“Zachary Kahn-Molina, do you have siblings?” Mr. Rattrazino paused, stub of yellow chalk cinched between his second and third fingers like the suave, self-destructive, chain-smoking lead of a 1930s movie. Rattrazino—mostly, we called him “Mr. R,” though a few smart-asses (usually after they’d bombed a test) muttered “Mr. Rat” behind his back—was old-school that way. […]
Third Place Winner of Voyage’s Love & War Contest judged by NYT Bestselling Author Ayana Gray Chapter One Three nails stuck out of the ground an inch from Lane’s left big toe. Their heads were a quarter inch wide, and they stood a half inch from the surface of the soil. They almost looked like […]
Second Place Winner of Voyage’s Love & War Contest judged by NYT Bestselling Author Ayana Gray . Chapter One Present day “If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger: I should not seem […]
First Place Winner of Voyage’s Love & War Contest judged by NYT Bestselling Author Ayana Gray . Chapter One Clio twisted the tuning key and plucked the shortest string again, bending close to her harp to hear it over the patricians’ murmurs. Too much—the note had gone sharp. She inched the key back with twitches […]
Content warning: Themes of death .Your dad woke from a ten-day coma. He was forty-seven and living in the in-between measurements of time. You were fourteen. He shared a room with four men at a nursing home that specialized in neuro diseases like Parkinson’s and MS. He had the latter. During the coma, the nursing […]
Content warning: Physical and verbal abuse of a teenager . Thursday Night or Friday Morning The night air hit me like a slap. I kept my hands in my coat pockets and ducked my chin to my chest. After crossing the grocery store parking lot, I headed up the main street, past the classy little […]
Erica’s in our spot, her gold hair shining in the sun. I drop my best friend Birdie’s hand and get ready to run. I’ve spent eighty-eight miserable days waiting for a glimpse of her. She won’t notice me until I’m past the newsstand. I’ll skid to a stop, slide my hands around her waist, and […]
I forgot how cold winter can be. The frigid air is a thousand tiny pinpricks on my face as I follow Caleb down the path between our houses. “Come on, Kiki,” he shouts at me over his shoulder. His breath is a thick white cloud against the night sky. “California hasn’t made you soft already, […]
I liked the way her hand danced with the wind. The air felt harsh blowing against my face in the backseat, but Osh made it seem like her and the wind were good friends. Her other hand rested low on the steering wheel. She was undeniably cool. I made a mental note to drive just […]
(red) On the outskirts of the city lies a sleepy town I’ve given everything to: first breaths, first birthdays, first broken bones. I can’t see everything from my bedroom window. Not the pair of tracks that snake through town like the skeletal remains of a serpent and its former lover, always running in perfect parallel, […]
Jenn and I sat at the table in the corner and drank our punch. It was so, so bad. The punch, not the table. Our table was fine, I guess. We were far enough away from the dance floor to avoid getting bumped into, but we were close enough to get a good view of […]
One crisp autumn morning, Cary Zeiglman almost punched a twelve-year-old in the face. Emphasis on almost. She didn’t, but she comforted herself with the fact that she could have if she had really wanted to. Instead, she plastered a smile on her face, reminded the snotty little twerp that yes, he did have to wear […]