s made it his personal mission to make me love him again.

Vulnerability makes her feel weak, so she’s pretending to be tougher than she really is.

that’s what you love about me. You love how much I love you. Because yes. I love you way too much. More than anyone deserves to be loved. But I can’t help it.

But like Daddy said, as long as I’m meaner than they are, they can’t touch me. I’ll just beat them down until they leave me alone.

Somehow, you’ve always seemed to know what’s going on in my head before I even do,

says. You’re allowed to be happy.

Please stop caring about what other people think.

A love we couldn’t stop if we tried. A love that got us through some of the hardest moments of our lives.

never get a tattoo in honor of someone you’re in a relationship with, and I know we’re only sixteen, but I just don’t see anything ever happening in this life that could make me not want you all over my skin.

I’ll never love anyone like I love you.

I’m so scared that something will happen and it will change the fact that you’re my best friend. We both know there are a lot of people who call themselves your friends and then don’t act like it, but you’ve never been that way.

“Don’t show people all of your cards,

“So what you’re suggesting is...we were soul mates. But then external influences ruined us as people and we fell out of love?”

Because he’s crazy. That’s why I love him.

“Trust your gut. Not your heart, because it’s a people pleaser, and not your brain, because it relies too heavily on logic.”

“We can’t take back who we’ve been in the past, Charlie. But we can control who we are in the present.”