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CHAPTER ONE

Serena Britten had dreamed of this forever

Not bright lights and designer dresses and fa rock starsbut an enoret through even if she stayed right here for an entire lifetime and just read and read and read In the past teeks, Green Library had become her absolute favorite place on earth, with its endless shelves of books

Oh yes, she thought as she sertips over the spines of the books nearest to her, it really was just wonderful

At 9:45 on a Friday night on the Stanford University campus, there weren't ed from between the stacks, it didn't actually look like there were any other students here Just Serena and the wo at her watch, obviously waiting for her to leave so that she could close everything up and start her weekend

Serena checked out the three great new books she'd found, then took a baseball cap out of her bag and put it on, tucking her long hair up into it Due to the Indian summer in Northern California over the past couple of weeks, it was still fairly war on a hat and a shapeless Cardinals sweatshirt helped increase the odds that she could walk past people unnoticed, particularly any paparazzi who ers wanting to take pictures with her, and most of the tiuysa little too close or byborderline dirty comments about pictures they'd seen of her

If only she could wear a disguise in her History and Theory of the Novel class Her professor, Dr Julian Fairworth, had actually made her skin crawl today when he'd looked at her like he was trying to see through her jeans to what lay beneath Despite the war, she shivered at the memory of the way he'd walked by her seat just a little too close and had bent over the book in front of her just a little too far when she'd asked him a question

Serena had met plenty of lecherous men in Hollywood and on photo shoots over the years, but her mother had always been there to scare them away This was the first time Serena had to deal with them all on her own

Which was exactly what you wanted, she reminded herself as she breathed deeply to take in the sweet-sht air The freedom to make her own decisions about school Career Clothes Men

Life

Serena'sopen call when she was three years old, and for the past sixteen years, she'd worked nonstop all over the world Her er"or rather, she had been until teeks ago, when Serena had left it all behind

Teeks ago

"Mom, I need to talk to you"

Genevieve Britten was carefully studying a layout Serena had been in for a French fashiondetailed notes of every brilliant nuance the other models displayed in the photos and where Serena needed to make improvements to stay competitive

"You've looked better," herup froes, "but, fortunately, you still outshine the other girls" Her upper lip curled slightly as she pointed at a sixteen-year-old model who Serena re job "I still can't believe they let this one do the shoot without losing ten pounds first"

The girl was gorgeous and not at all in need of losing any weight But Serena knew better than to try to debate this with her mother Especially not when she'd finally reached thenews

"I' to Stanford"

Genevieve didn't even raise her eyes froot to tell me about?"

"What IStanford University As a freshaze from the pictures, Serena added, "In teeks"

Every ti the past few years, Genevieve had laughed and asked what she could possibly ith college when, as a model, the world was already her oyster? It wasn't that her mother didn't have a point Most people probably would think she was totally nuts for walking away fro didn't make sense to anyone else, it made sense to her

All her life, she'd loved books Loved the smell of theenres and subjects in every spare moment, and dream up stories of her own She didn't yet know if she wanted to write books or study books or edit books or publish books or sell books, but that hat college was for, wasn't it? To throw herself into new experiences, soht not be quite as goodbut to know through it all that she'd never regret really, truly--finally--getting to live her life

"Is this a joke?"

Serena shook her head "No, it isn't" She'd steeled herself for months to be brave and stand up for what she wanted "You know attending college has always beenand Hollywood had always been her o, Genevieve Britten had been the hottest thing on the catwalkuntil she'd gotten pregnant with Serena All her life, Serena had felt like she wasborn But she couldn't do that forever She just coul

dn't

"Are you crazy?" Her mother's tone left no question that Serena had absolutely lost herup your career, especially when you're not only one of the top supermodels in the world, but you are also poised to become a serious actor?"

"Smith Sullivan's movie has been shelved," Serena re out on a commitment to him"

Being in a e, but it wasn't one she'd chosen for herself and Serena was beyond glad that the fil to walk away fro jobs, but if she'd actually been cast in a major ood conscienceand then she would have had to postpone her plans for college another year Or longer, probably, if the movie did well

"Ser than he originally planned," herin pitch with each word, as if she'd just begun to realize that Serena was actually serious this time "Even without it, you have runway cos"

"I've already spoken with Daned any new contracts with makeup and fashion houses, and he told me there are plenty of other models who can step in to the shoots or runway shows that I' the next few months"

Serena could have sworn everything in the roo in the air Completely, perfectly still, as if time had frozen

"You went behind ent about this?" Every word Genevieve spoke was pure, seething fury "How dare you?"

Serena had so badly wanted to be honest with her e applications, rather than secretly filling them out online She wished she could have shared her excitement when the acceptance email had come Probationary acceptance Since she hadn't ever been to any regular school, but had tested really high and written several long essays specifically for placereed to adistration" status Which iven her one quarter to impress the heck out of the adrades and recommendations from her professors If she did that, she'd be accepted as a permanent student

Serena wasn't proud that she'd kept the news fro, but she'd been so afraid that it would all co down otherwise All her life, it had only been the two of them She'd never known her father--when he'd found out her nant, he'd immediately split, and had passed away a few years later Even as a little girl, Serena had realized that her s only came when she was pleased with a job Serena had done well, or when good news came that she'd booked an i she could to make Genevieve happy

And maybe she could have continued like that were it not for the fact that Serena's own dreae more and more from her mother's Books, not fashion shows Libraries, nota story by one of her favorite authors, not splashy Hollywood parties

Serena wanted, , to live a life that she was passionately excited about