Last month, we challenged writers to revise and submit a 400-word excerpt from their NaNoWriMo novel. From over 650 stupendous entries, we chose two Grand Prize Winners and three Honorable Mentions. We hope you enjoy reading them as much as we did! (For more stories, check out this forum thread.)

We descended the stairs quickly and silently. I gripped Faith’s hand tightly, glancing over at her every so often to make sure the spell’s weird rule was still working. It always was—I was just feeling insanely paranoid. Internally, I knew it was stupid to underestimate magic. But if even one aspect of this plan failed, she and I would be in serious trouble.

Outside, the air was unusually cool for mid-March. Faith didn’t loosen her grip on my hand, but I could almost feel her confidence rising. The two of us ran across the lawn, the wind whipping and sending shivers down my back. I couldn’t help but laugh. Despite our tense situation, I was actually having… fun. Without being visible to anybody other than Faith, I felt like I could go anywhere. Do anything.

Be anyone.

I looked over at her, and our wide grins were identical. Her dark hair blew sideways in the wind, and she had a fiery gleam in her eye. Her face was flushed, though from adrenaline or from the cold I wasn’t sure, and her warm brown skin shone in the pale moonlight. Each time we passed a soldier, I felt more and more confident that we were one hundred percent capable of pulling this off.

When we finally reached the main building, we skirted the edge and ran to the back wall, which was connected to the teacher’s quarters via a small alley. The part of the building hidden by this alley housed a door, pretty unnoticeable to the naked eye, that I would have to unlock. It would be the only safe way to get inside.

As soon as I saw the door, my adrenaline, excitement and confidence were replaced with nerves. Faith couldn’t do anything about this part of the plan—it was all up to me.

But I also felt a strong sense of determination. This was going to work. The plan would not fail because of me, and it would not fail because of Faith. We could do this. I believed in Faith. I wasn’t sure why, but I was starting to trust her more than almost anybody, even my brother. I also had faith in myself. We could do this. Faith and I were a strong team. I had her back, and for some strange reason, I knew that she would always, always have mine.

Molly Magarian is a sixth grade student with a passion for literature and theater. She spends her time reading, writing, acting, singing, and coming up with obscure ships (usually LGBT) that are almost never canon. She is known among her friends as a book and theater nerd, and admits that her obsession with authors such as Rick Riordan and Becky Albertalli and musicals such as Dear Evan Hansen and Mean Girls will probably never end. Fanfiction started her on the road to writing, and she hopes to publish a book of her own someday.