NATHALIE CABRERA
YEARS AS MENTEE: 2
GRADE: Senior
HIGH SCHOOL: A. Philip Randolph Campus High School
BORN: New York, NY
LIVES: New York, NY
PUBLICATIONS AND RECOGNITIONS: Girls Write Now Anthology Committee, National Honor Society Vice President
MENTEE’S ANECDOTE: Sometimes the creativity I have is stifled. I’m unable to put thoughts on paper. When I tell my mentor this, she encourages me to just write from the heart. Most of the time, I struggle to do so. But it’s true, the pieces that I have written from my heart are the ones I have the most faith and pride in, because they are genuine. Writing is frustrating at first, but writing with my mentor reminds me why I love it so much and why it’s a passion I should keep pursuing.
DEBORAH HEILIGMAN
YEARS AS MENTOR: 4
OCCUPATION: Author of Books for Children and Teens
BORN: Allentown, PA
LIVES: New York, NY
PUBLICATIONS AND RECOGNITIONS: Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers; Horn Book Award, YALSA Award for Excellence, and a Michael L. Printz Award Honor
MENTOR’S ANECDOTE: Often I arrive at my meetings with Nathalie stressed from my own writing and work life. She arrives stressed from school, life, and, this year, from college applications. But when we sit together and write, we both feel joyful. Nathalie said at the beginning of this year she didn’t want to spend much time working on the college stuff, but she wanted our sessions to be an oasis from “real life.” Our hours together have been just that for me, and I am grateful to her for this gift. Writing + Nathalie = Joy.
This piece was inspired by a photo of a boy and girl dancing that my mentor brought as a prompt. In my story I explore a girl attempting to boldly live in the moment.
Felicia grabbed her strappy black pumps and threw them across the stone dance floor. Sweat was trickling down her back, her head buzzing with adrenaline and too much cheap beer.
“You know we gon’ have fun tonight,” Felicia said, her smile stretching so wide that it could break her face in two.
Her dance partner, Agustin, was handsome as hell, his caramel skin glistening with the heat the night was bringing them.
Agustin leaned close into her, his powerful scent of pine and musk overwhelming her. He whispered into her ear, “What type of fun?” He smirked, and that quickly turned into a sly grin.
Felicia’s eyes turned into slits and she twisted her face into a grimace.
“Don’t get the wrong idea, because you know that’s not what I meant.”
“All right. At least not for tonight.”
Felicia rolled her eyes. “What do you want me to say? Boy, you’re such a tease or Good Lord, aren’t you smooth?”
“Yes, exactly that, and gush over of how handsome I am.”
They danced and danced, the energy crackled in the abandoned warehouse, reaching their veins and their feet as the feet did all the thinking as to what the body could do.
Felicia wished this moment of happiness could last forever.
After many dances and cans of beer, Felicia was hot and tired.
“Do you need a breath of fresh air?” Agustin asked her. “I think that we need to get away from the hot mess of this party.”
“I agree,” Felicia said. She tried to say more, but words failed her. It seemed as if her whole body were going through a slo-mo film.
“Are you cold?”
Felicia nodded. In her light floral dress, even the summer breeze made her shiver. Agustin wasn’t hesitant to wrap his jacket around her.
“Thanks.” Felicia looked down at her bare feet and felt butterflies. Maybe it was the hormones. Maybe it was the alcohol. She didn’t know why she felt like this all of a sudden. Why was she scared?
Agustin and Felicia had known each other since forever. Agustin had been her friend for so long—from the traumatic experience of her mother’s death to her stories about her short-termed crushes.
But tonight, in this moment, she realized she saw him as someone more than her best friend.
“Felicia, are you okay? You look like you’re about to barf anytime soon.”
“Wow. It’s good to know that I can count on you for honesty.”
Agustin tucked a lock of Felicia’s chestnut-brown coils behind her ear, and his lips slick with whiskey hovered above her collarbone.
“Felicia, I really like you, not just as my best friend, but as something more.”
Now she knew he felt the same way.
Felicia closed her eye and moaned when his mouth traveled from her neck to her shoulders and her ears. Then she panicked.
She wanted to be touched by him, but she wasn’t ready. Her feelings were a jumbled mess. She did not know why she was afraid of being something more with Agustin, because she had always been open with him, but it was the first time that she thought of him in a sexual way. And she didn’t know if she wanted to risk losing her best friend.
“Stop,” she said.
And Agustin stepped back from her.
“You don’t want to do this?” Agustin looked so disappointed. “You don’t like this?”
“No, I mean, I actually enjoyed it. It’s just that it’s my first time realizing that I have these feelings for you.”
What she couldn’t say—yet—was that she was afraid to lose him. Feelings are so shaky, unstable and unpredictable. Was this feeling for him only in this moment? What if it was only confusion and raging hormones? Would she lose him as a friend?
Agustin looked down at his feet and then looked directly at her eyes. “I shouldn’t have been so sudden about kissing you like that. I was in the wrong.”
Felicia nodded and then leaned her forehead on his shoulders, “It’s okay,” she said. “But I think it’s been enough for one night.”
“I’ll wait for you until you’re ready.”
“Thank you.”
“Let me take you home,” he said, voice raspy with emotion, as he softly planted a kiss on her forehead.
Felicia interweaved her fingers with Agustin’s. Even though she didn’t feel ready for everything, she knew that Agustin understood her. And that was enough for this moment.