When one person dares to step into the life of another, to jiggle the rules and risk a result, a story is born. Plenty of conflict without murder and mayhem. Here are eight tales of the human heart.

The reader will find a high-school senior who faces a couple of bad kids, defies her principal and even her father, for reasons that nearly cost her too much. A loser kid catches an unexpected dose of respect and tries not to be stupid after all. Another has made a fatal mistake; can he face up to his town? A nice guy with problems of his own dares to encounter a shy young woman. A married...