Zella

“Being sixteen is officially the worst thing I've ever been.”
― Jillian Tamaki, Skim

“Tickle me, stroke me, feed me, fuck me,
Overload my senses-- hug me, drug me.
It's hard, you see, to consider what's more,
When we hate to think and love the gin.
But until this pleasure dies, I will never live--
There has to be more to life than this.”
― Karl Kristian Flores, Can I Tell You Something?

“As the orchestra lifted into "Darling Nikki," I took small breaths to keep tears from coming. I had not expected this --to feel the close of a chapter. The girlhood of my life over now.”
― Jacqueline Woodson, Red at the Bone

“When boys called our names, we said 'Don't even say my name. Don't even put it in your mouth.' When they said, 'You ugly anyway,' we knew they were lying. When they hollered, 'Conceited!' we said, 'No- convinced!' We watched them dip-walk away, too young to know how to respond. The four of us together wasn't something they understood. They understood girls alone, folding their arms across their breasts, praying for invisibility.”
― Jacqueline Woodson, Another Brooklyn