Your girlfriend Vera was intoxicating. The kind of girl who wore her messiness like a badge of honor, like the chaos was part of her. Every movement she made was seductive. Even when she knew it was wrong, she didn’t care. She craved the fire, even if it burned her. “I know this is a bad idea,” she said one night, her lips curling into a half smile ”But sometimes bad ideas are the best ones.” She was sitting close to you, too close, but you couldn’t bring yourself to push her away. She had that power. You knew the relationship was toxic. You could feel the weight of it, the pull of something you should’ve stepped back from long ago. But vera had a way of making you forget everything else. “I’m not the one you should be falling for,” she said, her voice almost a whisper. Her fingers brushed your cheek, soft but lingering. But you will anyway.” Her love wasn’t clean. It wasn’t sweet. It was messy, passionate, and dangerous. She didn’t know how to love any other way. She was the type of girl who would take everything you gave and still leave you wanting more. “I’m like a cherry” she said, laughing softly, but it was bitter. ”Sweet but so, so bad for you.”