You didn’t jump off a bridge, break your legs, and then blame the friend who dared you to do it for why you were in the hospital.

Taking responsibility for my actions and not blaming other people for things I brought upon myself was one of the few positive lessons I’d learned from my family, even if it was something they hadn’t tried to teach me on purpose.

I loved this place. Lucas Ripley picking on me every once in a while or not, I loved this place and the people who worked here. I was loved, I had a home, I had a job, and it was Friday. There wasn’t much else I really needed.

If it was a good day, he’d give me an eyebrow raise that I would take like it was a smile.

You will not cry, Luna. You will not cry. He’s not going to hit you, and if he yells at you, you can take it better than anyone else here. If you get fired, it’s your own fault. You can’t blame anyone else but yourself. You’ll be fine. Thea, Kyra, and Lily are almost all self-supportive. One day you’ll be able to laugh about the day you screwed up big-time. It might just take a decade to get there. You’re a decent person and you try to do what’s right, even if it sucks.

Things could always be worse.

I could still easily remember the days of looking through a pantry and refrigerator with no food in it. I had made myself a promise that I would someday open a cabinet and always find something in there to eat and my sisters could have the same. I had sworn to myself that if I ever became a parent, I would give my kids what my parents had been too selfish and negligent and careless to give us.

Maybe I had gotten in trouble. Maybe it hadn’t been the best day ever. Maybe everything hurt. But I was home. I had gotten a kiss from someone who loved me. I had a bed to sleep in.

I was loved. I had a roof over my head. Food to eat. A bed to sleep in. Money in my bank account.

I reminded myself that life was a gift—sometimes one you wanted to return, and other times one you’d want to keep forever, but it was still a gift. The grass might look greener on the other side, but at least you still had grass.

Don’t waste your time expecting people to change, and if you think you might be starting your period, don’t risk it and leave your house without a tampon.

Lenny: I will. You find Rip?

Me: I’m watching him.

Lenny: Stalker

Me: He’s standing in front of me, I can’t help it.

Lenny: Pretty sure that’s what every stalker thinks.

Rip was already waiting inside his truck, chin high while he relaxed against the headrest. His lips were moving just enough so that I knew he was either talking to himself… or lip-synching along to whatever was playing on the radio.

Some part of me knew he was singing along.

I wasn’t going to think it was adorable. Nope.

if something made you happy, it was worth the cost and effort every single time.

...doing the right thing wasn’t easy and would more than likely never be.

I opened the door and slid out. Then I closed the door, took a step onto the curb and lifted my hand.

He didn’t wave back.

But he waited until I’d opened my front door before he drove off.

I went to my room, changed out of my clothes and then, then, I cried.

For Grandma Genie.

For my sisters.

For the mom I had never met.

For the past, the present, and the future.

But mostly for myself.

All I had ever wanted was to be loved.

Me and Rip.

Friends.

I’d take it. I’d take it every day of the year, forever.

Days from then, maybe I’d remember how his skin smelled like Irish Spring. How he smelled like the shop somehow too but better. I’d remember how he smelled so good in this way that had nothing to do with cologne or aftershave.