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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 62 of 361

Closing Shift Opening Kiss

Submitted to Contest #237

Alex and Claudia were working the closing shift at the theater. Claudia turned off the box office lights while Alex swept up a pile of spilled popcorn. "Hey, superstar, you missed one," she teased, her voice light in the empty space. Alex glanced down, a smirk playing on his lips. "That? Oh, it's a special one—left it there just for you," he quipped, tossing the rest of the popcorn into the trash. Their uniforms, a throwback to a less stylish era, itched uncomfortably against their skin. Claudia tugged at her vest, grimacing. "These things ...

6 likes 2 comments 2
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The First and the Last

Submitted to Contest #237

 I can feel the cold shingles pressing into my legs, hard enough that they’ll leave a mark. I bought a sweater out here, but the near-freezing winds are cutting right through the fabric. The tips of my ears and nose are numb, and my fingers are starting to feel like they’re going to fall off. It's late October in eastern Canada, so I'm not all that surprised. Late October, but not the latest. Jesus, I’m not even gonna make it to Halloween. I think everyone was pretty surprised when we saw the news this morning. “150 km wide asteroid ba...

9 likes 1 comment 1
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Nigel and Kaziah

Submitted to Contest #237

Nigel and Kaziah 10/09/502AN ‘Hey, Nigel.’ ‘Hello, Kaziah.’ ‘Do you know what that stupid book was Msr Wendigo told us we need to read?’ ‘Twentieth Century Landscapes. Here, I’ll send you a copy.’ ‘How was it?’ ‘How was what?’ ‘The book.’ ‘Don’t know. I didn’t read it.’ ‘Me neither.’ ‘I hate landscape class.’ ‘Me too.’ ‘What’s the point in it.’ ‘I don’t know.’ ‘You ever feel like life is pointless, Nigel?’ ‘Are you okay?’ ‘Forget it. See ya.’ 16/09/502AN ‘Hey, Nigel. You awake?’ ‘Hello, Kaziah. I’m awake. What’s up?’ ‘Nothing, just bored...

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Shipped

Submitted to Contest #237

To: Keenan Meyer < intimatecreationz@gmail.com > From: Katrina Lopez < katlopez321@gmail.com > Hello! I hope this email finds you well.  I’ve purchased items from you before, many of which I see are no longer on your site. It’s been several years since then, so I figured some things wouldn’t be available anymore, but I had high hopes. One in particular was your crystal people globe; I can’t remember the exact name, but it was about the size of a small cantaloupe and looked like a snowglobe, only without the water. The t...

7 likes 0 comments 0
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I Move On, I Move Away, You Beg Me to Stay

Submitted to Contest #237

I remember the feeling of his hand in mine. I feel it even as I drive away with a dry face. There are no tears left to cry. I’m happy. He is not. He wanted me to stay, but after tonight, he knows there is no possibility of that happening.  There has never been a single thing keeping me from living this dream. I was sure I’d be accepted into the program when I applied last year. There was some tough competition, but I knew I had to be one of the top candidates. I had everything they wanted in a graduate student, and now I get to live ou...

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Waiting for Larry

Submitted to Contest #237

The first time I met Larry was on the field trip in South Africa. My colleague, Brian, better known as "Professor Hayes", had arranged for all his final year Marine Biology students to travel to Knysna on the Cape coast to collect data for their first hands-on research project. Larry's wealthy father had agreed to let us use his boat for 'a little bit of educational fun,' as he called it. So, there we were, all eighteen of us, waiting for Larry.Outside the Knysna Yacht Club, the Cape sky was turning an angry grey - not uncommo...

8 likes 1 comment 1
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Imposter at Heart

Submitted to Contest #236

How lovely the nightmare seems when you awake to an even more horrific reality. I jolted up in bed and tried to catch my breath. In the darkness I realized my eyes were covered in silk fabric. I have never owned a sleep mask and yet here I am peeling one off my head. Terror took over as I scanned the room. Where am I? I immediately squeezed my eyes shut thinking my sight had deceived me. Peeking with one eye after a moment and a few breaths, I realized that the large windows with long flowing white curtains and the mahogany bed pos...

18 likes 6 comments 6
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Farewell

Submitted to Contest #237

FAREWELL Standing at the crossroads, the looming specter of separation hung heavy in the air, enveloping them in a suffocating embrace of almost tangible tension. Each step forward felt like a reluctant concession to fate, an acknowledgment of the irreversible divergence of their paths. Yet, they walked together, their strides hesitant, as if defying the relentless march of time. How they wished for time to halt, to immortalize this fleeting moment of togetherness. But reality beckoned, pulling them apart with an unyielding force. His pa...

14 likes 8 comments 8
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Princess, Pickles, & Pixels: A Super Mario Love Story

Submitted to Contest #236

The Rescue on the Yamanote Line I guess my whole life can be split into two categories: Before Mario and After Mario. Everything that came after jumping on my first Goomba at the age of eight paled in comparison. School? Boring. The real world? Too slow. By the time I hit my thirties, "After Mario" felt awfully stale. I wasn't going to get any taller, faster, or better looking, and video games didn't cut it like they used to. Then, the unbelievable happened. I didn't find Mario; a real-life Princess Peach found me. Tokyo trains are al...

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Retro Remorse

Submitted to Contest #236

(Potentially triggering to those who grew up bullied or in toxic households) My heart skips a beat as I pass the window showcasing the retro, cardboard cutout of my once favorited, blue, little speedster: Sonic the Hedgehog. I was giddy with excitement as if I were once again six years old unwrapping the game’s box for the first time. That is until a sharp, stabbing pain in my side knocked the smile off of my face.  My heart stops fluttering and shatters. Like a smoker who recently quit getting a whiff of the smoke trailing off of s...

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I will always love you 80's

Submitted to Contest #236

A spotlight shines in my eyes and wakes me from my daydream. I am standing on a narrow stairway at the side of a stage. It appears to be a high school auditorium. The tall red velvet curtains to my right are drawn back with a large golden cord. I glance around the room and see that it is filled with a cheering crowd. Behind me stands a row of teenage girls dressed in formal gowns. Not the kind we would wear to a prom. These are like the ancient southern belle kind, complete with hoop skirts. The girls are trying to squish the hoops...

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Be Kind. Rewind.

Submitted to Contest #236

I would never have thought that Mr. Arnold was a meathead back in the day. That’s the thing about time. It’s like an Instagram post you’ve run through a hundred filters. It gets to the point where you wouldn’t even recognize where that final image started. I believe the film buffs call the story that is about to unfold a ‘romp.’ Buckle up. You’re not gonna believe where this one is going. I sure didn’t.Our story begins when the substitute English teacher drops the “C” word. The tea is that they caught the cancer late—like Stage 4—and spread ...

37 likes 26 comments 26
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Something in Your Light

Submitted to Contest #236

Aquaria missed the artistic engineer, who breathed life into his designs, singing his poetry, and giving her a lighthouse soul.She still missed her original clockwork gears from the 1890’s that rotated the beacon light inside the crystalline, multi-faceted, glass Fresnel lens. Like a giant diamond, it reflected light from all the sharp cuts.Sometimes for fun she made the light pulse against the night sky, bright as a sun then like a dim star in the distance.One night local boy Ray Olson was lurking around the lighthouse. Aquaria did her puls...

25 likes 16 comments 16
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I've Tried Before

Submitted to Contest #236

Trigger Warnings include: Mental health issues, implied trauma, parental neglect, substance abuse (alcoholism), withdrawal, suicidal thoughts, mentions of implied suicide, mentioned parent/spouse death. Please read with caution.  This story is a continuation of I Don't Know What to Tell You and The Fucking Ugly Truth which are on my profile, but can be read on its own. Evan had seen what trying looked like while his mom was still alive. With her, trying was a dark cloud that hung over every step she took. She smiled and laughed, an...

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A Computer for Practice

Submitted to Contest #236

What would you do if you were born the son of a brilliant scientist? I’ll tell you what I would do, what I am. I’d always be curious. Though I can’t remember much from when I was younger, my father told me I was always a curious kid. While other kids played outside, I observed what was around me. One day, my father was too busy to answer my questions, so he gave me access to his library to look up the answers independently. Looking back, that was probably when I stopped going outside as much. At the time, I thought there was no point in expl...

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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