Prologue
They say that love has no labels and it’s all that one needs. It is what makes the world go around. But when hate is stirred up in the air, it can ruin the lives of so many people. Make them turn against each other and I wish that it wasn’t such a thing. In my seventeen years of life, I was always taught to keep to myself and speak when spoken to. It was the way of every rich girl in this life. I guess the good part was playing music since it was like my medicine every day. Sometimes I miss the people back home in Japan where I was raised.
In my home life, my father is a successful entrepreneur in finances, while my mother was the stay-at-home type. She was the only one who I could confide in. The only one who knows about the real me... until she came. You see, no one besides my mother knows about my inner self. I thought my first love was there but unfortunately, it vanished.
My first year in an unknown land felt a bit unsettling and I thought that we were treading through dangerous waters. And I can be honest, this place doesn’t have a good reputation as “the land of the free.” But there are kind people out there who deserved so much better and I wish to switch places with them. The kind who needs all the love. The one that she gave me regardless.
While she was so beautiful, she was brave as a lion to stand her ground against those who thought differently of her. She didn’t have any care in the world to hear what they had to say. Yet, she didn’t let her goodwill be taken for weakness. She was everything I wanted to be up to now. She gave me the strength that I thought I would never find. In a way, I’m grateful.
Out there, I was timid that they would judge my appearance and eat me alive right there. I don’t think that I would’ve made it out of there without her. She was the very first girl who I fell in love with and the one who tugged on my heartstrings. At that moment, I was ready.