Heroes and Role Models
A Girl's Best Friend
Miranda hadn't noticed when the tables turned and she became the adult and her mother the child. Searching through the past few years, she couldn't find a defining moment and had finally given up looking and decided that it must have been one of those gradual changes that you don't notice until much later, like when someone you see every day loses a bunch of weight but you can't really tell until you look at an old picture and see the drastic difference. Read more.
Anti-Climax
This wasn't how she wanted it to end. She wasn't sure even now, actually, that she wanted it to end at all, but she'd never been one to change course midstream so there was nothing to do but ride it out, even if it turned out much different from anything she had imagined. She had imagined he might beg and plead with her not to leave him (maybe even pull a ring from his pocket, farfetched as she knew that was). He might be angry and rant and accuse and berate, perhaps even raising a hand to her in his rage. He might turn and walk away without a word, shaking his head in disgust. All of the possible outcomes she had toyed with in her mind these last few days were so far from what was happening at this moment that she almost laughed at the absurdity of it all, and laughter was most certainly not what was called for just now. Read more.
The Amusements Are Waiting
Jen Hoffman had turned sixteen a week ago and she was skipping class for the first time in her life. The class, Anthropology 101, was a blow-off anyway, according to Lauren and Gale, her partners and instigators in crime. They were both several years older than Jen, in their third year of college, while Jen was only taking a couple of summer classes to put toward her college education and a career in archaeology. Read more.