1 Prologue

Beth was determined to fly away, to leave for a city that she believed would have a place for her at her sweet fifteen.

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There was so much time in the world for me to explore.

So many possibilities that I couldn't wait to jump in!

I wanted to grow up, to see what the world is like.

Five-year-old Beth was a discoverer. If she had people ask her what she wanted to be in the future, this little girl would probably have suddenly stood up in front of them with her eyes lit up with wonder, awkwardly babbling out of words that she had just learned from storybooks and animated stories. She would talk about becoming a princess that helps people with her pals, a circus performer who can speak to elephants, and a dancer that builds a home underwater. Upon talking, she blinks her bright emerald eyes, and her soft golden curls gently shimmer in the warm sunlight. Everyone would giggle around her and take in this happy atmosphere.

Ah, she's such a bubbly child, isn't she?

She's a cutie! I wish I could have had a daughter like this!

I wonder what she will be when she grows up!

She immersed herself in the atmosphere and laughed with them as well, not knowing if they were really interested in her great dreams or just amused by her demeanors and childhood naivety.

Only after kindergarten did she began to have her answer.

During a class learning about careers, the teacher asked everyone what each of them wanted to be in the future. As usual, she told the teacher about her dreams of becoming the princess, the circus performer, and the dancer. However, instead of greeting her with laughter, her teacher shrugged and frowned at her with doubt. Honey, I really appreciate your imagination, but I am afraid that they are not actual occupations. There will be no place for you if you choose to do them. She felt awkward at once, turned back, and quietly walked away. The teacher's speech echoed in her again and again.

Over the years, she came to understand that the teacher might be correct.

There was indeed no place for her here. Fairies were not real and Santa was not real. It was hard to become an animal linguist as well since scientists were still working hard to decode the animal languages. She grew up playing hide-and-seek with her friend squad in the woods, watching the clouds change shapes in the grassy mountains, and going on sleigh rides when snow had fallen. Now, many of those friends have drifted away to find jobs and start families, and her once fairyland became an illiterate rural town to her. Slow phone signals, not a lot of entertainment, sudden water shortages...you name it.

Her parents, whom she once looked up to as her wingman and role models, became two noisy people obsessed with irrelevant details to her. No, I am not interested in when Jonathan opened up a new grocery store. I don't want to know when Suzanne got a new husband. Why do I need to care about how gasoline prices have risen recently? Oh gosh! Can't you guys just think about other topics, like what the meaning of your life is? The incessant speeches of her parents became rumbles that drove her away, leaving her room's door shut every day. She yearned for that busy city life, that vibrant city lights, that hustles and bustles, and that casual chatters in the candlelit bars.

Walking to her room, she curled up on her bed, staring at the numerous flashy posters scraped from fashion magazines which were hanged around fairy lights that she put up on the walls. She wanted to be a city-bound fashion designer, working for those confident and posh models she saw in the magazines. A giant banner that wrote Lisette University College of Arts hangs on top of her mirror. Lisette University was a top university in the nation with a competitive studio art program. That's where famous artists go, and I will go there someday. Looking at the banner, she smiled with a sense of assertion.

Luckily, her time had come. She received an unexpected acceptance from Laurel Preparatory, which was a top prep school located in Laurel, a city of culture in the nation.

At the age of fifteen, Beth was determined to fly away, to a city that she believed she would have a place in.