Young Adult Fiction (Humor, Coming-of-Age, Emotional Realism)
Target Audience: Teens, parents, and everyone who’s ever felt “in-between”

⸻

Jayden’s story starts, as many do, with a minor disaster: falling face-first in the school hallway on the first day of junior year, a tray of pudding cups exploding across the linoleum like some kind of cafeteria warzone. It’s a painfully awkward start to a year he’d promised himself would be different. He had a plan—confidence playlist, new shoes, three therapy sessions under his belt—but none of that mattered in the face of public humiliation.

That’s the first lesson of the year: expectations hurt. Jayden expected a glow-up and got a bruised ego.

He’s a 16-year-old kid trying to survive high school, heartbreak, identity crises, and the ache of growing up when everything feels unstable. His voice is funny, honest, and often anxious. He doesn’t pretend to have it together, and that’s what makes him real.

⸻

Life Isn’t a Teen Movie (Unfortunately)

Jayden narrates his life like it’s supposed to be a coming-of-age film, but so far, he’s more background character than protagonist. His best friend, Luca, who was once his person—the one who laughed at his dumb memes, who knew his favorite fruit snacks, who sat with him through the worst family dinner of his life—just stopped texting. Slowly. Then all at once.

Jayden doesn’t know what happened, and it messes with him. He replays the last conversations over and over, wondering what he said or didn’t say. He watches Luca’s stories, sees him with a new crew, and tries not to compare himself. But the truth is, he’s lonely. And confused. And mad at himself for still caring.

Friendship breakups, as Jayden learns, can be more painful than romantic ones—because there’s no closure, no dramatic final scene. Just silence.

⸻

Therapy and Other Soft Places

Jayden’s mom signs him up for therapy after noticing he hasn’t been eating much and cries during toothpaste commercials. He resists at first, but eventually, he meets Dr. Wren—a soft-voiced woman who doesn’t push him to talk, but somehow gets him to anyway.

He tells her about how he overthinks everything, how sometimes he feels like his skin is too thin for this world. How he hates his body one day and forgets it exists the next. How he wants people to like him so badly it physically hurts.

He talks about Riley, the almost-girlfriend who never quite labeled things. They had a situationship—a blurry, playlist-sharing, hand-holding, nothing-but-something kind of thing. Until she drifted, posting photos with someone else. When he asked what they were, she said, “I don’t know.” That crushed him more than an actual breakup would’ve.

Therapy doesn’t fix everything. But it gives Jayden room to exhale. To feel seen.

“Therapy is where I learned that I wasn’t broken. Just overwhelmed.”

⸻

School Is a Stage and I Keep Forgetting My Lines

School is chaos. Teachers expect too much. Classmates ask too little. Jayden feels invisible some days, like a ghost floating between lockers.

Then there’s Mr. Chen, the one teacher who calls out, “You good?” in a way that actually sounds like he means it. And Ms. D, the art teacher who lets him sit in the back and draw when everything else feels too loud. And Daryl, the security guard who fist-bumps him every morning and tells him, “Hang in there, man.”

They don’t solve anything. But they remind him he’s not alone.

He finds a quiet friend in Cam—a kid who always eats alone in the library. They bond over awkward silences, shared introvert energy, and mutual hatred of gym class. They don’t need big conversations. Sometimes just sitting next to someone is enough.

⸻

Being Soft in a World That Wants You Tough

Jayden cries easily. He cares too much. He rewatches Pixar movies and sobs every time.

He used to think this made him weak.

But the more he leans into it—the softness, the empathy, the vulnerability—the more he realizes it’s a kind of strength. The world is ful

I overthink texts. I rehearse conversations I never have. I panic over my own heartbeat.


Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only one who gets nervous just ordering food. Like, what if I say "thank you" at the wrong time and then they look at me and go "who even ARE you?" and then the building explodes and I get banned from burritos forever?


Unrealistic? Sure. But anxiety doesn't care.


"Anxiety is like having 342 tabs open in your brain, and none of them are loading."


That's because I've perfected the art of Silent Internal Screaming™.


But here's the thing: I'm learning that anxiety doesn't make me weak. It makes me aware. I notice stuff. I feel things deeply. Sometimes that's overwhelming—but sometimes it's kind of beautiful.


Like when I see someone else sitting alone at lunch and I actually understand how that feels.


Chapter 2 - anxiety and other superpowers