for the guy i see every so often but i'm too shy to talk to

*Wattys 2018 Winner / Hidden Gems* CREATE YOUR OWN MR. RIGHT Weeks before Valentine's, seventeen-year-old Kate Lapuz goes through her first ever breakup, but soon she stumbles upon a mysterious new app called My Dream Boyfriend, an AI chatbot that has the ability to understand human feelings. Casually, she participates in the app's trial run but finds herself immersed in the empathic conversations with her customizable virtual boyfriend, Ecto. In a society both connected and alienated by technology, Kate suspects an actual secret admirer is behind Ecto. Could it be the work of the techie student council president Dion or has Kate really found her soulmate in bits of computer code? She decides to get to the bottom of the cutting-edge app. Her search for Ecto's real identity leads Kate to prom, where absolute knowledge comes with a very steep price.

"a boy. a girl. a pair of ballet shoes. a hundred recitals. and a thousand dances." #36 in shortstories as of 29th December 2019 #21 in tearjerker as of 30th December 2019

"a boy. a girl. a pair of headphones. a hundred bus rides. and a thousand songs." ▪ #2 in Rides as of 16th February 2019

All it takes is one night to change your life.

Toby is your average teenage boy; struggling through high school, has parents who are obsessed with the idea that he would NOT get into a good college, and dreading the responsibilities of being an adult. However, when a certain red-headed girl keeps appearing in his dreams, he can't shake the feeling that she is more than what she seems to be, that maybe she isn't just a figment of his imagination; maybe she's real. And maybe -- just maybe -- she needs his help. © by Sydney Druckman 2022. Early matters subject to change.

We look up at the same sky and we see the same thing and suddenly, it's not so lonely anymore.