This is a new section from a YA novel in progress, a black comedy about a school shooter. The Fundraiser table currently holds a Christmas-tree sale put on by the Rojans all-girl student service club. "Eyedropper" is the name Aurora is called--there's a story, but you don't have to know it for this excerpt. ( Read more... )

Young Adult Novel - This is part 8. Parts two, three, four, 4.5, five, six, seven, and the end of the book; part one is not yet posted.
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I stop carefully at every corner, even the ones without stop signs, and for yellow lights. At this rate I won’t even need a license when I turn sixteen. Just ( Read more... )

Young Adult Novel - This is part 7. Parts two, three, four, 4.5, five, six, and the end of the book; part one is not yet posted.
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Every now and then, Grampa gets sick. I come home from school and he’s not there. He usually goes to the Veterans Administration Hospital, checks himself in for a week ( Read more... )

Young Adult Novel - This is part 4.5. Parts two, three, four, five, and the end of the book; part one is not yet posted.
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I have no idea what to wear. By the time Grampa knocks on my door, most of my closet has become a floordrobe. Shakespeare made up words all the time, so gimme a break.

“You ( Read more... )

Young Adult Novel - This is part five. Parts two, three, four, and the end of the book; part one is not yet posted.
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The party is, as they say around here, major.

There are cars all the way down the street on both sides. Which is good, because no-one notices Grampa dropping me off on the corner in ( Read more... )

First Literary Magazine Carwash of the year, the weekend after flood day, which is not as stupid as it sounds. Around here, the saltwater from the bay backs up through the storm drains and everyone’s car gets gross after plowing through low-lying intersections at five miles an hour, frothy red-brown wakes behind them. We made a bunch of signs with ( Read more... )

“Dinosaur.” I squeeze the trigger, slowly, on a breath. A little left of the target.

“I got five. You got six.”

“Why’d I get six? I always get par on the dinosaur.” I line up again, sight just a little low, I’m not strong enough yet to fight the kick. One day I will have to start correcting in the other direction. One day I will pump a shotgun one- ( Read more... )

Junior year actually started pretty promisingly.

Peter Markowitz moved to town over the summer, and he was a hunchback, so some of the heat was off.

They made me editor of the literary magazine, mostly because no-one else wanted to be in charge of a club that still owed $688.47 on last year’s issue. This is because last year’s editor, Heather Morgan ( Read more... )

10:42. End of first lunch in five minutes. There’ve been actual scientific studies showing that teenagers function better when they stay up late and sleep late, we’re not lazy, we’re on the wrong rhythm, but school starts at 7:16 and most people in first lunch are eating breakfast. Skinny, overcooked fries, rectangles of pizza, browning apple ( Read more... )