Malinda Lo

and there was such an unexpected feeling of openness between them—a flying kind of feeling, as if they had lifted off from the ground right then and there.

“There’s an ice cream shop in Chinatown, Fong Fong’s. They have ginger ice cream. That’s my favorite.”
“Ginger! How does that taste?”
“It’s delicious. Little bits of candied ginger are mixed into the ice cream.

They hadn’t discussed this strategy, but had fallen into it so naturally that only now, with Shirley pressing her about Will, did Lily notice how strange it was.

She couldn’t put into words why she had gathered these photos together, but she could feel it in her bones: a hot and restless urge to look—and, by looking, to know.

“No,” Lily said quickly. “No, you don’t. I loved hearing about it. You can talk to me about it anytime.”

And yet she couldn’t stop thinking about it.

And yet she couldn’t say the word the book had used to describe those kinds of girls: lesbian. The word felt dangerous, and also powerful

Are you like the girls in the book too? Because I think I am.

She touched her for only a second, but Lily felt Kath’s hand through the fabric of her skirt like a spark on her skin.

black rayon skirt with a short-sleeved pink cotton sweater.