The Upside of Falling

Read to me.”

“Why?”

“Because you go somewhere else when you read. I want to go there with you.”

And with all the downsides of love, you managed to show me the upside,”

It’s not our fault for not giving them a reason to stay. It’s their fault for not finding one.

“Is this, like, some act for drama class?” Jenny continued.

“It’s not an act,”

What was wrong with not having someone’s hand to hold and whatever else couples do? Why couldn’t a seventeen-year-old just be on her own and everyone be okay with that? Without expecting her to fall in love at any given moment?

Books are one thing. But real feelings are different. It’s not the same.”

Love was destructive, dangerous. It was safer on pages, and these books were enough of an experience for me.

remembering wasn’t always a good thing

I’m guessing you want to be the prince?”

“Only if you’re the princess.”

I knew a lot about love. I knew there were two kinds: 1) real love and 2) fictional love. The real kind was what I thought my parents had, pre-divorce. The fictional kind was what I’d preferred since.