It was a sunny day at Laurel. Being a proud new Laurel Preparatory student, Beth was singing and dancing as she walked into the campus. She felt that she could even smell the fresh scent of trees and lawns alongside the campus buildings. Aww, are those little tulips and daisies nodding at me? She turned one side to the flowers. What about the birds that seem to be bathing in the sun? She glimpsed at the treetop. 

Everyone was gathering around their friends and talking about her holidays. 

"Okay, need to find my homeroom now. Classroom 12A. Let me see..."

Beth's phone chimed. It was a message from her mom that read 'don't forget to get hydrated and make more friends!'

K mom. Man, I know that I will do that!

Suddenly, Beth saw a tall girl standing in front of her. The girl had long blue hair. She was wearing a three-colored sweater, a pair of shorts and orange-brown converse shoes. The girl seems to be walking alone. I should probably ask where I should go. She decided to pet the girl on the shoulder.

"Umm...do you know how to walk to the classroom 12 A?"

"Yea, I am actually walking there as well." To her surprise, the girl was heading to the same place as her.

"Wait...so I suppose we are classmates! Shall we walk together?"

The girl nodded and answered with a 'sure thing'.

"Ah! By the way, I think your hair is pretty cool. I am very into fashion so I am quick to spot cool hairstyles and clothing."

"Thank you. I got my hair dyed just last summer. I have heard that dyed hair needs a lot of care so I stored some hair conditioner in advance, but it’s all good till now. Oh, I almost forget to ask: what’s your name?"

"Bethany Clementine. You can call me Beth. What about you?"

"Julianna Miller, but I often go by Jules. Why did you come to Laurel Prep, Beth?"

Beth instinctively addressed her love for the city. "I heard our school has a very interesting student body and an interesting culture as well. Laurel is a city with a lot of culture and stuff to do. I love when I can try out different things!"

"Laurel is indeed an interesting place, although sometimes the neighborhood could be noisy during the nights and I feel like that disturbs me a bit." Julianna rolled her eyes, "That said, I enjoy the vast array of opportunities at Laurel—it’s a place with the newest advance technological development, but it combines them with the arts to preserve humanitarian values and culture."

"Wait! I am really interested in the arts! How’s the arts culture here at Laurel? Anything interesting to do?"

"I suggest you check out the city museum in here. Last time I went to an exhibition where they showcased conceptual models of historical cities based on what was written translated ancient texts."

Conceptual models of historical cities? How come I never saw an exhibition like that?

"The historical models sound so amazing! I would definitely like to go there sometime. Why did you come to our school, Jules?" Beth asked. 

"Well, I am a Laurel local, and I got one of the spots to come to Laurel Prep from my previous middle school. My old school also helped put people into schools like Marie-Lisette Academy, but I chose Laurel because it has a laid back environment compared to those schools."

"Marie-Lisette…wait! I heard that's one of the best high schools in this country…"

"Yes, but ranking doesn’t directly equate to quality of teaching, or how successful the student will be in the long run." Julianna shrugged the reputation of Marie-Lisette off. Beth thought maybe it's time to diverge the topic. 

"By the way, Jules, what did you do during the summer?"

"Me?" Julianna chuckled. "Umm...I studied the sea for a bit and saw a lot of interesting creatures there! You?"

"I had an art summer class and went traveling with friends!"

"That sounds great! Oh, class 12 A. Here it is. We need to get to the assembly soon with other people in our homeroom."

It was at the assembly did Beth realize that she had taken Julianna's words too literally. Yet she is not to blame. For the whole summer, she did have an art class and went to a different place. However, that was a watercolor painting class with her local community, and she simply went to the seaside in a different city. During the assembly she sat in awe, exposing herself to 'student perspectives in volunteering, research, and innovation.' Starry-eyed young boys and girls came onto the stage, dressed in a posh way. Queer rights. Ethical Photography. Information Technology In A Global Society. Beth's thoughts became saturated with those words. Then came Julianna, as one of the student representatives. Calm and confident, she made an introduction about her research at Laurel coast, about how she investigated the dissolve rates of different gases and the living environments of micro-organisms in the near ocean. Laurel can be a very stressful place. Owen's words started kicking in. Students work hard on everything, especially their academics and passions. The assembly gave Beth her first taste of stress culture at Laurel Preparatory. 

After the assembly, Beth came to find Julianna. 

"Beth, you don’t need to be nervous about not having done research during the summer. It’s my first time doing research and it’s a just part of what STEM people need to do. You have your own strengths and that is enough."

"Yea yea yea...thank you Jules." Beth still couldn't help but feel nervous. As she was talking to Jules, she noticed a poster on the right side of the hallway. 

It writes 'runway competition'.

Oh my!

"We need to walk faster to our first class now. I have to make sure that I have my books ready…wait, Beth! What are you looking at?" 

"'Laurel high school association is running our annual runway competition to raise money for environmental awareness. This year’s theme is ‘a romantic night out’. Winners will be invited to a prom and runway show and have their clothes showcased at the giant stadium.’

"Fashion for environmental awareness! That sounds promising and I hope they are really doing that. Beth, can you read how it says how to join the runway show?

"Sure! So it says ‘you can join the competition by yourself only or with one friend as a team.’ Jules, this sounds like a really interesting idea. Do you wanna try it out with me?" 

"Umm...let me check my schedule real quick…" Julianna opened up a planner on her phone, "great, I can do it!"

"Then let's sign up!"

Beth immediately took out a pen from her bag and wrote "Bethany Clementine & Julianna Miller" on the sign-up board. Cheers to my first project to be done here at Laurel Prep! She secretly giggled to herself. 

Well, she was optimistic a little too early. A challenge was approaching her. On the sign-up board, there was another name as well.

Simone Chandler. 

A petite girl who loved pink. Under her innocent persona, there was a budding social media influencer and fashion blogger. 

As Beth finished signing up, she heard some people chattering behind her. 

It was just about Simone.