Julie Buxbaum

“The thing is, sometimes people grow from breaking.”

— Julie Buxbaum

“It's basic physics, really. We all need an equal and opposing force.”

— Julie Buxbaum

“She drives a red Toyota Corolla, license plate XHD893”

— Julie Buxbaum

“He uses proper punctuation. Capitalizes the beginning of each sentence.”

— Julie Buxbaum

“It's okay I'm not the person I used to be. I'm not supposed to be.”

— Julie Buxbaum

“I've always like bleachers, things ordered vertically from high to low.”

— Julie Buxbaum

“I think about Kit, who smells nice and whose nose is perfect. Not too big and not too small, just right. She's…

— Julie Buxbaum

“Oh, and be careful in gym. Mr. Shackleman makes all the pretty girls run extra laps so he can look at their…

— Julie Buxbaum

“Annie: I wonder if when he talks dirty, he gets all science-y. Oooh, your matter makes my particles throb.”

— Julie Buxbaum

“I’ve never had someone loom so large in my brain that the rest of the stuff gets crowded out.”

— Julie Buxbaum

“Turns out grief not only morphs time, but space too. Somehow increases the distance between you and other people.”

— Julie Buxbaum

“Instead of trying to watch it happen differently, why don't you try to not watch it at all?”

— Julie Buxbaum

“look up again. Ethan is smiling nervously at me. He’s typing without looking.”

— Julie Buxbaum

“I realize this is what people call small talk. I also realize the world would be a better place without it.”

— Julie Buxbaum

“No shit,” my mom says. “Seriously?” “Seriously,” I say, and let her no shit pass without comment, even though she knows it’s…

— Julie Buxbaum

“Okay, Drucker, we’re expecting you to kick ass for us at next week’s meet against Ridgefield Tech. The team is all Asian,…

— Julie Buxbaum

“I think David was the one who kicked ass today,” I say. “Literally and figuratively,” David says. “I’ve never seen anything like…

— Julie Buxbaum

“Here's what I know: I eat mass quantities of red meat, curse religiously, sing out of tune but with conviction. I cry…

— Julie Buxbaum

“I liked holding David’s hand, though. That part-the snow dampening my face, letting my tears mix without anyone seeing, his fingers snug…

— Julie Buxbaum

“Ruth smiles, which rearranges the lines on her face. She inverts her parentheses and transforms commas into apostrophes. The pattern is that…

— Julie Buxbaum

“SN: what was under the glass tonight? Me: Some sort of delicious fish and the big couscous. What’s that called? SN: Israeli.…

— Julie Buxbaum

“And now that I've been exposed to this feeling, perfect mouth against perfect mouth, the natural order of things, I wonder why…

— Julie Buxbaum

“I’m not sure what prime numbers have to do with anything,” I say in a gentle voice. “Prime numbers have to do…

— Julie Buxbaum

“I take the long way home and circle the neighborhood. The leaves have started to fall and collect in small heaps under…

— Julie Buxbaum

“I think about what it would be like to kiss her, to touch my fingertip to her clavicle cluster, to not worry…

— Julie Buxbaum

“Eat,” my mother says. “And then we’ll figure out what to do next.” Her we sounds nice—not like the we of What…

— Julie Buxbaum

“Do you ever think about how your name doesn't fit you? I mean, you're usually Kit in my head, but really I…

— Julie Buxbaum

“To: KitFrom: MomSubject: The Five Stages of Everything Sucks It’s the middle of the night. Just stumbled across this attached article re the five stages…

— Julie Buxbaum

“Jessica, Willow, and Abby burst through the door in a loud explosion of giggles and then stop at the counter to get…

— Julie Buxbaum

“Pizza Palace?” David asks. It’s just a few doors down. I picture my friends all huddled in a booth in the back.…

— Julie Buxbaum

“I am kissing David Drucker. I am kissing David Drucker. I am kissing David Drucker. I Was wrong. I had assumed this…

— Julie Buxbaum

“Will you think about the kissing?” he asks, and I laugh again and mimic his shrug. If only he knew how much…

— Julie Buxbaum

“Me: It will get better, right? Eventually, it will get better. Scarlett: I’m sorry I’m not the type to lower our discourse…

— Julie Buxbaum

“If you could be anyone else, who would you want to be?” I ask, because I’ve decided that I admire how David…

— Julie Buxbaum

“It’s nice to sit with someone and not have to think about what to say next.”

— Julie Buxbaum

“So you’re saying that on Friday night I have an equal chance of getting vomited on as I do of getting kissed?”…

— Julie Buxbaum

“I also have a list of favorite noises. It has one item on it: Kit's laugh.”

— Julie Buxbaum

“Every happy moment from now on will have the lingering, bitter, heartbreaking aftertaste of loss.”

— Julie Buxbaum

“I wish I were really young, like you. Eight is, like, the best age." "Really?" "I don't know. To be honest, I…

— Julie Buxbaum

“I think of his hands fixing me a plate, almost touching my banged-up face, and all I can think about is how…

— Julie Buxbaum