Jo

“Life is very hard. The only people who really live are those who are harder than life itself.”
― Nawal El Saadawi, Woman at Point Zero

“I hesitate, hand on my seat belt buckle. I know I need to get going somewhere,
but—well, what’s the harm in scoping the area out? Making sure it’s as safe as Remy
seems to think it is?
“All right, Remy,” I say, opening the door.
“Remy,” he shoots back. “Jesus, you can’t even remember my name? The sewers
weren’t kind to you, were they?”
“Wait—what?” I ask, shutting the door, locking it. No one’s taking my Lucy.
He just looks exasperated, which just makes me confused.
“You called me Ruby,” Remy said, indignantly.
I stare at him. There’s a flutter of something wild, panicked in my chest I don’t understand and I don’t particularly want to examine. I’m tired and when I’m tired my tongue gets lazy. “Sorry. Tired. Idiot.”
― Alexandra Bracken, The Rising Dark: A Darkest Minds Collection

“It’s been so long since anything really went my way that I can’t really remember what “easy” feels like anymore—maybe like breathing without inhaling the ash of the world burning around you”
― Alexandra Bracken, The Rising Dark: A Darkest Minds Collection

“Ayden and Blake stared each other down.
"Oh. My. God," Luna blurted from Ayden's back seat. "It's a love triangle."
We all looked at her like she'd sprouted an alien from her head. "it's just like in a book. Two guys after one girl and-"
I groaned. "That's ridiculous, Luna, this is not a love triangle."
"Says the girl in the middle of a love triangle. Luna ignored my protests and prattled on. "Not one Hexy Boy but two. I've got to call Danica. Oooo," she squealed and clapped her hands,"We could have teams. Team Ayden and Team Blake. With T-shirt and buttons and-"
"I could make a website," Lucian offered.
"No!" My voice pitched with panic. "No teams. No shirts. No-"
"I'll get you some headshots," Blake said, turning his profile towards Luna and Lucian. "I've been told the left is my best side. What do you think?"
"Aurora's right," Ayden said. "This is buts. Blake you can follow us-"
"Dude, you know no one would pick Team Ayden. You're just jealous."
"That's not true. My team would be way bigger than yours."
"Dare to dream, little man, dare to dream."
"Care to make a wager on it?"
"Absolutely."
"Fine. How about-"
"You two shut up!" I shoved myself out of the car.”
― A&E Kirk, Demons at Deadnight