Gabrielle Korn

Shutouts

Lindsay

The world had entered a sort of doom spiral; so much attention and resources were being directed at cleaning up the damage being caused in real time by climate change–related disasters that it deterred any sort of focus on larger-scale, longer-term issues.

I didn’t understand why everyone wasn’t walking around screaming hysterically. How could you be aware of what was happening and go about your day as though everything was fine and normal?

“We don’t turn away other queers,” Vero said. “It’s one of our only rules. That and never call the cops, of course.”

With these new people, I was shy, nervous, awkward. It was as though all my feral rage was left with my parents. Without them, I was just desperate to be accepted. I felt new. I felt that this was my real family, these queer kids living in squalor, and I needed to make them love me, keep me.

It was like he was saying whatever he needed to in order to get me to pick him, while also saying he didn’t need me to decide either way.

falling in love isn’t about finding the right person, but about who shows up when the protections you’ve built around your heart are wearing thin.

He was funny. At least, he had a good sense of humor. Meaning he laughed at my jokes.

There was no use being angry with someone who you’re never going to see again. But the hurt was still there, walking beside her on this journey, clutching her heart in a viselike grip that every now and then made her wonder if she had the strength to go on, after everything that had been taken from her.

There’s nothing like the beauty of this country to really break a girl’s heart.

It does change you, to be treasured. It makes things possible in a way you can’t imagine before you’ve felt it.

Shutouts quotes

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