Eighteen

Summary

• The protagonist has been invited to the Young AAPI Writers’ Workshop in Massachusetts, the only gig she's had since a damaging blog hit earlier in the year.
• The protagonist is leading daily, four-hour critique sessions with high school upperclassmen she selected. Their writing samples reveal distinct personalities within the group such as Christina, Johnson, and Skylar, who aspire to impress her with their writing.
• The protagonist identifies with the students' desire to impress, and ambition, while recognizing their insecurities; she decides to distract herself from her own writing troubles, offering them encouragement and feedback.
• She introduces herself to the class using familiar icebreakers. The class creates a short story together, revises it and work on dialogue. The session ends with a positive atmosphere and inside jokes, easing the initial tension.
• After class, the protagonist attempts to write new story ideas. However, she realizes that all her ideas are slightly modified versions of her students’ writing samples, causing her frustration and self-doubt.
• On her way back to the dormitory, the protagonist spots her students in a café, working together on their assignments. She feels an ache for the community aspect of writing which she believes she has lost as she advanced in her writing career.
• The next day, the protagonist arrives late to class and overhears her students discussing a blog report about her allegedly stealing a deceased friend's work. This revelation deeply unsettles her, but she decides to act oblivious and continue with the class.
• When Skylar, who is scheduled for a critique that day, doesn't follow instructions for bringing printed copies of her work, the protagonist uses this opportunity to take out her frustration on her, publicly embarrassing Skylar with harsh criticisms and feedback. She maintains a hostile and cruel demeanor throughout the rest of the class.
• After class, the protagonist looks up the blog post and finds no new or damning information. She also discovers that the accuser in the blog post is now working at a smaller, less-established publisher which reduces her fear and gives her a sense of justice.
• After a call from the workshop coordinator about students complaining about her conduct, the protagonist comes up with a falsified family emergency to quit the teaching assignment prematurely.