Pitch Madness B-9: YA: SELFIE RESPECT

Genre: YA Contemporary

Word Count: 71,000

Pitch:

A naked picture gone viral and the knowledge he did it on purpose, all before first period on Monday. By Friday, sixteen-year-old Sabrina Cortland will make him wish he’d never been born.

Excerpt:

Despite the numbness in her fingers, Sabrina didn’t feel the cold. Her eyes were glued to the gridiron-god standing in the middle of the green turf field, relishing the team’s hard-fought victory over Lambertville. Her gloveless hands were glued to the frigid metal of the chain-link fence at the edge of the field, but she was far too deep in the Blaise Ferguson zone to notice. Melted and poured in didn’t even begin to describe the way he looked in those pants. In a good way.

Next to her, Alana jumped up and down to keep warm. “It’s too cold for November.” She pulled her turquoise wool hat further down around her ears and the matching scarf tighter around her neck. The stadium lights over their heads made the small diamond stud in her nose stand out like a beacon of light.

“Don’t be a baby. Here they come.” Her breath hung in the air like a small silver cloud. Sabrina smiled until the muscles in her face hurt, despite her best efforts to play it cool. With the coaches directing from the fence, the long line of football players started the trek back to the warm locker room. Sabrina released the tuft of pecan-colored ringlets from her frozen hand so he wouldn’t see her fidgeting.

Please let me him notice me, Sabrina silently pleaded.

Alana waved emphatically to her boyfriend, “Justin, over here.” His face lit up when he saw his doting groupie. Thirty plus heads turned in her direction.

Mr. Boddy is found outside by the back door face down. His hair is drenched, eyes wide open and lips blue. The hose is snaked across the yard beside him, sponges strewn over the grass. A white glove is stuck in the mud nearby.