Smile, nod, and follow. That's slightly most of Elea's life living in the shadow of her beautiful best friend Marilyn--naturally second place to this first place kind of girl. When she meets Liam, the tall, sweet smelling, not to mention good-looking guy Marylin is friends with things might look up. Or not. Through time and distance, Elea will finally find herself and maybe even have her own happily ever after.

Writers have to get their characters from somewhere. Sometimes it's just not as simple as making them up.

Hudson Ellis is good at his job. Somehow, he manages not to annoy people when he knocks at their doors and asks them to contribute to the charity he works for - instead, he gets them to sign up for sponsoring programmes and fish whatever spare change they have out of their pockets. Even the infamously tough residents of New York City are falling victim to Hudson's easy-going ways and wide smile; that is, until one woman renders him speechless with sarcastic refusals and slams her door in his face. Perhaps Hudson would be able to forget her - if it wasn't for the fact that she lives on the same floor of the next apartment over, and they both have floor-to-ceiling windows that allow for a rather generous view into each other's flats.

I will always adore you and our little talks, for my heart is yours.

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 Shot.

❝It was a little after eight-the sky a void of raspberry and periwinkle and lavender carnations-and possibly the most humid day in the middle of July when I first saw him tagging the side of an abandoned building next to the rundown Mini-Mart.❞ - Young Writer's Short Story Contest Finalist.

"Give me ten days, and I can give you ten reasons not to die." Evan paused. "And if I can't change your mind by then, you can go jump off that cliff."

When Rowan embarks to pick up her father's ex girlfriend from the airport, she was never expecting the unlikely companion, a boy determined to make her New Year brighter.

It's basic. It's cliché. All because sometimes we need a cute little story where everything turns out perfect.