❝Sometimes we have to endure the hardships of winter to truly appreciate the beauty of Spring.❞ When Rose's best friend dies, she's left heartbroken, empty and lost. But over thirty days, with the help of a boy named Eric, she slowly discovers the meaning of true love and comes to understand that to finally reach the sweetness of spring, we must let go of the suffering of winter. 20-4-14 : Short Story #105/ Teen Fiction #446

Hannah Taylors finally gives in to her desperation and does one of the stupidest things a girl can do to grab her unapproachable long-time crush Jonah Gibbs' attention: spill soda on his white shirt and leave a motherfrigging red blotch on it. Accidentally... on purpose.

After a devastating accident, Dean Adams finds himself drawn to his classmate, and nurse-in-training, Katie Reynolds. What he doesn't expect to discover is that, as much as he needs her, she needs him even more.

Reece Bremer goes through life with a scowl and cold personality. Jessica Andrews goes through life with a glowing smile and positive outlook. Reece looks at life with dull, judgmental eyes that make him hate the world and the people living in it. Jessica, well... She looks at life through a camera. Literally. They're polar opposites, and that's what sparks Reece's immediate hate for Jessica the moment they meet. All he sees is a girl with the best life, put in the category of those who get everything handed to them on a silver platter. But who says Jessica's life is like that? Just like a photograph, there's more to the story than what you see. Stumbling across one of Jessica's hidden portfolio might reveal that her happiness isn't all that true. Behind that smile and each picture she takes, holds a thousand words of a very big secret - one that Reece is determined to find out. And who knows? It just might change everything between them. cover by dysanic || 2015 watty's winner for talk of the town ||

Running away from their jobs as camp counselors, Ellie and Seb embark on a road trip with unexpected turns en route to their destination - New York. ***** Camp Raukawee was meant to be where Ellie Morrison and Sebastian Lee spent their summer working as camp counselors, but they've had enough. Escaping in the middle of the night, the friends hatch a crazy plan to make their way to New York to visit Ellie's dad, who she hasn't seen since he moved five years ago. Along the way, however, a series of cities and events have the pair not only questioning their individual futures, but wondering what will happen to the growing spark between them as the countdown to adulthood begins. [[word count: 90,000-100,000 words]] Cover designed by Gillian Goulet

Maisie's deaf, she understands what everyone is saying to her by reading their lips. But, high school wasn't easy for her. Been the new girl is always tough, but when you're deaf it's worse. That one group of 'popular' thought it'd be funny to bully her for both reasons, she's new and she's deaf so how will she know what they're saying? Then there's Zach. He has his group of friends; they're the 'bad boys' of the year. Everyone's scared of them. So when one day, he sees what these 'popular' people are doing to Maisie, he feels the need to protect her, but Zach, along with the rest of his friends are un-aware that Maisie's deaf. So how will they react to finding out that she's deaf? And what happens when someone from Zach's life pops up unexpectedly?

A painful breakup pushes Kyla Evans to get into a fake relationship with the person her ex-boyfriend hates the most: Seth Everett. But what will she do when the game starts to feel too real? ***** Seventeen-year-old Kyla has sworn off love. After getting dumped all too suddenly by her longtime boyfriend Cedric, she becomes convinced that people are never really who you think they are. So when notorious playboy Seth Everett suggests that Kyla fake date him to get back at Cedric, it seems like the perfect plan... as long as she doesn't end up falling for him. Content and/or trigger warning: This story mentions cancer, which may be triggering for some readers. [[word count: 150,000-200,000 words]]

When Jane Madarang's neighbor Natalie kills herself and leaves behind cryptic instructions, it's up to Jane and her classmates to unearth deadly secrets. ***** Natalie Driscoll is dead. She threw herself out a window and left her neighbor Jane to unravel their town's darkest secrets. Following Natalie's instructions leads Jane to three other high school students who all have something to hide. The four of them must carry out Natalie's final errand while solving the mysteries written in her diary. But the secrets they unearth may be far more dangerous than what they ever imagined. Content and/or trigger warning: This story contains scenes of suicide, violence and murder that may be triggering for some readers. [[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]

Finnly Cage had it all. Her perfect life in California couldn't have gotten much better. But when there's a devastating turn in events, her once care free life is thrown into chaos. She moves away from her home, leaving behind the place she loves and her first crush, Colton Pane. But three years later, she's back. And a lot has changed. Her dad is engaged, Colton has moved on, the mean girl is at her back, and the start of senior year is only the beginning of an unending string of problems. Note: this story is unedited and was written 2 years ago so my writing has drastically improved since this was completed!

Delaney Escott lives in a world where popularity reigns supreme. If you want to be noticed, social status is everything. The government is run by the Superiors: a very exclusive group of individuals who are virtually flawless. They are smarter than us and stronger than us, and to join their ranks is the highest honor. The Superiors pay an annual visit to the top schools in the nation and evaluate the students, choosing one boy and one girl - the most Popular in the school - to go the Capitol and train for Superiority. Delaney thinks that she's the only one indifferent to (and perhaps even suspicious of) the Superiors, until Caleb Payne, the most popular boy in school, approaches her with a request. He has a task for her, one that he believes she is uniquely capable of completing. And as she helps him, Delaney discovers that the government is hiding many secrets - and that the truth of the Superiors is far from what people believe it to be. [Watty Awards 2012 Winner, Science-Fiction: On the Rise]