Two dead parents and a brother in the navy, I was practically on my own. I, Vanessa Harrison, am 19 years old and working two jobs to sustain myself while my brother Joseph is away. I couldn't afford to go to college so I started working right after high school. My friend Kathleen decided to have a night out and watch a basketball game. I thought it would be like all the other one's we've been to...I never thought I'd end up having my heart stolen just by one look at that majestic body.

17 year old Scarlet Redmond has a secret, and that secret is the beautiful, smart, goody-goody popular girl Jacqueline Hunter. Living in Deep Wood, a rural farming town in Idaho that hasn't changed much since the 1800s, Scarlet has to keep her relationship with Hunter a secret lest they fall prey to the homophobic bullying of their classmates. One day, on her way to visit her grandmother, Scarlet meets the enigmatic social pariah known as Mara Wolf, a mysterious girl surrounded by infamy and damning rumors. Wolf doesn't seem to want to leave Scarlet alone, and there's something about her infuriating smile that makes it seem as though Wolf knows everyone's secret... even Scarlet's. **** This story was written as an entry for the @lgbtq 'Once Upon A Time' contest.

Candice O'stenner has been married to what she now considers the rudest and most inconsiderate woman ever. Had it always been that way? Of course not! You don't just marry the asshole that makes your life a living hell. Unfortunately, that is something you discover on your own over the years. One by one, the once sugar-coated promises of love begin to drip a distasteful bitterness that is sure to ruin even the best of memories in a relationship. Day by day, her marriage wavers over a thin line. Candice's life after the initial honeymoon phase has never been the same. Anger and resentment towards her wife grow. But what happens when a random, cliche, unexpected run-in leads her to meet someone new? Or when she gets invited to a special dinner hosted by her boss that happens to be that same stranger? Candice O'stenner meets a charming, stunning, and caring woman. Where there was once stagnant affection, a hidden love begins to unfold.