Moth

“Nice vest, Sophie,” said Luca, straight off the bat. “I can barely see you.”
“Luca.” I tore my attention away from Nic for the amount of time needed to throw his brother a contemptuous glare. “A pleasure, as always.”
[…]
“Ignore Luca. That’s just his bad attempt at trash-talking you,” Nic cut in, sending his brother a glare on my behalf.
“And my way of pointing out that she’s small,” Luca added.
“Thanks, Sherlock. I know I’m small.”
“Just making sure.”
“Do you even have a brain-to-mouth filter?” I asked.
“I try not to overuse it,” he returned blithely.
“Clearly.”
“Don’t cry about it, Day-Glo.”
― Catherine Doyle, Vendetta

“The First Book

Open it.

Go ahead, it won't bite.
Well. . . maybe a little.

More a nip, like. A tingle.
It's pleasurable, really.

You see, it keeps on opening.
You may fall in.

Sure, it's hard to get started;
remember learning to use

knife and fork? Dig in:
you'll never reach bottom.

It's not like it's the end of the world--
just the world as you think

you know it.”
― Rita Dove, On the Bus With Rosa Parks

“Against Self-Pity

It gets you nowhere but deeper into
your own shit--pure misery a luxury
one never learns to enjoy.”
― Rita Dove, On the Bus With Rosa Parks

“What are you going to do, Luca?' I clenched my fists at my sides. 'Pull a gun on me?'
'If that's what it takes.'
'How brave!' I exploded. We were so close to one another now. 'You can't use your words. but you're more than happy to use your gun.'
'I'm not going to be responsible for ruining your innocence!'
I tilted my face towards him to show I wasn't afraid, or as innocent as he clearly thought. 'Go ahead,' I whispered. 'Shatter it.' We were nose to nose. 'It almost worked last time, when you told me about my dad.'
'I don't care,' he replied resolutely. 'I'm not punching Bambi in the face.”
― Catherine Doyle, Vendetta