Shelby

“But some natives--most natives in the world--cannot go anywhere. They are too poor. They are too poor to go anywhere. They are too poor to escape the reality of their lives; and they are too poor to live properly in the place where they live, which is the very place you, the tourist, want to go--so when the natives see you, the tourist, they envy you, they envy your ability to leave your own banality and boredom, they enjoy your ability to turn their own banality and boredom into a source of pleasure for yourself.”
― Jamaica Kincaid, A Small Place

“She smiles so rarely that each one—the genuine ones that light up her entire being—feels like a gift. Like something private she has only reserved for me.”
― Adiba Jaigirdar, Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating

“I stop myself from apologizing-because what would I even be sorry for? Existing too loud?”
― Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, Ace of Spades

“Sometimes I think that maybe I like guys more as a concept than a reality. And girls more as a reality than a concept.”
― Adiba Jaigirdar, Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating