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Looking for a steady supply of teens & young adult short stories? Every week thousands of writers submit stories to our writing contest.

5380+ Teens & young adult Short Stories to read

Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest. Looking for the best short stories for teens? Our collection of funny, suspenseful, and relatable young adult short stories will meet your needs.

Teens & young adult Short Stories – Page 28 of 359

White Jacket

Submitted to Contest #273

It was a Tuesday. As Melinda walked beside her guardian, she watched swifts weave their aerial paths above Castle Street, flying and feasting on their breakfast in mid-air. Someone talking rapidly distracted her. She glanced down the side street and watched a business suited man clutching a mobile phone while carrying a laptop under his other arm.With practiced ease, she disengaged, not wanting to find out what lay beneath the spikes of frustration, though envying him both gadgets. Everyone had technology at their fingertips except her.Child...

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A Reckoning at Hills Peek

Submitted to Contest #273

It’s like someone flipped a light switch out here. Everything is black. The almost full moon must’ve crept behind a cloud or tree . . . or something.I stop. My eyes dart struggling to find a point of reference. I fumble my phone from my pocket, tap my screen to turn on my flashlight, and gulp in steady breaths again. Thank God I charged my phone earlier.Now there’s extra light behind me. My bestie, Celeste, must’ve turned on her flashlight as well. The path is visible once more with its roots and ruts. I’ve already stumbled twice trying to k...

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Hazy Memory

Submitted to Contest #273

I don’t remember much of that night, but I wish I did. I remember seeing her earlier at the party, her long, curled hair slightly covering her face, like she couldn’t decide whether she wanted to be seen or not. The white dress she was wearing that stopped just before her upper thigh, clinging so nicely to her curves leaving me salivating at the mouth. The way it was framing her hourglass figure perfectly, showing off her long olive legs and smooth skin, almost in a teasing way, like she wanted attention. And that’s what I did, I gave her th...

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Winter

Submitted to Contest #273

Vienna sat on the creaking swing set, waiting for him and tracing her cold fingers numbly on the rust that smelled like blood. As she looked around, the sunset-colored leaves that fell on the pavement were the only glimpse of color on this bleak, lifeless autumn afternoon. Winter was creeping into the year, once more, like an unwanted guest.  She feared winter the way little kids feared the dark. It was a pulsing, throbbing remainder of the way time passed mercilessly and waited for no one. She realized time felt like a race, she had to...

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A Tale of Justice

Submitted to Contest #273

Dear Diary, Today, I took my mischief to the next level, and I can't help but chuckle at what I've done now! Oh, what fun I've had! You simply won't believe the little plot I concocted. As you know, I’m now in the middle of a little game with Mathi over his beloved T-Rex dinosaur, the one he’s used to scare the living daylights out of me every day. This towering, prehistoric beast has been dwelling beneath my bed, used by him as his sidekick in his relentless quest to rouse me from my slumber each morning. He finds it funny; but you know s...

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Girls Like Me

Submitted to Contest #273

Sensitive content: LanguageI walked seven blocks from my apartment. Gran’s house looked abandoned—peeling paint, an overgrown, weedy lawn. The door barely clung to its hinges, but the lock gleamed, shiny and new. I knew she was home as soon as I smelled her burning cigarette. “Hi Gran, it’s just me,” I called out, hurrying toward the back porch where I knew she would be sitting, absentmindedly picking at the stuffing from her old, worn chair with her left hand. Gran smokes with her right—her fingers stained orange up to the second knuckle, t...

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Lying To Myself

Submitted to Contest #273

“Have you ever lied to someone in this room?” It’s 4:15 pm, eight of us sit in the high school cafeteria. Mr. Hollowaty has been asking us questions for the last half-hour. I feel Mr. Hollowaty looking at me before he utters my name, “Miss Addler?” My face burns. Max glances at me without lifting his head before looking away. He couldn’t know that I lied to him, right? Brianna is staring directly at Max. I want to throw up. Don’t tell anyone, but she’s sleeping with Mr. Hollowaty. The words I uttered to Max a mere three hours ago. “Sophie?”&...

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Menacing secret

Submitted to Contest #273

I grew up in a small town in NE Alabama and I was one of eight children. Our house wasn't big and it was isolated from the rest of the world. There were four boys and four girls. Thomas was the oldest and he worked in the coal mine with Daddy. Samantha was eighteen and she got a scholarship to Auburn University and was doing well in college. Brad was sixteen and in high school he was athletic and was on the football team. I am thirteen, and in 7th grade and doing fair in school. Daddy tells me that I am his special child and that I can ...

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The Strangeling Guardians Society

Submitted to Contest #273

The tree branch tapped on the window twice just like it had been doing for the past few days as Roslivipona Stone ran her hands through her scalp once and then one more time. She was too preoccupied to notice the branch.  Roslivipona eyed her chin-cropped hair, which never grew longer; the two chunks of dark locks near her temples created the illusion of a devil’s horns. Roslivipona patted her hand near her temples each morning, only to find the spikes rigid in place.  She sighed in front of the mirror, hoping her hair would cooper...

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The Beginning of the Loop

Submitted to Contest #273

   I was running from something, I just didn’t know what. It was following me with an intense yellow glow. I could feel all my senses rushing back to me. I didn’t want to die, I didn’t want to be stuck here all my life, or at least what was left of it. I just didn’t want to be alone. That was what I was thinking after the reality shift, or at least that’s what I and the very few others that were involved called it. It all started a few years ago. I was 15 at the time. I remember sitting in my backyard underneath the patio roof...

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A Somber Fulfillment of the Countess's Wishes

Submitted to Contest #273

The sky was littered with sparkling lights, indicating night had arrived. The neighbor’s windows were covered, no flashing of a television, no movement of shadows. The crickets chirped away as if laughing at the funniest of jokes.Shania moved towards her home, noticing the toys thrown about the yard. Her younger brother and sister, Raya and Pryor, would be in very big trouble in the morning.She adjusted her worn, dark khaki colored knapsack that continuously escaped her shoulder for the hundredth time, hoisting it with a quick huff as she da...

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Silent Screams

Submitted to Contest #273

Trigger Warning:This story addresses multiple sensitive themes, including mental health struggles, poverty, child exploitation, physical abuse, manipulation, and coercion. It explores the harsh realities of life in an impoverished environment, the emotional impact of hunger and neglect, and the pressure to engage in illegal activities as a means of survival. Reader discretion is advised. Title: Silent Screams Diary Entry 1 - March 5thMama always says, “Keep it inside, Bobby. Don’t let it out.” But it’s too heavy. Every time I try to swallow ...

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Did You Hear That?

Submitted to Contest #272

“Did you hear that?” I didn’t hear anything. Apart from the sound of sleeping bags rustling and a zipper struggling. “What?” “That.” I still didn’t hear anything. “What’s that?” “You hear it now?” “No -- I don’t know -- what is it?” I heard crickets and some other things probably. Certainly nothing special though. “I don’t know! It’s … something…” I guess Shelley wouldn’t agree. “Well I hear things…” “You do!?” “Well yeah, but I don’t think they’re anything to get riled up about.” I realized I had to pee now. Sigh. Was there dew outsi...

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Temptations

Submitted to Contest #272

"Hi." I stepped into the jeweler's store, the security guard opening the door and giving me a curt nod. I tried to ignore the sound of my fluttering heartbeat. It had been so long since I had been in a store. With so many things. To steal. I ignored how my eyes started twitching at the thought. You see, I'm a naturally talented thief, and without a doubt, unfortunately that is my one true vocation in life. And girls. Speaking of which, there was a particularly gorgeous one looking at me from behind the counter, her bright blue eyes framed b...

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The Night of the Fire

Submitted to Contest #273

The flames were too bright to be real. For a long moment, all Anyah could do was stare, transfixed by the billowing smoke curling into the sky, spreading like dark fingers clawing at the moon. The old house was supposed to be abandoned, a forgotten relic of the past on the edge of town. With broken windows, vines overtaking its brick walls, and a sagging front porch, the place was always deserted except for them. And yet, there it was, burning. “This wasn’t supposed to happen,” Josh whispered, his eyes wide and locked on the flames. His...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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