Snippet #41

            “What did you call me?” Ondřej asked, taking a step closer to the girl. He towered over her, but she didn’t even seem fazed.

            “Did I stutter?” She looked amused, “I said you’re an asshole, and a fucking stupid one at that.”

            Ondřej grunted in anger and pushed her backwards. “Why don’t you say that to my face?”

            “Don’t touch me.”

            “Make me.” Ondřej looked over his shoulder at his friends. They all laughed, in the same haughty way all cronies do.

            “Hey, tough guy,” The girl called out. Ondřej turned to look at her, right as she swung her arm back. There was a crack, followed by a scream. 

Snippet #40

Yes, you might fail. But you know what? At least you tried. And that’s more you can say if you just walk away and pretend that it never happened. I find it easier to admit that I need to work harder, but I will never admit defeat. So Miri, go write that God damn book of yours. You could be the worst writer in the world, but at least you’ll have the evidence of it. 

Snippet #35

       “He’s a nice guy once you get to know him.” Sophie paused. “No, actually, he’s a real asshole. You just get used to it.”

Snippet #32

“When you walk into this church, don’t you just get overwhelmed with this sense of. . .” Marek struggled for words, “Divine intervention almost.”

Sophie shook her head. “No, not really.”

            “But Sophie, religion. This beautiful church, because God.”  Marek looked puzzled. I knew why. Standing in front of him was the girl that cried over the beauty of mosques she’d never see, and yet she seemingly felt nothing in a beautiful Gothic church.

            Sophie gave Marek a dirty look, “No. This beautiful church, because humans.”

            “So you’re saying God has nothing to do with this, at all?”

“Yes. Isn’t it better to be moved by the actions of people? To say, someone like me made this church. Someone designed it. Someone built it. God didn’t do that. We did. That’s like saying because Van Gogh’s father was a pastor that God blessed Van Gogh with his artistic brilliance. No. Van Gogh made masterpieces. I won’t have you trivialize Van Gogh by claiming God meant for him to do so. Isn’t Van Gogh enough?”

Snippet #30

 “I don’t know how you can be so heartless, I mean, I gave you mine.”

            “No. you didn’t give me your heart. You didn’t give me love. You gave me friendship and expected sex. Do you not see how fucked up that is? Do you not see how worthless that makes me feel? I’m sorry that for once I wanted to be seen as a person, and not as your sexual pleasure. I’m sorry that you got stuck with the crappy consolation prize that is my friendship. Oh yeah, you’re a real nice guy.”

Snippet #25

"Díky za můj sendvič ."

Snippet #24

            “Marek! Give me my sandwich back!” Sophie’s voice went up an octave.

            “Not until you ask for it in Czech!” Marek taunted.

Jonáš and I looked at each other across the dining table.

He cocked his head to the side, “Do you ever feel like you’re the parent to your own best friends?”

I had to laugh. “Really? YOU feel like a parent? I’m the parent. You’re the cool older brother.”

Sophie and Marek’s sandwich argument continued, with no acknowledgment of anyone else’s existence; the sandwich was all that mattered. Sophie started screaming louder, “If you don’t give me back my sandwich, I’ll cut off your right hand so you’ll have to awkwardly masturbate with your left hand and it won’t be nearly as satisfying!”

“YOU DEMON!” Marek threw the sandwich at Sophie. A look of pure horror crossed his face. He cradled his right hand with his left and held it close. 

Snippet #18

“Oh, are you her lesbian lover?” He taunted. I did everything I could to not cringe. Being a lesbian had never made things easy for me. I can’t speak for all lesbians, but the girls I had come across never were all that friendly, afraid I’d become romantically interested in them, and the boys just didn’t understand that while, yes, I was a lesbian, I was still a girl. And no, I would not let them watch.

“I’m not. But what if I was? What difference does that make to you?”

“It’s not normal. I shouldn’t have to worry about gays hitting me.”

            “Wow. First off, she’s a lesbian and won’t be hitting on you. And second, don’t flatter yourself. No sensible gay man is going to be attracted to you when you’re such an asshole.”