Calissa

“When he was around, the world seemed safe, the kind of place that was worth everything, all the little disappointments and injustices and chips at my pride. The kind of place that could be beautiful if we really tried”
― Ann Liang, I Am Not Jessica Chen

“... and by that point the three of them were visibly trying not to laugh, and the kettle was boiling in the kitchen, the air warm with steam, and the dusky, roseate light was shifting through the translucent curtains, and everything was ordinary, familiar, serene, and everyone I loved was in the room with me.”
― Ann Liang, I Am Not Jessica Chen

“Isn’t one of those Labors going down to hell?”

“There and back,” said Lieutenant Colonel Hupfer. “As I indicated to Ms. de la Peña, it’s a tough world, Beal.”

He leaned down over me and whispered, so quietly that no one else could hear, “But I think you already know that.”
― Gary D. Schmidt, The Labors of Hercules Beal

“I’ve never known how to witness dusk without feeling a dull sense of grief: another day gone, another day lost where I’m still the same.”
― Ann Liang, I Am Not Jessica Chen