Holly Riordan

She refuses to settle. Refuses to play games. Refuses to give out mixed signals. Refuses to lower her standards, or surrender her dignity, to find a boyfriend.

She pretends that she has it all together emotionally, that she has other things to worry about, that you’re incapable of pulling her heartstrings until they unravel.

“One time I really had a bad feeling about a car and asked my girlfriend to walk faster over the street. She laughed and said I should not worry. The car crashed into the woman next to us.”

Don’t expect her to wait until you’re ready to accept her love. Because, by the time you realize that she deserves to have your heart, her love for you isn’t going to exist anymore. It’s going to be directed at someone else — someone that was ready for her.

You talk about all the things you want to do together (get dinner, see a movie, take a trip to the city), but you never make concrete plans to actually do any of those things.

Don’t fault him for not having a full head of hair. Or for being too broke to fly you to Hawaii. Or for failing to reach your six foot tall height requirement. Judge him on the aspects he can control. On how well he treats you. On how happy he makes you feel.

Offer him a shoulder massage.

Gemini: You aren’t happy with yourself. When other people are around, you act like you have it all together, but when you’re alone, you fall apart. That’s why you settle for less than you deserve. Because you don’t realize how much you deserve.

Mixed signals mean that he cares — but not enough.

She’s not going to plan out all the dates, initiate all the phone calls, and lead all the conversations. She’s not going to be the one doing all the work, putting in all the effort. Not anymore.

It’s not fair that I look different than I did in all of the old photographs of us together. That I’ve had so much time to change, to grow, while your opportunity to blossom was taken away. Your future was taken away.

Rereading old conversations is the most dangerous thing you could do. Because it’s going to remind you of things you have no business remembering.

When I got in my Hyundai and pulled the stick shift into reverse, the backup camera popped on, showing me the area behind my bumper. A little girl was playing in the street, purple chalk balanced in her hand.

She can’t blindly believe that you aren’t going to hurt her. Because she’s believed before. And she’s been hurt before.

You get attached easily. As soon as someone gives you a little bit of attention, you’re hooked on them.

It would’ve been relaxing – except there were those chants again. Coming from the speakers in the wall.

“I was kidnapped with my mother in our car. I was burnt by cigarettes, cut on my face and genitals, and was stomped and punched in the head.”

“We had a middle school teacher murder his wife, his wife’s lover, and the two children of the lover. When I was in his class years before, he would do things like call 8th grade girls whores in front of the class. He also said he had a gun and would kill anyone that ever messed with his family. I guess the warning signs were there.”