Happy Saturday! I just finished a week of volunteering with 30 kids ages 6-11 at music, arts, and drama camp. Boy, am I tired! The kids were cute, but I was happy to give them back at the end. I’ll stick with my teen and almost-teen of my own, thanks. It did make me grateful for all the volunteer hours I put in with the students at my kids’ school, though—the teenagers are a lot easier! (For me; your mileage may vary.)
My snippet this week is still in Leaps of Faith, from the story called “Pretty Boyish.” Cat, age 13, is in the throes of his first real crush. A number of people were curious about how New Boy would react to being eyed up, so here you go. Edited a bit for length and for clarity. Sorry, it’s one sentence over this week.
Cat was still eying New Boy sideways. New Boy caught him at it and gave him a funny kind of smile. It did really nice things to Cat’s stomach. He was temporarily distracted by working out how to learn New Boy’s real name and maybe ask if he wanted to hang out.
New Boy, too, kept glancing over, which Cat knew because he’d never really stopped looking, even though Ann Marie was talking again. New Boy would look over, smile a little, and blush. Cat’s heart thudded, and he plucked at the grass to give his hands something to do.
Rainbow Snippets is a safe and welcoming space for LGBTQIA+ authors, readers, and bloggers to share 6 sentences each week from a work of fiction—published or in-progress—or a book recommendation. Feel free to join in!
“Cat’s heart thudded, and he plucked at the grass to give his hands something to do.” So precious. I loved this. 🙂
Thank you! 🙂 I may have had some help on this from a Real Live Teenager, lol.
This is so sweet. Is he going to summon the courage to approach New Boy?
I suppose everyone will just have to wait and see! 😉
Such exquisite, romantic detail, dripping with tension…beautifully written.
Thank you! While this isn’t specifically a romance (just a first crush), it’s this kind of detail and characters’ inner life that I most enjoy writing.
My heart is melting. So cute and so sweet…
Aw, thanks! 🙂 Wasn’t identical, but I had a real-life model for the story to go on.
Aw, sweet, hope Cat talks to New Boy soon
We’ll see! 😀
So sweet! I love how you show Cat’s emotional state in this scene! <3
Thank you! 🙂
Cat has a crush! That was so sweet and innocent. Nicely done!
Mileage may vary… absolutely. I didn’t know tired until I taught 87 different 6-7 graders in one day, the entirety of the seventh grade and 1/3 of the sixth grade at the school.
I love that snip with its mix of sweet and awkward… makes one wish it works out for them.
Heh, crushes at that age are definitely both sweet and awkward. 🙂
I can’t wait to get stuck into these – I have all the books on my Kindle waiting to be read. Just need to finish a book I’m reading to review and then I shall be reading all about Cat 🙂
Yay! I loved writing about Cat. 🙂