Mikaila

“I understood too well what it was like to feel like you were defined by one superficial thing- to feel like you would never excape the box people had put you in”
― Tahereh Mafi, A Very Large Expanse of Sea

“I didn't believe it was possible to hide a woman's beauty. I thought women were gorgeous no matter what they wore, and I didn't think they owed anyone an explanation for their sartorial choices. Different women felt comfortable in different outfits.
They were all beautiful.”
― Tahereh Mafi, A Very Large Expanse of Sea

“He kept trying to be nice to me and, in an unexpected turn of events, his kindness left me angry and confused. I pushed him away because i was afraid to be even remotely close to someone who, i was certain, would one day hurt me. I trusted no one anymore. I was so raw from repeated exposure to cruelty that now even the most minor abrasions left a mark”
― Tahereh Mafi, A Very Large Expanse of Sea

“I was stuck in another small town, trapped in another universe populated by the kind of people who’d only ever seen faces like mine on their evening news, and I hated it.”
― Tahereh Mafi, A Very Large Expanse of Sea