B12: YA CONTEMPORARY: FAULT LINES

Title: FAULT LINES

Age Category: Young Adult

Genre: Contemporary

Word Count: 81,000

Pitch: Teen mechanic Zoe is tired of people treating her like she’s fragile just because she was born with brittle bones. When she meets Dylan, she hides her condition: a decision that could break her heart.

First 250 Word of Manuscript:

Senior hall is deserted. Completely. Picture a sno cone shack in Antarctica, and they’re out of fish flavor so not even the penguins are interested.

The slowest stragglers have made it to class or slipped out the back, unnoticed by the school resource officer. Homework has been handed in. Lessons have started. The echoes of the tardy bell have long since dispersed into open space. Everyone is where they should be.

Except me.

I should be sitting in chemistry, listening to another yawn-inspiring lecture on molecules. Taking notes. Suffering through a pop quiz. Instead, I’m staring at the gold fliers that have been carefully taped to the face of every senior girl’s locker.

Except mine.

Reaching out, I tug the flier off the closest locker. The paper must not be as strong as the tape, because it rips, leaving a jagged gold scar on the deep blue paint.

I doubt Julie will mind if hers goes missing. When the principal tried to force her to go to a pep assembly on the first day of school, Julie stood in the middle of the commons and declared that she would rather gouge her eyes out with a hot spoon than participate in a single activity planned by Student Council. I’m guessing Powderpuff Football is only the tip of that massive iceberg.

The flier’s various grammatical mistakes are showcased in some ridiculously perky font that has to be named Cheerleader or Spirit Squad. Morgan Townsend, the president of the Student Council, probably paid for it out of her own pocket just so she could use it for this project.