Uh-uh, dude. I tried it your way with the dating and the girls and the kissing and the drama, and man, I didn't like it. Plus, my best friend is a walking cautionary tale of what happens to you when romantic relationships don't involve marriage. Like you always say, kafir, everything ends in breakup, divorce, or death. I want to narrow my misery options to divorce or death - that's all.

Before any of it could make sense, it had to be heard.

In the ensuing silence, I have time to contemplate the word cute— how dismissive it is, how it’s the equivalent of calling someone little, how it makes a person into a baby, how the word is a neon sign burning through the dark reading, “Feel Bad About Yourself.

I figured something out. The future is unpredictable.

I feel like, like, how you matter is defined by the things that matter to you. You matter as much as the things that matter to you.

I don't know why boys expect us to like boy movies. We don't expect them to like girl movies.

She had the kind of eyes that predisposed you to supporting her every endeavor.