Michelle

“She ached so badly to be held it felt like a sickness had invaded her muscles and bones. As usual, her own arms provided little comfort.”
― Helen Hoang, The Kiss Quotient

“I think: this is what I will miss. I think: I will kill myself rather than miss it. I think: how long do we have?”
― Madeline Miller, The Song of Achilles

“My room is the safest place my body has. My mind doesn’t really have a safe place.”
― Anna Whateley

“Does it hurt you or something? Can I ask you that?"
"Eye contact? No. Maybe it hurts for some people, but not for me. It's..." I've tried for years to put it into words. All the things I want to compare it to—music that's too loud, flavor that's too strong, images that flash too quickly—are different for other people, too, so it never feels quite right {...} "I can do it for, like, half a second. Anything longer is just too much. Too intense. It scrambles my brain."
It's intimate, I think, but don't say aloud.
"Right," he says slowly.
"Like a shock," I say, trying again. "Like a jolt that goes through me the second I make eye contact, or someone touches me when I don't expect it... like those things are suddenly so present, so loud and intrusive. It's so overwhelming I can't think right.”
― Corinne Duyvis, On the Edge of Gone