"I made the decision to cheat on my wife because I liked the way you made me feel vulnerable and comfortable enough to open up to you the night before it happened. I ain't never did shit like that before and that's what made it easy for me to choose to risk everything I got for you." "That shit probably not a big deal to you but a nigga like me ain't never opened up to nobody but my best friend-and still..that's rare. I hate even talking about her with you but I don't even feel comfortable talking to Ariana about my feelings 'cause I know she gon' judge me. You don't make me feel like that."

"Please Jesus, free me of the spirit of lust." "I know that relationships built under your word can last forever. So free me of the thought, free me of the feeling and free me from my flesh trying to cloud my judgement." "I don't worship lust, sex or desire. I worship you Jesus, please don't allow me to lose sight of that." "In Jesus name, I pray." "Amen." I spoke desperately as I stood up from my knees.

Every time Isaiah looked at himself in the mirror, he was constantly reminded of the most traumatic moment of his life. He grew to hate himself until Namiko randomly waltzed into his life one day and began teaching him how to love himself again. It was as if she was his second chance. He'd been so pissed off all night to the point where he was physically shaking like a ticking bomb. This one hug from her felt like the rainbow after a severe thunderstorm. He couldn't believe that his sanity really depended on her. He'd never reached this point of love before. She brought him so much peace. That's why he loved her the way that he did; the reason why he couldn't stand to spend a single second away from her and why he depended on her to keep him sane. She was just it; like a breath of fresh air. He never expected the woman that ended up stealing his heart would be a real life Disney Princess wandering cluelessly around New York City; an autistic one, at that.

"What we got going ain't nobody business."

"Do you think we're soul mates?" She asked, lifting her head in order to lock eyes with him. It took him a moment, mustering up his answer. Thinking about how they were so alike, but so different. How they had been through similar things and had the same outlooks on certain perspectives in life. The connection that they shared. It was like she was made specifically for him. No one would ever be able to hold a candle to her and the way she made him feel. She was his person, and he was hers. "To be honest...yeah." He replied, wrapping his arm around her. --- Knucks is a misunderstood teenage girl, deemed as destructive to the society with her reoccurring outbursts and rebellious behavior. Anger fuels her defiant spirit but beneath her exterior, lies a vulnerable girl searching high and low for someone to help her through a time of crisis. Bones quiet and reserved, has nothing but a hard exterior looking from the outside in, when in reality he is just an innocent boy. He's fighting to keep his head above the water also known as life, that is trying its hardest to submerge and break him down mentally. When the two teenagers find themselves in an environment far away from home with others just like them, it leaves both of them separately hopeless about the outcomes of their future lives. One night upon meeting each other, one felt as if they had nothing to live for anymore, while the other felt the same way only holding a different meaning a sense.The night bringing them closer than ever eventually has to come to an end. It's up to the two of them to carry out the strange but alluring connection made with each other, or leave it in the night they met. SLOW BURN; 2 books in 1 STARTED; FEB 19th 2024 PUBLISHED; MARCH 3rd 2024 FINISHED; SEPTEMBER 29th, 2024

Sometimes life gets weird. You lose hope, then you'll fall down, but then you'll get back up again. Sage did. So hang in there; it gets better, with time. A short story.