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Discover weekly, the best short stories

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

5400+ 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 50 of 360

Almost Heaven

Submitted to Contest #253

*mild references to female puberty* The students of Chesterton Middle School all but clamored for the final bell of the school year. Seventh-graders Samantha, Alexis, Sydney, and Kayla congregated in the commons area while awaiting their dismissal. "This summer is going to be so dope, guys! We'll all be thirteen by next school year--actual teenagers!" Kayla exclaimed, "We could all shop at Sephora literally by ourselves then!" "Your birthday falls on the start of Grove Summer Nights Festival!" Alexis noted, "Will you have a party there?" "Ya...

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NATURE'S NEWBIES: BOB AND TIM'S ADVENTURE

Submitted to Contest #253

SCENE: A picturesque camping site nestled in the heart of Nature. A tent, in a state of half-set up, is a testament to Bob and Tim's struggle. A campfire, its flames dancing in the cool night air, sputters with a hint of promise. Various camping gear, scattered haphazardly, adds to the chaotic charm. Two friends, Bob and Tim, who have been inseparable since high school, are trying to enjoy a weekend away from the city, unaware that it's hunting season and hunters are nearby. BOB: (struggling with a tent pole) Why did we think this was a good...

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Sob Story of a Lonely Youth

Submitted to Contest #253

"I wish we could stay here forever." It seems like everyone knows this phrase. It's in the sobby vocals of your favorite cry-in-the-car song, in the not-so-subtle messages of young teenage Disney movies talking about "enjoying your youth," and it's probably something your parents and your parents' parents tell you every Christmas. Maybe that's just me, though. I haven't ever taken the thought seriously, as I'm 21, and the world moves by so fast it's hard to see the memories in the motion blur. In the middle of college, you're so wrapped up i...

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Skylights

Submitted to Contest #253

***Contains a fair amount of Scots dialect*** The wedding reception was still in full swing when Ria found herself sitting alone – or as alone as a girl two days off her eighteenth birthday could be when backed into the corner of a snug and surrounded by a load of drunken Boomers. Aw, lass… yer pal away now, is she…? The woman next to her, squeezed into a leopard-come-zebra patchwork dress, placed a hand on the seat between them, leaning in over Ria’s jacket. Fingers heavily ringed, bronze-shimmer taloned acrylics, the upside-down, insect-...

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"Someday"

Submitted to Contest #253

The wind blew one end of my scarf past my waist. I took it off clumsily and wrapped it around my ears over my head before wrapping my neck with it again.I was stuck in a storm in winter inside the school premises where I taught Mathematics. While it brought on a pleasant wintry chill, the taste of its shrill cold monsoon wind was not something I was too keen on enduring.Perhaps because I could tell no one that I was cold on the inside. There was someone I had been ignoring - a fellow English teacher.I strode past students who were leaving th...

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Beyond The Stars

Submitted to Contest #253

Wrapped in my cozy Barbie pajamas, I let the whispers of sleep pull me into a world of dreams on our old couch. The soft, flowery smell of the fabric was like a hug from the past, a reminder of days when Sarah and I would play hide-and-seek and share little secrets that only sisters know. In the quiet of the night, I could hear Mom and Dad murmuring behind their bedroom door. Their words were fuzzy, like listening underwater, but I caught bits and pieces. “It’s happening again,” Mom said, her voice all shaky. They were talking about Sarah, a...

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Cracks

Submitted to Contest #252

For the six months following his nineteenth birthday, Tanner did so many drugs that it took him a year to recover.  So when Gerald pulls the hand-rolled joint from his pocket and offers it to Tanner, he shakes his head. He is twenty-three now. Gerald is twenty-five, and he offers Tanner something to smoke every time his break follows his. During work, Gerald pulls his hair into a low ponytail that hangs along his spine. He knocked up Tanner’s sister when she was eighteen but didn’t marry her. Tanner’s nephew is three now and his sister ...

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All Health Breaks Loose

Submitted to Contest #252

I glanced over my shoulder, and there he was, slinking, believing he was out of sight when he wasn’t. I didn’t know what he wanted or why he had chosen to follow me of all people. But there he was, tracking me all the way back to my apartment for the third time that month  Stupid cat. He was mangy, his fur knotted in places, missing in others. I could tell his life hadn’t been a stroll through a sunny meadow. I watched him for a while, fascinated by the way he moved with graceful precision. This was a beautiful creature. My brain switch...

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Chasing Shadows

Submitted to Contest #252

Trigger warning: sexual abuse, drug abuse *******************************I was enamored when Pria Russo moved in next door. Watching her descend the front steps, she almost floated. Her heels, pencil skirt, chic sunglasses, and her hair swathed in an elegant scarf attributed to her poise and timeless beauty. I’d been terrified to approach her, but late one night, I heard distant thunder and remembered I’d left my truck’s windows down. I dashed outside to close them before the rain started. Though it hadn't begun, the wind picked up, carry...

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The Stars We Still See

Submitted to Contest #253

           On a Thursday night in the dead of winter, in a state where the word “winter” meant almost nothing, the world was made only of boxes on paper. Some of these boxes were crossed out, but far too many of them were not. One of these unchecked boxes sat next to a homework assignment that was not due that night, but had to be done that night anyway, because if it was not, then it would need to be done the next day, and the next day already held its own set of unchecked boxes.  ...

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AI Meets Internet Dating

Submitted to Contest #252

“Tall, six pack, witty, spontaneous, assertive, alluring, me-oriented… you name it.”Agent Lori fixated her gaze on the woman sitting across her, listening to the confident statements she was making. She observed her features. Beautiful, petite, crimson-painted lips and frizzy hair tousled into a knot. She could always find love in the bookshop, at a café or even, the gym, what influenced her application with their system?“What? You not gonna write o’ that down?” Amy broke out in surprise. “Mam, we are surrounded by high-value technology. Any...

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Myosotis

Submitted to Contest #252

“This will really help me? Are you sure”        “Trust me, you’ll feel better in no time. It’s like an antidepressant or something.”  He gave me a remedy.         It hurts. A throbbing pain pulsates through my head leaving me a disoriented mess. Ignoring the sting, I turn my head towards where I assume the window to be. The curtains are closed, no light seeps through the gap; good. I throw my legs off the side of the bed and risk pushing myself off. My legs ...

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Fateful Night in Akron

Submitted to Contest #252

The moon is high, the crisp autumn air bracing as it meanders through the, now still, streets of Akron. No cars on the road, just the subtle sounds of wind whistling down the pavement, giving the street a very calming sense of undisturbed peacefulness. Most everyone has already turned in for the evening and drifted off to sleep, ready to resume their lives in the morning. Scattered bits of light spilled into the street from a few windows, indicating some night owls were still awake. The rain drying on asphalt from the recent drizzle formed a...

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Indispensable Lust

Submitted to Contest #252

Hold my hand. I beg and plead for a fingertip, a skeletal embrace that touches mine, that is all I need. Please rid me of these icy claws that choke my neck, paralysing me, the ones holding me against my will. They tattoo my skin, black tar fills my throat, I choke, and no one aids me. Laying, my body is a doll, the fragile porcelain fractured, my legs clicked into shape, blackness seeps and caresses the floor. I am alone and left a shattered mirror. But it calls for me, that little glass, it plays with me. Gleaming and flickering, somewhat ...

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The Class Capsule

Submitted to Contest #252

Callous leather gloves grasp my throat, forcing me down. I grab at the wrists, but they’re strong. They drag me to the edge of the scaffolding, and with one violent shove, I fly. Wind thrusts against my body. My chest. My hair. I'm face-to-face with the theatre stage.Darkness becomes me!As my Jimmy Choo’s echo through the quad, heads slump, and tears stream. There are no inappropriate comments about my legs or breasts. All it took was for Audrey to die to tame these disassociative teens. My life could have been much simpler if I had known th...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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