like the flash of a camera he was gone

“Love’s like a bullet. It’s fast. It’s furious. Sometimes you can’t see it coming. You can run from it. But you can’t dodge it. Unless someone stands in your way…” Growing up, Callie Tollson had always admired her older brother, Clay, for being exactly who he wanted to be…despite the consequences he faced doing so. With their roles reversed, Callie had always been the one to stand up for Clay when he was in harm’s way. She always thought this was enough. She thought she was able to protect him. That is until he turned the tables and unleashed harm back on those who had done it to him. She couldn’t understand why, being the one who stood up for him the most, she was the one he picked as the receiver for the final bullet in his gun. Now she’s the most feared girl in school with a haunting family tie to keep her stuck in the halls of Riverton High. As she tries to survive the rest of her junior year as the sister of the boy who brought a gun to school, she soon realizes she owes nothing to the boy who turned on her and everything to the boy who saved her life.

"I'm not okay!" I yelled at him. "Okay?! I'm not okay." My chest rose up and down as I breathed heavily. It had been years since I had a break down, and I wasn't going to have one right now. "It's okay not to be okay," he whispered, walking closer to me. He caressed my cheek, trying to sooth me. I stared at him, pain filled my eyes. I was trying hard not to cry. I couldn't cry. That's not what I did. "It's okay to cry," he comforted. His eyes stared so hard into mine I felt like he was seeing into my soul. "Crying shows weakness, and I'm not weak," I told him, swallowing hard. "Sometimes crying is the strongest thing you can do. It just shows everyone else that you're just as human as they are." And right then and there I started sobbing. I had lost all control of my emotions, I cried like I hadn't since I was little. All those times I didn't cry when I wanted to poured out now. The walls I spent so long building to make them unbreakable, broke. Alana finds a thick orange envelope in her mailbox one day. No return address, no stamp or postage mark and it's not even addressed to her. Someone had just dropped the letter off in her mailbox. The only thing written on this envelope is "You might need this... or not." Alana takes it inside and begins to read the life story of a complete stranger. The life story of someone trying to find their place in this big scary world. © Somethingtrue 2013. All rights reserved.

The first time Mel saw Dean was in an elective class called Madness in Literature. He had been sitting a few rows down in his green parka, writing furiously into his notebook. Something about him made her stop and stare, and it felt like she hasn't looked away since. But there is a reason why Dean seldom comes to class. And why he seems reluctant to be her friend. And why he disappears for ages with answering her messages. Mel would have been bothered by all of it, except that she doesn't care. When it comes to Dean, she was willing to overlook a lot of things. This is a short story about two young people trying to find themselves and instead stumbling upon love.

One bridge. Two guys. Three secrets. Four therapists. Five attempts. Six months. Seven bad habits. Eight family meetings. Nine visits. Ten cuts. One death. Spiritual #4

Everyone has that one guy. The one who broke your heart, the one who got away, the one you can't decide if you regret. Because the thing about first loves' is that you really did fall, and even though life fell short of happily ever after there were still things worth remembering. But while your first love is the hardest, it doesn't have to be the last. At least, that's what Arya's realizing. Told from past and present perspectives, Alone on Cloud 9 is about a girl who lived in her dreams and the one day that changed everything…