❝though their encounters mostly contained no spoken words, their actions spoke the unspoken ones❞ - for first loves are exhilarating and excruciating. for first loves mold our personalities and in doing so, us. for first loves might resemble this. [#189 in Short-Story]

Wren Martin is socially awkward. She blocks off herself to the world, hiding behind her favorite hoodie. All she wants to do is keep a low profile, and graduate well enough to qualify for a college scholarship. But then a babysitting job leads her to cross paths with Asher Reed, Eastview Highʼs notorious athlete. When a field injury kickstarts his senior year, heʼs turning his free time and attention to Wren. And maybe she might not want to be invisible after all. ***** [Watty's Collector's Edition Winner] [TFA Runaway Prize Winner] [[word count: 150,000-200,000 words]] Cover designed by Ashley Santoro

we met when we were 16. at 42, i still miss you.

"darling, you are art, most importantly, you are my art."

Sometimes all you really need is a place to call home. *** Claire is lost and scared and utterly alone. Her family is in shambles after the death of her older sister Ina, and she's left to pick up the broken pieces of herself as her life heads into a downwards spiral of loneliness. Her heart leads her to 5:48, a little cafe by 33rd street, where she finds her new home. With a broken heart and a speech disability, Jasper has his heart and mouth sewn shut by the winding threads of hurt and fear. Painting and serving coffee in cafe 5:48 are one of his last few saving graces, but the smile he's been painting on himself will soon fade away as everything he's ever held dear slips away from his grasp. Ezra is out-of-sync and oddly cold by the way life has treated his young self. Abandoned by his single mother at an early age, he has grown up thinking that he is a mistake. His constant shaking hands are a reflection of what he often thinks of himself, but the delightful pastries he bakes for 5:48's customers are a reflection of what others see of him. Drew is a quirky rarity. He is a dash of loud, a pinch of exuberant, and a cup of eccentric - just like the meals he serves in the cafe as the only chef there. Behind his playful grins and outlandish clothes, however, are his jutting ribs, hollowed cheeks, and too-thin arms. Sometimes he cannot stomach being in his own skin as much as he cannot stomach food. This family has gone a long way from finding each other, and they'll be going a long way together too as reality comes catching up to them, threatening the newfound happiness they've found with each other. Secrets are revealed, pasts become presents, and lives are changed. Slowly but surely, they find their way back home. *** NOTE AS OF 08/2026: This is the old version of the story from 2012, posted in FULL. Another story that will be considered a reprise of this old version is in the works, and will be posted under the name "Hiraya House."

Every love has a story. How you first met. Who said the first word. Even mine does. Seven o'clock is not the time anyone will think of falling in love. But as our worlds collided, we did just that. In a moment lost in space, a single introduction had changed everything. I wonder if things would have been different if the day we met came with a warning. A word to tell you that this was right or this could be wrong in so many ways. I wonder where he is right now. I wonder if he's happy with his life. I wonder if anything would have changed if we did things differently. Placing our hearts on the line and flipping the pages one after the other, our story was written. It happened before we knew it, and there was no way we could have taken it back. That's just how it goes. Every first love has a story. Do you want to hear mine?