Contemporaryya příběhů

I've always known what I'm good for. Winning games. Solving problems. Making things easy for everyone else. My life runs on usefulness. Do the right thing, don't ask for more, don't get left behind. From the outside, it looks like I have everything. Money, expensive clothes, girls, cars. From the inside, it feels like I only exist when I'm needed. Then everything changed and I was forced to ask a question I've never had to answer before: Who am I if I stop being useful? Content Note: This story explores emotional neglect, performance-based self-worth, and the slow process of learning how to be known. Themes are handled thoughtfully and without graphic content.

"Secrets don't stay grounded at 30,000 feet." They said this trip was a fresh start. A chance to reset. To finally put the past behind them. But the past doesn't forget. And it doesn't forgive. Six friends board an early morning flight bound for a senior-year adventure that should've brought them closer. Instead, the thin air inside the cabin seems to stretch every glance, sharpen every silence. Old wounds reopen. Guilt bubbles under the surface. And someone-maybe more than one-isn't being honest. Trapped above the clouds, with nowhere to go and nothing but time to remember, the group begins to crack under pressure. Paranoia creeps in. Alliances shift. And that one night-the one they all agreed never to talk about-starts to feel a lot closer than cruising altitude. Because on this flight, the truth is coming up for air. And not everyone is ready to breathe it.

After a sudden hiatus from social media, popular YouTuber Belinda Quincy feels like she has her mojo back and attempts to do something to make it up to her fans. But that's when a mystery girl's music video goes viral. Jealousy creeps in at all the attention the girl starts getting, and in a bid to do something that puts her back as the center of attention, she exposes herself to a cyberbully. Her secrets and personal life take no time in appearing on social media, and her life begins to fall apart. Despite having the boy that's been sending her flirtatious winks by her side, it still feels like everything is over. But what if she's keeping the cyberbully close and doesn't realize it until it's too late? Editors' Pick, July/September 2021. Featured by the Community Team. (Cover by @goldenways)

Kacey and Robin never expected to matter this much to each other. Two quiet summers at camp turned them into something almost like best friends. But freshmen year changes everything Kacey transfers to Robin's school, and suddenly their friendship isn't as simple anymore. Kacey is afraid of people getting to close while Robin's afraid of getting pushed away. As the year unfolds, both girls are forced to confront their biggest fears: getting too close... or being left behind.

When your dreams shatter, sometimes love helps you build new ones. Maya Chen used to be unstoppable on the soccer field-until a torn ACL benched her for eight months and left her questioning everything she thought she knew about herself. Now back at State University for her junior year, she's fighting for a spot on the team that once revolved around her skills, terrified that she'll never be the player she used to be. Tyler Martinez has always been the quiet one, the steady goalkeeper who watches everything from the back of the field. He knows what it's like to lose yourself in an injury, to wonder if you'll ever feel whole again. When he sees Maya struggling to find her footing, he can't help but step out of the shadows to offer support. What starts as post-practice pep talks and extra training sessions slowly becomes something neither of them expected. But with the pressure of the upcoming season, Maya's fear of not being enough, and Tyler's own dreams on the line, falling for each other might be the biggest risk they've ever taken. Sometimes the best comeback isn't the one you planned.