Lauren

“I'm sorry you didn't get the help you needed.
You deserved a soft afghan wrapped around you,
People to hold your hands while you learned to walk again,
So stand with us now.”
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Shout

“Don't get killed. Don't get robbed. Don't get billed for jobs that were abandoned. Don't let your house burn or your pipes burst or your children curse. Don't let your purse get stolen. Don't get trapped underwater. Don't get food poisoning or the flu. For God's sake get vaccinated. Don't get cancer. Seriously. Do. Not. Get. Cancer. Don't get t-boned by a drunk. Don't get struck by lightning. Don't get allergies. Don't get depressed. Don't get noticed by the IRS. Don't get catfished or gaslit. Don't get ghosted by an ex. Don't get talked into a bigger car. Don't get bit by a rabid dog. Don't get your boo angry. Don't get cheated on. Don't get called out, dragged, tagged in pics you don't remember.

Don't get raped

cause the jack asses and idiots will say that's your fault, too.”
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Shout

“When you’re very old, people want to know—what’s the secret to a good, long life? Bernice would tell them: live and let live. Be true to yourself and let others do the same.”
― Kirsten Miller, Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books

“Melinda's trick is looking hard in the mirror,
Absolving herself and cracking open doors to the next place.

But the girl at that school, so haunted,
smashed all the reflections
boarded up the windows and
bolted the doors,
forever stuck at 15 years old
judged to serve a life sentence for what they did.”
― Laurie Halse Anderson, Shout