Laila

“Friends are like oxygen. If you’ve been blessed enough to have always been surrounded by friends, you might think I’m overplaying this. I don’t blame you. If you’d always been surrounded by air, you wouldn’t think to credit it for your very existence either. But I’ve spent much of my life gasping for breath, so I promise you, it’s true. Friends are like oxygen.”
― Sally Hepworth, Mad Mabel

“But they’re wrong. I’m not the delicate white-feathered bird they believe me to be. I’m the darkness of cold gutters and merciless nights, the bruised shadows beneath a thief’s desperate eyes. I’m nothing but a lie, a twisted reflection, a black swan.
And my teeth are just as sharp as theirs.”
― A.B. Poranek, A Treachery of Swans

“I know that you took an oath. And I know that this is doomed. But… Koen. There is very little that I wouldn’t do for you, if you were to ask me.”
“Serena.” I hear the blurry edge of his smile. A quiet sigh. “I would throw away my pack, my life, and my entire world for you. Which is the exact reason I cannot have you.”
― Ali Hazelwood, Mate

“There’s no shame in leaning on someone. We all need it from time to time”
― Kayla Grosse, Scrooged for the Holidays