Stories

Jackson is a Senior in high school. Everything seems to be coming together to make this the best year yet.

Following the death of his mother, fifteen-year-old Robbie is forced to move from England to start a new life living with his uncle’s family in Canada. Homesick, confused, and missing his close friend, it soon becomes clear to his new family that Robbie is carrying more than a suitcase of baggage.

It is January 2004 and the United States and its “allies” have just completed the successful invasion of Iraq and Saddam Hussein has been captured. US Presidential Elections are on the horizon. Howard Dean is the frontrunner to be the Democratic candidate to take on George W. Bush.

These events weigh lightly on the mind of Will Schluter. He just graduated from high school a semester early and is looking forward to spending the next eight months in the pursuit of hedonistic pleasure and mind broadening experiences.

Neither Will nor his country had any idea about the challenges that lurked ahead.

Ariel has been painfully shy his whole life. Being around cute boys turns him into a clumsy, nervous, wreck. And now that he knows the biggest crush of his life, Randy, has a boyfriend all his own...will he shy away from ever falling in love again? Or will one of Randy's closest friends, Tyler, end up being the angel he was looking for all along?

Kyan can’t imagine ever moving on. With four small kids, what would that even look like? Surely not his best friend and brother-in-law; the man who drops off groceries, forces him to confront his depression, loves his kids unequivocally, and supports him without question.

Tony is from the North. Mitch is from the South. Tony is Catholic. Mitch is Baptist. Tony drives a Mercedes. Mitch drives a pickup truck. Tony wears designers. Mitch wears jeans and t-shirts. It's a mismatch made in Heaven

Jake is a popular high school student that couldn't be more lonely. Nic is a prickly loner with a dark past. The two couldn't be more different on the surface, and initially clash. An encounter between them changes everything, whether they want it to or not.

It's been said that suffering builds character. And there are few that know suffering better than young Justin. Only 14 years old, he has found an easy way out. A suicidal tendency that he is hoping will bring an end to his misery. But when he meets a mysterious boy at the end of Navy Pier one dark evening...he is given an alternative. One that will give him purpose, and set in motion the events that will lead to his ultimate destiny....in a world not like our own.

The plan was simple: survive high school and get the hell out of his hometown.

Alec Kennedy failed miserably.

He fell in love. Unfortunately, he still carried out his plan and left town. Leaving his first love behind.

Years later, Alec's forced to return home to deal with an unexpected family emergency.

There was a new plan: desperately try to avoid his former partner.

He failed miserably again.

There seems to be a pattern here.