Antonella Purpura

“At home, in Russia, when I’m little kid—no father, Mama work always, home late, always. So, after school, I’m go, uh, house by house?”
“Next door?” Eli supplies faintly.
“Yes. After school, I’m go next door. Two men live next door. Old men. Funny. They listen to the radio and yell. Not angry yell, just—loud. Happy. They take good care for me and always have food for me and little things for play— toys…” He says a word in Russian, shrugs, and moves on. “They help with school. Help buy hockey gear. Good men. People say they’re…family, but not brothers?”
“Cousins?”
“Yes, cousins. But they’re not cousins. I’m see, sometimes, they hold hands in the house, on the couch— where no window. Touch hip. Touch neck. Soft. Like normal thing. Sleep in the same room. I’m not see kiss, ever, but I know what love looks like when it have to be secret.”
Eli feels like he might cry.”
― E.L. Massey, Like Real People Do

“emotional intelligence of a dial-up modem.”
― Jax Calder, The Revenge Game

“To the ones who would kiss the villain… but only in fiction”
― Rina Kent, Kiss the Villain

“I thought of a million ways to move out of the country with no notice.”
― Katie Holt, Not in My Book