β
Some people
Never find the right kind of love
you know, the kind that steals
your breath away.
Like diving into a snowmelt.
The kind that jolts your heart,
sets it beating apace.
An anxious hiccuping of hummingbirds wings.
The kind that makes every terrible minute apart feel like hours.
Days.
Years.
Some people flit from one insane possibility to the next.
Never experincing the connection of two people.
rocked by destiny.
Never knowing what it means to love someone else,
more than themselves.
More than life itself, or the promise of something better.
Beyond this world,
More even (forgive me!) than god.
Lucky me, I found the right kind of love.
With the wrong person.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
You canβt walk away from someone you love, leave them drowning in your desertion. If love has no more meaning than that, you can keep it. I donβt want it now or ever again. Donβt want to hear the word or wear its scars.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
The first time I kissed you. One kiss, and I was totally hooked. Addicted to you. I could never love anyone the way I love you. I'd follow you across the universe.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
Being In Love
Means hard questions.
Will I? Won't I?
Should I? Could I?
Yes? No?
You?
Me? There is no me
without you.
Is there a you without
me?
And if were truly one.
how will I breathe
when circomstance pries
us
apart?
You are my oxygen.
my substance,
the blood inside my veins.
When
we
touch, you are my skin.
hold all my joy inside of you.
When you go, I
wither.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins
β
Canβt promise Iβll stay. That would be lying. And Iβm so, so tired of lies.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
When all choice is taken from you, life becomes a game of survival.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
Love is more than blind. Itβs brain-dead.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
Eyes Tell Stories
But do they know how
to craft fiction? Do
they know how to spin
lies?
His eyes swear forever,
flatter with vows of only
me. But are they empty
promises?
I stare into his eyes, as
into a crystal ball, but
I cannot find forever,
only
movies of yesterday,
a sketchbook of today,
dreams of a shared
tomorrow.
His eyes whisper secrets.
But are they truths or fairy tales?
I wonder if even he
knows.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
I donβt belong here. I know that. But I donβt belong anywhere else, either. And that is at the heart of the black depression pressing down on me, flattening me. I have no place. No home. Sex, but no real affection. I am kept, but not cherished.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
Hell isnβt some fiery pit βdown there.β Itβs right here on Earth, in every dirty city, every yawning town.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
Some people never find the right kind of love. You know, the kind that steals your breath away, like diving into snowmelt. The kind that jolts your heart, sets it beating apace, an anxious hiccuping of hummingbird wings
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
When You Weren't Looking
...why.
...Can't you
...care
...more
...about
...me.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
I only have have one question, scraping the inside of me. Answer it, and I will stumble back into her shadow, shut my mouth, never ask again. I've tried to ignore it, but it won't go away. It haunts my dreams, chases me through every single day, and I don't have the strength to turn around, face it down. So please tell me and I swear I'll never ask again. It's in your power to make it go away, and all you have to do is tell me why you love her more.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks)
β
Home
...Home.
...the word,
...has
...no
...meaning
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
I hope I'm never a mom. But if I am, I'll make damn sure my kids look up to me.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
Faces
...I
...don't
...know
...the real
...me
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
And if we're truly one, how will I breathe when circumstance pries us apart? You are my oxygen, my sustenance, the blood inside my veins. When we touch, you are my skin, hold all my joy inside of you. When you go, I wither.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
When You Werenβt Looking The child became a woman, though she wasnβt ready to. Donβt ask how or why. Those questions are not important ones. Canβt you see you didnβt care enough to notice?
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
Have to Find
...life
...is
...aβ
...gamble
...after
...all.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
I'll Stay
...leave
...me.
...I'll
...follow
...you.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
If I come back to you now, can we be what we were before lifeβs uncertain rhythms tore us so far apart? If I return today, will your arms gather me in, or will I be wrenched away, snatched by riptide I have no power to resist? If I find my way to you, one man standing in a crowd, will I even know who you are?
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
The best thing about my mom being such
a bitch is not worrying
about trying to make her
proud of me.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
Even without them touching me, I feel dirty about what I do. Alex does even filthier things but says it all washes off with soap. I donβt believe that. I think it all leaves stains. Indelible stains.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
I whisper and you close your eyes. I speak and you turn away. If I scream, will you finally hear me beg you to hold me close to you, promise you'll never let go?
β
β
Ellen Hopkins
β
Religion is for followers... Followers and puppets.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
Holy effing moly.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
Whatever has happened in someone's past, the future is theirs to shape. The first step is to find a way out.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
I told her about the man, not my daddy, she said, He was only making you into a real girl. I didnβt understand. But I made myself believe her. I was a real girl now. But what was I before?
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
Fear
is a better friend than
you, who feel nothing,
beneath the weight of
my pain.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
Not sure if there is a God or why some all-powerful being would give half a damn about the likes of me.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
hindsight
is gained
through
experience
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
Sorry. But I don't need some money-grubbing preacher defining my relationship with God.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
In control. Out of control. Sometimes they're the same thing. The trick is knowing that, realizing it's okay to feel out of control once in a while, as long as you're sure you can regain the upper hand when you absolutely need to.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Identical)
β
Never say never, dear.
You might be surprised at what you can do, should circumstances dictate
β
β
Ellen Hopkins
β
One kiss, I was totally hooked.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
How many kinds of weirdos are there?β She doesnβt laugh. Lots. And the worst are the ones you donβt suspect. Theyβre the ones you invite inside your front door.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks)
β
A chat
With the Grim Reaper
should be enough to scare
away any thought of relapse.
Wish it were that easy,
but not even days conversing
with death can disintegrate
the claws of addiction.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Traffick (Tricks, #2))
β
the past will influence your future, but it doesn't have to destroy it.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Traffick (Tricks, #2))
β
Another day, a different hour, take a left and not a right, you'd wind up a whole different being. Knowing if that would be better requires a realm of experience only decades can build.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
never believed in demons or monsters lurking under my bed. But lately Iβve started to wonder if evil hasnβt in fact infiltrated this world, slithering streets and sidewalks, wearing what- ever disguise suits its immediate purpose. When a choirboy is molested, is it by the devil in a priest costume? Or does Satan play a more clever game to get what he wants? To win the contest, accomplish his goals, might the prince of hatred mask himself as love?
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks)
β
I'm okay. Except..." God! "I totally want you.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins
β
Eyes closed, we can/be anywhere. Italy. France. Australia./Jupiter. Hell. Doesn't matter, as long/as we're not here. As long as we can pretend we're still pretty.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
Flying Is that what itβs like when you die? Do you slip out of your skin, go soaring up into a butterscotch sky? Do you surf waves of light? How far? How high? I hope thatβs what itβs like, but Iβm afraid itβs a lot more like falling with no net to catch you, and no way of knowing how hard you will hit or where youβll stop. Will you touch down back on Earth, or will you land in the nightmare you always feared youβd never wake up from?
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks)
β
What I am is in love with you. What I've learned is just how resilient love can be. You can beat it, pound it into pulp, but killing it is hard to do.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Traffick (Tricks, #2))
β
There are more imperfect diamonds than flawless stones.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Traffick (Tricks, #2))
β
Love is
more than
blind.
It's
brain-dead.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
There are
more imperfect
diamonds than
flawless stones.
So, what the hell?
I'll give it a try,
and do my best
to
keep
moving
forward.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Traffick (Tricks, #2))
β
Why look for a prince
when frogs are much
more common?
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
In control. Out of control. Sometimes they're the same thing. The trick is knowing it's okay to feel out of control once in a while, as long as you're sure you can regain the upper hand when you absolutely need to.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Identical)
β
Eyes tell stories
but do they know how
to craft fiction? Do
they know how to spin
lies?
His eyes swear forever,
flatter with vows of only
me. But are they empty
promises?
I stare into his eyes as
into a crystal ball, but
I cannot find forever,
only
movies of yesterday,
a sketchbook of today,
dreams of a shared
tomorrow.
His eyes whisper secrets
But are they truths
or fairy tales?
I wonder if even he
knows.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
There's a lesson here, and that is I have to find happiness inside myself before I try to partner again.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Traffick (Tricks, #2))
β
I chose silent resentment in favor of expressing my feelings, and that was a mistake.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Traffick (Tricks, #2))
β
His eyes are green, but almost clear, like cool emerald pools. You want to dive deep down into them and stay awhile.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
There were plenty of men willing to be stand-ins for her fallen father. Only it wasn't exactly daughterly love they were after.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
Anger just eats a person up inside, and I swear that girl was born angry.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
I look up again at the night sky, but here, city lights take center stage, mute the celestial backdrop. I don't belong here, in the city.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
But I let myself cry now. Loss is loss. Doesn't take death to create it.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
Why reach for a dream when you're at ease within your nightmares?
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
You can't walk away from someone you love, leave them drowning in your desertion. If love has no more meaning than that, you can keep it. I don't want it now or ever again. Don't want to hear the word or wear its scars.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
One thing I've learned in one or two years on this planet is to put myself first. Love is a fine thing while it lasts, but rarely is it permanent.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
Once you've immersed yourself in ugliness, wallowed in it, sponged it up and internalized it, you can't cough it back up and spit it out. It becomes hard to find beauty in anything. No matter where I look, I find evil lurking. A monster sleeps inside every man. Cop. Mechanic. Minister. It doesn't matter. I can see the beast he hides.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Traffick (Tricks, #2))
β
We promise to keep in touch, knowing our separate journeys make it unlikely, that the erosion of affection is hurried with distance.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Traffick (Tricks, #2))
β
Love wasn't meant for people like you and me. You have to be strong and brave to fall in love. And maybe a little stupid.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Traffick (Tricks, #2))
β
When we were little, I looked up to her, but she outshone me in every way, and after a while it got old taking the backseat to her well-earned accomplishments. I chose silent resentment in favor of expressing my feelings, and that was a mistake.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Traffick (Tricks, #2))
β
... In a place where dreams too often die, sucked dry of hope by a city that celebrates sin in favor of love.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Traffick (Tricks, #2))
β
Being in love
Means hard questions.
Will I? Won't I?
Should I? Could I?
Yes? No?
You?
Me? There is no me
without you. Is there
a you without
Me?
And if we're truly one,
how will I breathe when
circumstance pries us
Apart?
You are my oxygen, my
sustenance, the blood
inside my veins. When
we
touch, you are my skin,
hold all my joy inside
of you. When you go, I
wither.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
Sooner or later
someone
you could not have
ever dreamed of
appears like a rainbow
bridging clouds, and
steals
your breath away.
Someone beautiful,
inside and out,
grabs hold of
your
hand, guides you
along a rarely traveled
road, to a place
where your broken
heart
can be mended, piece
by beating piece.
The cost, gratefully
afforded, is only
your love.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
Love is more than blind. It's brain-dead.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins, Tricks
β
Need rises up from a bottomless well of longing, a whining so insistent no amount of willpower can force it silent.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Traffick (Tricks, #2))
β
Wish it were that easy, but not even days conversing with death can disintegrate the claws of addiction.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Traffick (Tricks, #2))
β
Why look for a prince when frogs are much more common? Why reach for a dream when you're at ease within your nightmares? Why scramble to disguise what your personal truth is when reality not only hurts less in the long run, but is most often the easier path?
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
my heart promises that that our love was sparked, as all love is, by God's love.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
If god were inclined
to punish someone
just for being the way
he created them, it would
be punishment enough
to insert that innocent
soul inside the womb
of a native Indianan.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
I've decided if
being a real man means
smashing someone
in the face or turning
your back on a person
because of their sexuality,
I'll just stay a girl.
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))
β
Why scramble to disguise what your personal truth is when reality not only hurts less in the long run, but is most often the easier path?
β
β
Ellen Hopkins (Tricks (Tricks, #1))