Take My Hand

wide awake when my alarm goes off at 5am. I pull on my sneakers and soon they’re slamming the pavement. But the thoughtlessness never sets it. My brain is stuck running around in circles. All I can think about is last night. Liam’s face right before he kissed me. The way he brushed my face. This isn’t happening. Then I realize: This can’t be happening. It’s not just the fact that Whitewater, Ohio isn’t exactly known for its liberal thinking. My dad will kill me. The pavement under my feet blurs and

around me worked. I was always grounded for tinkering with the wrong watch, or taking apart and trying to reassemble the train Grandma got me for Christmas (much to my and my mother’s disappointment). As I got older, I realized that my hobby started to become a career choice. With Auburn being one of the top schools for engineering, it was my first choice; raised in an Auburn household only made the choice easier. When it came down to setting goals, I knew right away that I was going to graduate from

My Name As we grow up we receive three names in our lives; the ones we receive from our parents, the names our friends call us, and the ones we must make for ourselves. People take names as a serious matter because they tend to judge someone by their names before even getting to know them. The majority of individuals I know either truly accepts their names in its entirety or is completely unpleased with it. For me, I am someone who seems to be just right in the middle of them both. My name (Jessica)

only remember that because I used the window as an ice pack for my terrible injury. This terrible injury was something I never wished I would experience nor ever thought I would experience. It made my life very difficult for about two months and I never wish to relive that pain again. At the start of that cold December day, I woke up and got dressed as my normal, emo, thirteen year-old self would normally do. I got to school and went to my classes as usual for the first four hours of the day. In middle

kitchen, she baked some cookies for you," I whisper, glancing down at her with a grin. The skittering of my daughter's shoes on the wooden floor mask her squeals of excitement. The worn, familiar couch moans as I collapse onto it, taking in the entirety of the house; it hasn't changed much at all since I moved out. The overwhelming joy I felt when moving here is something that I remember vividly. My dad got a major promotion, allowing us to move into the house we had always dreamed of living in. The

me. Propping his head in the palm of his hand he waits for me to respond. Which I don’t, because it’s nearly 4am, so I at least give him a loud ‘humm’. “Can I see your tattoos?” he asks like a little kid asking for candy. I nod even though he can’t see and flick on the lights. Practically blinding me. I sit up and pull off my shirt nonchalantly. It seems like a weird request for most people, but it’s happened to me so much I am overly comfortable with my body. His eyes widen and stands up cautiously

gift on Christmas day and his face lights up as he holds the new basketball in his hands. Then he proceeds to practice every day and eventually becomes one of the greatest to ever play basketball. It took persistence for Michael Jordan to become a professional basketball player. It is easy to give in when faced with adversity. It takes persistence to continue even after failing. I pride myself on my ability to take on challenges and persist no matter the difficulty. I believe that this quality has

understood what love was. My heart, my soul, and my very existence was cold and static because Lalnable created me only to mirror someone real as a seemingly perfect copy. Lalna fell for it, and somehow along the way, I fell for him. It was quick. So quick that I could have sworn that feeling wasn’t really mine. As if I was simply channeling someone else who felt such a deep attraction that it transcended all logic, and as quickly as I realized, I already knew it was Nano’s fault. My days revolved around

Pushing limbs out of the way as Ghost picked his way along the animal trail along the stream. Duncan said they would take the stream animal path, but the only indication I’d seen that they passed this way was Flint’s hoof prints on the path. The sound of water splashing was ahead, but I couldn’t determine if it was the stream rushing over boulders in its path, an animal walking to the other side, or the pair I was hunting down. The mayor stared at me, red faced, and nostrils flaring. He pointed

came back to the apartment while I was in the middle of dancing to “Promise” by Ciara in my living room. At first I didn’t even notice because I was so into it, but then I turned and saw him. He looked upset about something- which is probably why he was back so soon- but he was also staring at me in shock and mild interest. He looked away, face turning red, and that’s when I remembered that I was wearing only my black bra and panties with a see through black robe that probably doesn’t even qualify