Accepting help is its own kind of strength.

You deserved to be loved. And I hope you get to marry for love and not a number.

The Angeles air was quiet, and for a while I laid still, listening to the sound of Maxon breathing.

My shoes I got to pick. I chose worn-out red flats. I figured I should make it clear from the start that I wasn’t princess material.

If this were a simpler matter, I'd have eliminated everyone else by now. I know how I feel about you. Maybe it's impulsive of me to think I could be so sure, but I'm certain I would be happy with you.

I felt the little beads of sweat pooling on my temple. Sit here and look nice...I could do that. But answer questions? I knew I wasn't going to win this little game; that wasn't the issue. I just really, really didn't want to look like a moron in front of the entire country.

I wanted to be his dear, his darling.