In which two insomniacs bond over mutual dark eye circles and that feeling of emptiness that occurs right around the 4am point. [#34 short story]

Seventeen-year-old Nora isn’t one for celebrations, but her family is. It's Fourth of July and they have been invited to an old friend’s fancy picnic party. Even if she doesn’t want to, Nora agrees to go, hoping to hide behind a tree with a book all night. Just when she realizes her plan is failing, a frantic and handsome boy asks for her help. He needs apple pies and she wants to leave the party. Together, they embark on a journey through the city on a mission that seems just as impossible as trying to buy turkey on Thanksgiving Day. Get ready for a hot summer night filled with tons of BBQ, historic figures, watermelon eating contests, headaches, fireworks, romance and apple pies.

When Reyna Winters-a girl with Skittle-red hair and a candy addiction-finds out that she's failing Chemistry, she's given a final chance to pass an impossible test. SHe needs help from the only other student who has passed the test. He's known around school as the White Coat Freak-a boy who is never seen without his lab coat on. Wesley Black may seem colder than steel, but much more lies under his stoic persona. While Wesley teaches Reyna about science, she makes it her mission to teach him about having fun. And together they learn about a different kind of chemistry. ***This is the first draft written in 2012. A revised version with more scenes and better romance titled SWEETLY & SCIENTIFICALLY is completed on my Wattpad profile.*** © All Rights Reserved

WATTPAD ORIGINAL EDITION After a devastating accident, trapeze artist Corey Ryder gets stuck living a normal teenage life and attempts to reconnect with the mother she barely knows. ***** As a trapeze artist, Corey Ryder is used to flying high above the rest of the world, but when a tragic accident destroys the only home she's ever known, everything comes crumbling down around her. Forced to stay in the small town of Sherwood, California, she must face the realities of being a normal teenage girl. Attending high school, making friends, and falling in love for the first time are just the beginning, because being back in California means facing a large part of her past she's been trying hard to forget-her mom. Content and/or Trigger Warning: this story contains mentions of child/domestic abuse

A few days before the 25th, Farah Dailey decided to take a risk and anonymously deliever a Christmas gift to her long-time crush, Jamie Bright. Things don't go quite as planned when a sudden snow blizzard strikes and Farah blunders her way into a sweet shop - coincidentally owned by Jamie's family. Hm, but perhaps being trapped with your crush inside a sweet shop isn't all bad? [ N a N o W r i M o - 2 O 1 2 ]

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."

Two people. Two cups of coffee. Two lives suddenly intertwined. 2014 © All Rights Reserved [Short Story #550, 7.23.14]

They met in December.

skinny love : (n.) when two people love each other, but are too shy to admit it, even though they still show it. Paristella's Contest ~ Round 2 [ Short Story #54 / Romance #240 ]

The next December, they were apart. [Sequel to December]