Jubilee Forbess

“The Matchbreaker (Part Three) ” by Jubilee Forbess

Submitted to Contest #81

I drive to school with a stomach full of toast and eggs and a mind full of unanswered questions. My grandma has been secretive about a lot of things, including the accident that killed my mother and the real reason why I came to live with them and not my father, but when it comes to her and grandpa I thought it would be a pretty open book. I mean, they’re one of the town’s original couples. Most people know the story, especially me. My grandparents met when they were sixteen. My grandma- Dina- had just moved to the town and my grandpa- Mille...

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“The Matchbreaker (Part Two) ” by Jubilee Forbess

Submitted to Contest #81

After school, Courtney blows off our plans for movie night for date night with Adrian. It’s not like I didn’t expect that, but it still hurts to hear her say it out loud. She’s mad at me for fighting with him, but she won’t say anything that makes him look bad. She won’t say, “Yeah, he’s rude and your snarky behavior in response was really appropriate!” I wish she remembered that time in third grade, where Adrian took his bucket of festival nacho cheese and poured it, orange and sticky and hot, on Courtney’s science fair project. I wish she ...

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“The Matchbreaker (Part One) ” by Jubilee Forbess

Submitted to Contest #81

“You’re a terrible person.”  “Then you’re in love with a terrible person.” “Who said I love you?” “Mm, but you didn’t have to say anything at all.”  “Would you two shut up?” My water bottle flips up in the air and lands near their feet on the bleacher. They’ve been rivals since kindergarten, and now they’re… whatever. I don’t want to hear about it. Am I bitter? Maybe. Is the PDA parade two inches away from me absolutely disgusting? Yes. Heck yes. Five thousand percent affirmative. I hate it. I want to kick these lovebirds off t...

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“Morri ” by Jubilee Forbess

Submitted to Contest #79

The house is quiet, like a needle, but sharper, and with all the tension of midnight in a bar with the windows shot out and one guy in the corner just watching the others fight and saying to himself, "Get 'em, son, you got 'em."The house is quiet, for once.Inside, a girl is eating ice cream from a Starbucks cup, her long legs crossed and propped up on the top of her table. The television sits a few feet away. No one's watching it. No one could watch it, even if they did feel like catching some one scene rerun. It's broken. Broken along with ...

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“Hobbies Wanted. ” by Jubilee Forbess

Submitted to Contest #78

Stamp Collecting  I started stamp collecting when my grandfather died and left me his collection. The lawyer’s name was Mr. Lud and he smelled like pineapples and every time he walked into the room my mom would bury her head in her purse and I’d hear her say, “Pineapple pansy,” which overall sounded very rude. I don’t think she liked Mr. Lud, mostly because she called him that and she didn’t get the house. Grandfather Lettuce left it to her sister, my aunt, Gladys Lorraine. In my mother’s opinion, Gladys Lorraine shouldn’t have gotte...

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“Afra and Gervassi: Timeout” by Jubilee Forbess

Submitted to Contest #78

Hanna’s lips were thin and pressing, much like the hands that gathered fabric at the small of Gervassi’s back. Hanna’s lips asked questions where Afra’s had always given answers. Gervassi couldn’t say a word. He looked at her hands; they invited him to a life or travel, of whimsy, of tranquil chaos. There was so much potential for the two of them as people, but as he continued to sit there, thinking of Hanna’s lips against his own, he knew there was nothing for them together.  “I shouldn’t be here.” Gervassi straightened his shirt and ...

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“Ode to a Gummy Bear Graveyard ” by Jubilee Forbess

Submitted to Contest #74

to my pillow Free verse poetry Floating like dead feet against the shore Wraps seaweed around your legs Pushes you deeper into your bed And you wish you had thicker blankets Thicker pillows Thicker skin. Your friends Love you They Put no one above you But sometimes you wonder if they’d love if they knewThat you killed your betta fish when you were nine Choked your hamster at age five Dropped lemon drops in your cat’s food bowl And still don’t know what the word arseni...

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“And They Shall Inherit the Stars ” by Jubilee Forbess

Submitted to Contest #72

Quinlan and Vienna were out getting coffee when the stars started falling from the sky. They fell right past the clouds sloshing into their cups with a soft splashing sound. Vienna picked one up with the edge of her left pinky; it was a blue star and it was dying and neither she nor Quinlan said a word until it faded, just a shadow of light on Vienna’ fingertip. Then Vienna stirred her cup of coffee and Quinlan just stared into his own cup as though it was made of miracles. In a way, it was. “Stars,” Quinlan said. It was only another wo...

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“noa's arc (lamp) ” by Jubilee Forbess

Submitted to Contest #72

It was Valentine’s Day. There was a hallway full of roses, chocolate boxes, teddy bears, the occasional card, for those so inclined to handwrite sentiments, and then, of course, there was a trash can full of ramen. Maybe that doesn’t make sense to you, reader, because you don’t really think of ramen noodles having anything to do with Valentine’s Day aka Singles Awareness Day. It made sense to Perlita Martan, though, because they were her noodles and she’d thrown them in the trash after her best friend told her she was going with th...

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“let's buy a house ” by Jubilee Forbess

You laugh as they wheel them out to the car. They’re your best friend and you love them to death, maybe even beyond it, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that they remind you of Alvin the Chipmunk right now. You guys are at the Maxillofacial surgeon’s office in town today, and they’ve just been released from surgery. Wisdom teeth. It’s funny because a month earlier you got your wisdom teeth out and your mom drove. Your best friend was busy. They had practice, and heaven forbid you come between them and their extracurriculars. Now you’re in th...

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“Afra and Gervassi: I'm Sorry” by Jubilee Forbess

“So, how come you didn’t want to FaceTime with Afra? Surely you aren’t worried she’ll be upset we’re together.”  Gervassi leaned away from Hanna. She reminded him of a song. Afra reminded him of entire playlists, movies, sunsets, and of course, onions. Hanna was a line in a chorus and Afra was… more than that. Obviously! What was wrong with him? Hanna was a friend. She was an awesome friend who smelled like caramel and always showed up whenever he needed her most, but still, a friend.  “I don’t know. I thought she’d find it weird...

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“Afra and Gervassi: Two Truths and A Lie ” by Jubilee Forbess

Submitted to Contest #68

Gervassi unlocked the door to his apartment and stepped in. The place smelled just as he left it, proof that either his roommate hadn’t cleaned in the week he’d been gone, or that he hadn’t been back to the apartment in seven days. Either way, Gervassi didn’t want to waste energy on worrying about that guy. He was exhausted and he wanted to crawl into bed and sleep for seventeen hours. It had been a wild week and the rest would be received so, so well.   Only Gervassi was halted by a ringing phone seconds before he could sink into ...

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“Emphasis” by Jubilee Forbess

Submitted to Contest #68

This was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives. Isn’t it funny how, when you put emphasis on certain words, it can change the meaning of the sentence entirely? This was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives, meaning that out of all days in their (whoever they may be) lives, this one particular day was destined to be the happiest. This was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives. You could take that one in the way of something happened to make it the opposite of happy; something irrevocable and unwonted...

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“Triscin and Muz: A Duet :) ” by Jubilee Forbess

Submitted to Contest #66

Triscin sat on the porch of the Colorado cabin, his arms heavy inside the coat Eleanor had returned to him as he left the hospital. He stared down at the phone in his hands. He’d been scrolling through old pictures and thinking of deleting them, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Every time his finger got close to that dreaded trash can, every time he got close to shredding another strip from the paper mache sculpture he’d become, he froze. It was impossible. Triscin was looking at a picture he and Eleanor had taken on their way to Colo...

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“October Masks ” by Jubilee Forbess

Submitted to Contest #65

Imagine:  Nima Lachapelle.  A ballerina from Arkansas, disillusioned and disenchanted, cheated out of a fortune by her scummy ex boyfriend. She’s running from the law after a late night tire slashing with friends gone wrong.  She’s currently late for an audition, but standing in front of a coffee shop with cold hands and a mask covering half her face.  The order will be long and complicated; it will set her back at least twelve dollars, but what she loses in cash she will make up for in energy.  Nineteen years old an...

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