hi everyone! first of all, thank you so very much for reading hurt & hickeys. all of the comments, votes and shares means everything to me - though at times, i may not express it fully.

this story of mine will always remain close to my heart for the fact that it was with this that i made so many new friends. i had the honor of having people literally download wattpad only to read it. so surreal. almost incomprehensible.

i would also like to say that hurt & hickeys is completely unedited. i have been experimenting with my writing style lately (if you read this after 'homesick' you'd know better of what i mean) which is why none of the chapters are edited. in the future, i would absolutely love to edit it to my best of capabilities and just hopefully, HOPEFULLY have it published.

now, for some of the questions i would like to answer:

• why the name?
well, hickeys are always a physical proof of love. i wanted to showcase them as something different. they hurt but it's a hurt we gladly accept. it's in the irony of this oxymoron i would say. plus, the alliteration. how can i forget that.

• is it based on true life?
sadly, no. as i said, i started writing this book very very randomly in the beginning of jan 2023. only the poems were written by me in april 2022, that too, all within an hour. the rest, i went with it as it came. i had no specific plot in mind. most of the time, it'd come to me when i'd be doing anything and i'd type it down.

• was it all planned?
again, no. i even surprised myself when i found out the connection between chapter one and ten and correlated the dream scene into one hahah.

• why the dedication?
one of my favorite things about being a writer is the vagueness that comes with it. hurt & hickeys may seem to be a love interest between a girl and a guy but it goes out to all the relationships we had that never worked out. all the times we killed ourselves just to be enough for others. it is to the toxicity of that. a reminder from me that you are understood. that you are enough.

• plagiarism?
kindly, do not copy my work. as a writer, that really kills our spirit because we put a lot into our words.

                    once again, i cannot be anymore thankful to everyone who decided to read this unedited work of mine and for loving it so much. i honestly don't get it but i'm extremely, extremely grateful.