Excerpt Still carrying the small A5 book, I edged towards my front door and opened it. And there he stood, wet hair plastered to his head and dripping clothes clinging to his body. He stepped into the house and out of the rain so suddenly, I took a step back. He grabbed my waist and my neck, drew me towards him and silenced me with his cold, wet lips. I didn't hesitate or pull away and as I wound my arms around his neck, the A to Z clattered and dropped to the floor, laying at our feet.

/ complete / Life hasn't always been kind to East Winters, but for the most part, she's finally made peace with the incident three years ago that tore her family apart. The same can't be said for Edgecliff; half the town still won't look East in the eye, and the latest wave of petty crimes isn't helping. Two fires and a dead mom hardly prove her innocence. Even worse, Asher is back in town-but no matter how close they used to be, East can't forget what he did on that fateful night... As small incidents snowball into startling revelations, East begins to realize that there might be more to her family, more to her sleepy little town, more to even herself than she could've ever imagined. / best ranking: #25 in Paranormal / featured story in 2016, 2018 / Wattys 2018 longlist

A collection of notes, a public library, two teenagers, and zero spoken communication.

"Photography is all about secrets. The secrets we all have and will never tell." -Kim Edwards Eleanor Morisette doesn't speak. She doesn't have an illness that causes it, and wasn't born mute; she just chooses not to talk. What reason is there to say words when no one's there to hear them? Instead, she expresses herself through the art of photography. Obsessed with the beauty in the world that overshadows her own problems, all she wants is to someday capture life to its fullest; without having to worry about her parents' declining love and the loneliness of being an outcast at school. But what happens when she accidentally takes a photo of a boy who she can't take her mind off? Will he be the one to open up her shell? Or will she continue wandering lost in her world of lonely magic?

Sixteen-year old Olivia Grey has gotten the idea of writing letters. Every letter addressed to a different person and in those letters she’ll tell all, she’ll be brave and courageous and she’ll get everything off her chest and then when she’s done, she’ll burn them. Why? Because some things are just better left unspoken, or in this case, unread. 10/10/13 short story #158 teen fiction #689