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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.

5300+ 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 348 of 354

Headlights on Dark Roads

Submitted to Contest #58

Trigger Warning: self harm and other similar themes We're all fucked up. I forget that sometimes. We're all broken in some little way that becomes like a hole in a pair of tights. There's no fixing it; it can only get worse. I find myself judging people sometimes because of how they deal with their broken bits. Some people wear them like a new outfit to show off. Others wear them like a suit of armour, warding people off. After all, who could love a broken person.  Most people try to hide their broken. Bury it down so deep you...

45 likes 27 comments 27
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Warrior

K A

Submitted to Contest #57

The blood of a warrior resides within me. For generations, my ancestors have fought in wars to restore peace. Against those that sought to destroy their wealth, power, virtue, and leaving shards of it buried in the sand. There, in the Motherland, two tribes went to war against one another instead of standing beside each other. No unity, no harmony. These were the Tribes of the Sun and Moon. The Motherland is a vast area based at the heart of the equator. Here, the sun's rays blessed the earth and fuelled the civilians' livelihoods, the riche...

20 likes 0 comments 0
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The New York Window

Submitted to Contest #57

Mamma throws open the window, blasting hot air into our apartment. She twists the knob on the radio, and Italian music threads its way onto the gray streets of New York. Abruptly losing all self-control, she breaks into a dance. Hips swaying, fingers snapping, lips humming. Her mouth forms the unfamiliar lyrics like she has heard the song all her life.  Wrapping an apron around herself, she bounces over to the kitchen, inhaling sweet fruit and salty nuts. The oven opens, and I spy my favorite dessert on a rusted metal tray. Delicately ...

58 likes 40 comments 40
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Chrissy, Unmistakably

Submitted to Contest #55

She had asked me to meet her at the park where we- Chrissy and I- spent most of our time together. So I went. She was still with her friends when I arrived. I took a seat at the roots of a tree to wait. I looked up at the branches and leaves. It was the biggest tree in the small park, and probably the biggest tree in town. It was beautiful. Just like our love. Or what it was before.  ~.~ "You know what?" Chrissy asked after she finished her daily rant to me. "Yeah?" "You know I don't talk much. You must be at least a little bit surp...

12 likes 1 comment 1
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Rollercoaster in 4 acts

Submitted to Contest #55

‘’Can you keep a secret?’’ he asked me. ‘’Of course.’’ I replied without hesitating just to convince him to tell me. After I heard it I was sure I was never going to tell his secret to anyone else, because no one would believe me.  I knew Jacob for almost three years now and I would have never imagined he was hiding something like that. We met on our first day of college and after that day, our relationship was like an emotional rollercoaster.  We were both going to study psychology. I chose this because I wanted to help people, he...

10 likes 2 comments 2
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The Girl with Lightning Eyes

Submitted to Contest #55

She wore a rubber blindfold, melded and sewn into her face. The illegitimate child of the Norse god had eyes reminiscent of her father’s power. Though unlike him, she had never seen the cold and bitter beauty of the North. In fact, she had not seen anything since she was a young child. She had been scooped up by strange men in black garb and tormented daily by evil dressed in white for the past twenty years. She knew not who she was, where she was from, or even her name. The closest thing she knew to the embrace of a family were the cold hug...

12 likes 8 comments 8
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Keeping Secrets

Submitted to Contest #55

“Can you keep a secret?”I rolled my eyes, not bothering to look at my sister as I searched the TV for something interesting to watch. “Better than you since since you’re going to tell me one."Sarah plopped down next to me on the couch. “Well if you’re going to be like that then maybe I won’t tell you.“You can’t not tell me a secret after saying you’re going to tell me a secret!" I said, looking at her. "That’s mean.”“Fine I'll tell you but you can’t tell anyone. Janet will kill me if she knew I blabbed after promising I wouldn’t.“I’m your bi...

14 likes 1 comment 1
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Cherry Popsicle Day, ending sequel, The Secret

Submitted to Contest #55

“Can you keep a secret?” Johnny said in a whisper as they lay gazing into each other’s eyes in Ashley’s bed, the early morning light shining through her window. From the moment the bedroom door had closed behind them the day before they had passionately made up for the 3 and-a-half years of separation. Now they were both fulfilled and serene. Seeing the calm manner that he had posed the question she couldn’t imagine that the secret was something bad. Still, knowing his condition she wanted to reassure herself.“Nothing bad I hope?” She said s...

16 likes 0 comments 0
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What's coming?

Submitted to Contest #55

I leaned forward eagerly, watching the rain soaked male lead edge towards the girl, his lips- I frowned slightly, distracted from the ridiculous movie by even more ridiculous sounds. After a brief struggle to locate the remote, I switched off the show, shaken out of the romance by a strange set of noises. I frowned again, wondering if I'd actually heard something, or my inherited paranoia had finally caused me to snap. No, there it was again. I looked up at the ceiling and swore in annoyance. My little sister and her stupid friend, probab...

35 likes 18 comments 18
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Ten Years Later

Submitted to Contest #54

     I hadn’t seen Jesse in about ten years. We met back in ninth grade and immediately had a lot in common. We could have been good friends. Instead, he professed his love and I dumped him, only to realize that was the dumbest mistake in my life. Not only had I hurt him and ruined everything between us, but I chose that moment to discover my strong feelings for him. Oh yeah, and somewhere in there, he started dating my former best friend, Rebecca. When we graduated high school and went off to different colleges, com...

14 likes 1 comment 1
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Shy Guy

Submitted to Contest #54

Trust me, I’ve heard everything,” Alan said. “I don’t think you can list something I haven’t thought about already.” Alan was splayed on his bed. He felt uncomfortable laying like this with someone else in the room, even if it was Sally. But he also didn’t feel like moving. “I think you can do it. You just have to practice,” Sally said, looking down at Alan’s strange position. His left hand was under his head and the other arm was sticking straight out, dangling over the side of the bed. His legs were straight but lay awkwardly apart from ea...

15 likes 6 comments 6
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Phases of the Rhoon

Submitted to Contest #54

Treatment for proposed TV series.Anthology show: SECOND CHANCESEpisode One: Phases of the RhoonScene One-We open on the cluttered, messy, but not filthy double wide trailer of Langdon Janssen (late 60's), a weathered old cuss with thinning white hair, known as GRANTHER to his trio of grandchildren all from Granther's daughter Shaunessy, the... Free Spirit. DOBBIN (12) is a befreckled ginger with a mop of blazing red hair, the bangs from which tend to cover his eyes like a shaggy dog. SOJOURN (9), from a different father, is a slightly built ...

21 likes 12 comments 12
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The Ouija Board

Submitted to Contest #53

Phoebe leaned over the table, forearms pressed to the wood, to whisper to Maxon, “Don’t tell Julia, because I know it was hard for her to find this place, and I definitely need the vacation, but this house is creepy.”  Maxon widened his eyes, leaning towards her, “I know. The ceiling creaks so much, and I swear I heard someone knock on my door and, like, rattle the doorknob at three a.m. this morning, but neither of you were up.”  “Wait, really? I-” “Hey guys,” Julia pushed open the bedroom door with her toe, a large brown box w...

29 likes 19 comments 19
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The Eternal Summer of Somner

Submitted to Contest #53

Kids waited in lines for a refreshing ice cream cone from a sweat-drenched vendor, only for their long-awaited treat to melt in the cone. I licked my parched lips, feeling thirst well up in my throat, and I greeted it like an old friend. From my hideout in the crook of the slide at the deserted playground on an near empty avenue, I tried to peel my perspiring skin from the plastic play-set. Halfway through the sticky ordeal, I gave up, slumping back into the sliver of shade. I contemplated trying to find a building whose air conditioning was...

16 likes 1 comment 1
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Summer Dreams

Submitted to Contest #53

“Tell me again why living in Florida during the summer is a good thing,” I said, turning on the garden hose. “It's nothing but nonstop heatwaves.”Sitting nearby on a lawn chair, my roommate and best friend Crystal let out an exaggerated sigh. “I would but I’m suffering from heatstroke so hurry up and hand over the water.”“You don’t think this is a bit pathetic?” I adjusted the flow to an easy stream before handing the hose to her. “Sitting in our backyard, dressed in hot pants and tank tops while soaking each other with a garden hose?”“You g...

11 likes 1 comment 1
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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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