By: Yuxi Nan

Prologue
4 Years ago…

Cold, wet and darkness encased me as I shivered in a dark alleyway. Tears were starting to run down my cheeks. I’m only Eight, how could they do this to me? I thought. Suddenly, that thought turned into boiling rage. OF COURSE THEY WOULD THROW MY OUT JUST BECAUSE I AM A GIRL! THEY THINK I AM WEAK AND I WILL NEVER BE USE TO THEIR FAMILY! AND I AM GOING TO PROVE THEM WRONG! I scowled, stood up and looked around, it was still so cold and I could barely feel my fingertips. Bump! CRACK! I turned around to see a boy around my age clumsily standing just around the corner and rubbing his head.

“Um, Hello?” I nervously asked. I looked at him closer and the first thing I saw was his short [color] hair.

You heard me right, short hair. In our culture both men and women were never allowed to cut their hair, if you did, you could end up with harsh punishments.

“Ugh, I think I just hit my head.” He replied.

“You think?”

“What?”

“Nothing.” I said quickly. We both looked each other in the eye and stood there silently. Suddenly, the rain suddenly didn’t seem so loud anymore and the coldness faded.

“Um…, so, what is your name?” I said at last.

“Lucas.” He said awkwardly, “What’s yours?”

I started blushing, knowing the truth.“Umm…, I don’t have one.”

“Lily.”

“What?”

“Lily, that’s your name.”

I quietly muttered a small “Thank you” and turned around to walk away. I hated awkward moments like these, I never really liked talking either. Little did I know back then that this encounter would change my life.