Giovanna

“She thought I feared something new. She didn’t know I feared something I didn’t want, had never wanted, and might never want.”
― AdriAnne Strickland, Beyond the Black Door

“I told myself again that I wanted this, but I couldn’t silence the rising scream inside of me. The no. I’d long thought Ciari was beautiful, and I even had the urge to be near her, but as soon as she’d started kissing me, as soon as I started even imagining going beyond kissing with her, I lost interest. More than that: I wanted to run the other way.”
― AdriAnne Strickland, Beyond the Black Door

“Perhaps romance isn’t for me.” I tried to make my tone light, but instead it came out bright and brittle. Shame washed over me in a sudden flood. I tried to pull away from him, but his hands shifted around my waist and held me still. “Kamai, stop. I don’t mind at all how you feel. It’s … interesting, honestly.” He sounded almost surprised, and that utterly surprised me—until doubt came raging in with my shame. “Yes, interesting. Like I’m some freak of nature. I’m all wrong. I don’t feel things like … like…” Normal people. “You’re more like me.”
― A.M. Strickland, Beyond the Black Door

“Love is the quality of attention we pay to things.”
― Pamela Anderson, Love, Pamela: A Memoir