By Nikolay Zharov

“What are you doing sneaking into my backyard in the middle of the night, stealing my roses?”

Oh, fuck.

I’d completely forgotten about the flowers. Now, I feel them plastered to my rapidly breathing chest, my fingers wrapped around the stems in a death-grip.

I tuck my hair behind my ears with my free hand and explain, “I only took the dying ones. Not the good ones.”

Mr. Edwards throws them a distracted glance like he couldn’t care less about the flowers. “Yeah? Why not the good ones?”

At his question, I lower my eyes to them. I finger the yellowed edges lightly. Some of the petals are so loosened and dry that a puff of air could make them fall apart.

Poor babies.

“Because no one else wants the bad ones,” I say.

“And you do.”

I look up. “Yes. I always want the bad ones.”

Bad things. Bad roses. Bad crushes.

His frown gets even deeper. I almost wonder if he’s doing himself a permanent injury by frowning this much. “Why’s that?”

“Because everyone wants something pretty. Something that’s fresh and beautiful. Something that’s perfect. But then, what about the things that are imperfect? Things that might not be as pretty or as conventional. Things that might be weird, outdated or outcast? They’re not in much demand, are they? They’re not wanted. But I do. I want them. So they don’t feel rejected.”

Dreams of 18 by Saffron A. Kent

MICHELE MORRONE 365 Days (2020)

“Because if you’re going to love me, I need you to love me with every single fiber of your being,” My head swivels and looks back on her. “I want someone’s full and unyielding attention. I want someone to look at me and only me. That way I know that person will never leave me.”

“That’s not love, Lyra. That’s an obsession. Love is forgiving and always evolving. There’s room to grow and change where there’s love. But with obsession, it can only go one way. Obsession will consume you in a way that you can’t come back from.”

“Then I want obsession.”

Into The Dark by Dana Isaly

(Art by Polina Gajewsky)

“She laughed a little at that, trying to lighten the mood. What she didn’t realize was that in that moment, staring into her moonlit eyes, I was having an epiphany.”

Love, Whiskey by Kandi Steiner

#actual edgy and cool people vs me trying to be edgy and cool

JENNIFER’S BODY (2009) THE COUPLES QUIZ (2021)

“There’s only one thing in this world that turns me on. And I love her in lace.”

This Man by Jodi Ellen Malpas

“I didn’t see the funny, complex, tortured guy I wanted so badly to fix. All I saw was a broken prince with pleading eyes who was on the verge of tears. Man tears. Not angry or exasperated or annoyed. But real and sad and deep.”

Midnight Blue by L.J. Shen

November 9 by Colleen Hoover

“I don’t know. I honestly don’t know, and that’s why I hate this life. I. Don’t. Know.”

The Enigma by Jodi Ellen Malpas

November 9 by Colleen Hoover