Vanessa

“Quoi qu'il en soit, je suis fatiguée d'attendre que le bonheur me tombe dessus comme par magie.
Désormais, je compte bien courir après lui jusqu'à en perdre haleine, chute après chute, et ne jamais lâcher prise.
Car je suis maîtresse de ma propre destinée.”
― Morgane Moncomble, Falling Again

“She was never going to get used to the fact that professors were real people and had first names—”
― Ali Hazelwood, The Love Hypothesis

“Oh, wow. Thank you.” She smiled. “Now I’m actually a bit sorry that I can’t have you on my dissertation committee. Perhaps rumors of your cruelty have been greatly exaggerated.” His mouth twitched. “Maybe you just pull out the best in me?” She grinned. “Then maybe I should stick around. Just, you know, to save the department from your terrible moods?” He glanced at the picture of the failed Western blot in her hand. “Well, it doesn’t look like you’re going to graduate anytime soon.” She half laughed, half gasped. “Oh my God. Did you just—?” “Objectively—” “This is the rudest, meanest thing—” She was laughing. Holding her stomach as she waved her finger at him. “—based on your blotting—” “—that anyone could ever say to a Ph.D. student. Ever.” “I think I can find meaner things. If I really put myself to it.” “We’re done.” She wished she weren’t smiling. Then maybe he’d take her seriously instead of just looking at her with that patient, amused expression. “Seriously. It was nice while it lasted.” She made to stand and leave indignantly, but he grabbed the sleeve of her shirt and gently tugged at it until she was sitting down again, next to him on the narrow couch—maybe even a little closer than before. She continued glaring, but he regarded her blandly, clearly unperturbed. “There’s nothing bad about taking more than five years to graduate,” he offered in a conciliatory tone. Olive huffed. “You just want me to stay around forever. Until you have the biggest, fattest, strongest Title IX case to ever exist.”
― Ali Hazelwood, The Love Hypothesis

“Grief – that mean son of a bitch – doesn’t have a timeline or rules. It hits when it wants.”
― Sarah Adams, Practice Makes Perfect