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Chiara Marino, Excerpt #1: Living With Demons

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Excerpt #1: Living With Demons The morning sun cascaded through the windows of the suburban home as Chiara Marino studied herself in the mirror. Her dark, curly hair was impossibly frizzy, her hazel eyes were too small, and her smile showed too much of her teeth. She looked like a boring, plain mouse. No,  she stopped herself.  Today is going to be great. She finished by pulling her hair into her signature style of a messy twist held in place with a pen. Simple and practical. “It’s okay to admit defeat sometimes,” her older brother’s voice sounded from behind her. “Especially when something is a lost cause.” He was standing in her doorway with his arms folded casually and his dark hair smoothed back with gel. His appearance was tall and dominating, muscular from years of athletics. She fixed him with a scowl. “What do you want, Adrian?” She nearly jumped when she saw a dark billowing cloud of smoke appear on his shoulder. As she tried not to watch, the cloud shifte
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Excerpt from the Short Story - Zahid's Library Card

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Excerpt from Zahid's Library Card Zahid realized he was wasting precious time and returned his focus to his homework. “What on earth is a dangling modifier?” he asked himself. These were not words in his Conversational English Dictionary. “Hey, you’re the new kid, right?” the boy with the cross asked. Zahid turned in his seat and nodded, glad for the friendly interaction. He held up his paper. “Forgot to do my homework already,” he explained. “The language still confuses me.” “Here, let me help you,” the boy offered. He started spelling out the words Zahid needed to write down. Zahid was beyond grateful for the help. The words were utterly unfamiliar to him. He knew that he shouldn’t have been cutting corners and letting the boy just give him the answers, but he told himself it was only this once. And it was under extreme circumstances. When they got off the bus, he fervently thanked the boy before they parted ways. He walked into his homeroom feeling
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Excerpt from the Short Story - Peter's Bad Day

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WARNING: Spoilers ahead! Excerpt from Peter's Bad Day “I don’t care what the Buddha said, I am never going to forgive you for this,” Peter grumbled to Rob as Chiara followed Sensei Charlie into the kitchen. Rob had been teasing Chiara and driving Peter crazy ever since they had knocked on the door. Peter was not having a good day. “Oh?” Rob feigned innocence while he bounced Suzy against his shoulder. “Would you rather I just told her you had the runs?” “Wait, what?” Peter had to think a moment, to remember the incident. “That was, like, two years ago!” Sensei Rob grinned. “I told you I’d get back at you when you least expected it.” “Seriously? That’s what this is about? If I had known I never would have brought her to meet you!” Rob laughed. “Alright, I’ll stop,” he promised. Suzy squirmed on Rob’s lap until she was facing Peter. He took a few moments to make funny faces at her, winning a few smiles and giggles. “All joking aside,” Rob said, “She seems
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Excerpt from the Short Story - Mac's Character Arc

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WARNING: Spoilers ahead! Excerpt from Mac's Character Arc Sixth Grade As Mac waited in the office space of her new school, she stretched out the collar of her crisp, navy blue sweatshirt and read the line of secret script written on the inside: “Why are you so downcast, my soul, why do you stir within me? Hope in G-d.” She, of course, had been careful not to write the full name of G-d, as it was too sacred to write on material that could be destroyed. Mac had stayed up late the previous night to write multiple lines all over the inside of her sweater with a silver permanent marker. It was her way of keeping the words of G-d close to her. This one particular line was her answer for every problem and worry, so she had written it over her heart. Why am I so downcast? she thought. I’m only starting a new school. In the middle of the semester. And everyone already knows each other. And they all have the same religion. And I’m a stranger in a strange land. Mac si
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Excerpt from the Short Story - Zeke's Fight

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WARNING: Spoilers ahead! Excerpt from Zeke's Fight Zeke tried to alleviate his restlessness by balancing on the back legs of the butt-cramping-hard library chair. Seriously, he thought, if they wanted people to actually come to the library, they should get better chairs. He loosed a rumbling sigh and righted his chair. He was mere hours into the first day of his in-school suspension and already, he was going crazy with boredom. He had arranged his books like a drum set and pounded rhythms with a pencil and a highlighter. He had dozed off. He had counted along with second hand of the clock. He had even tried studying. That was how desperately bored he was. Now he slumped with his cheek pressed firmly against the wooden table and contemplated what had landed him in such a torturous state. Not what, he thought. But who. Tristan. He had punched Tristan right in the nose. Well, first, he had said he was going to kill Tristan. And before that, he had grabbed hi
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Excerpt from the Short Story - Foiled Plans

Warning: Spoilers ahead! Excerpt from Foiled Plans Peter would have raised an eyebrow at Zeke’s comment, but instead, his eyes were on the hallway. His heart sped up as he wondered if Chiara was talking about him. He hoped she wasn’t. Yet, in another way, he hoped that she was. He didn’t like the idea of her spilling his secrets, but he did like thinking about how much fun they had had at the dance. He didn’t think a party could be so fun. Being with her had confirmed his suspicions: against all his plans, he had fallen. And hard. “Anyway,” Zeke said, craning his head to make sure the girls were gone and behind closed doors. “I’m guessing they’ll be busy for a while, right? Probably talking about ‘how does my hair look?’ and ‘Do you like this outfit?’” He spoke in a poor imitation of a girl’s voice. “I bet we’ll have enough time.” Cosmo paused the game immediately and put down his controller. “Let’s do this,” he said. “Do what?” Peter asked, a little disappointed th
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