I stared at Henrietta, who was still casually looking at me, waiting for my reaction. She had her hand holding the book on the back of the couch; her index finger was in between pages bookmarking where she had left on. Her glasses hung, framing her slightly tired-looking eyes.

What she said stopped me. It's not like it's unpractical or that the same thought hadn't crossed my mind too, but it just seems so soon.

"Are you sure? I mean, I just got here. I tried explaining while pushing the plate away from me, having lost my appetite.

There's no point in dragging it out. The principal is a friend of mine, and I have already called her and set up a meeting for tomorrow. I know I'm rushing; you've only been here for a day, but it's already the middle of the semester, and I know your mother would want you in school as soon as possible."

"You make a good point. It's just really sudden. I'm still confused by all of this... I mean, yesterday I got home and was told to abandon everyone and everything, and now I'm supposed to jump into a new life like that?"

Henrietta stared at me in silence, unable to find the right words.

"Have you heard of the butterfly effect?"

"No," I said quietly.

"A butterfly flaps its wings, and somewhere a storm breaks loose. A tiny incident can trigger a bigger plan that was in place. Your mother's decision to make you leave must have taken her months of planning and preparing. It's a huge cliché, but everything happens for a reason. If you don't believe it now, someday you will. I promise."

"you're right," I said while getting up and grabbing my plate. "That is a cliché" I looked over my shoulder and saw Henrietta smiling as she turned back and continued reading.

I put my dishes in the dishwasher, thanked her for the food, and headed upstairs. When I got to my room, I glanced over at the clock on my nightstand. 8 pm. Damn, why did I have to sleep so long? I cursed to myself once more.

As I walked to my bed, I saw the curtains slightly move from the corner of my eye. Confused, I stared at them, and they moved again. Was the window open? I walked up to it and dragged the white curtain aside, and to my surprise, it wasn't a window. It was a door.

As I opened it, in front of me was a balcony facing the ocean. I could even see the cliff from here. I stepped out and noticed a little table and chair in the corner and English ivy growing in between the rustic balcony railing. Everything in this house had tiny, beautiful details, but this one was significantly older looking than everything else I've seen so far. The color had faded in some places, giving a rusty hue to an otherwise iron railing, but its style is definitely Victorian.

The smell of the ocean tickled my senses as I sat down on the chair and just gazed far into the ocean. It was peaceful. It started getting so dark that the beach was illuminated by streetlights and the light from surrounding houses, but as I looked up to the cliff, it was entirely taken by the darkness. For the first time in a long time, I actually felt hopeful for the next day. I didn't know what or who was coming my way.

The following day, I woke up around 9 am to the sound of knocking on my door. As I opened my eyes, I saw a very blurry Henrietta peeking from the door. I focused my eyes and saw that she had a cup of coffee with her. I sat up slowly.

"Good morning!" Henrietta said very enthusiastically.

"Good morning," I replied while yawning.

"I thought I'd bring you some coffee to wake you up!"

I wasn't a fan that Henrietta was clearly a morning person since I always needed a cup of coffee before I became sociable.

"thank you," I replied with no emotion in my voice. Henrietta picked up on this and placed the cup on my nightstand.

"I'll let you wake up in peace. We're leaving around 10:30, so be down by then," she said, smiling, and closed the door.

I think I heard half of what she said. I was so tired all I heard was 10:30. I felt a breeze and looked to my side. I must have forgotten to close the door when I went to sleep last night.

I threw my legs onto the side of the bed and forced my upper body to follow. I stretched a little while sitting on the bed, grabbed my mug, and headed outside to the balcony. I placed my forearms on the cool surface of the railing.

It was a beautiful morning; the birds sang their song as the sun rose above the horizon to greet us once more. The beach was relatively quiet, and I saw a few surfing enthusiasts looking out to the ocean in hopes of waves. And further back around the houses, I saw people enjoying the ocean breeze while drinking their morning beverages.

I finished my coffee while admiring the view in front of me. As I walked back inside, I placed the empty mug next to the alarm clock, and Poseidon and I started getting ready for the interview. I chose light blue jeans and a black collar shirt. I figured I'd look clean and professional. I guessed my usual clothes wouldn't give off a good impression of me. Not that I dress badly or anything, I enjoy darker colors, with the occasional color here and there.

When I headed downstairs, Henrietta was drinking coffee, and when I got off the last step like rehearsed, she lifted her head just as my foot touched the floor.

"don't you look all professional and snug!" she chuckled.

"Is this too much? I didn't know how to dress." I stammered while tucking on the end of my shirt to straighten it.

"No, No, you look wonderful, don't worry about that; it won't be anything too formal, just a chit-chat over coffee."

"I see." I was honestly at a loss for words. This was all just too weird. Like I entered some alternative universe through that front door when I first arrived.

"We should get going then. Are you ready?" Henrietta asked and placed her mug in the sink.

"I am," I answered, and we headed out.

We drove to the city thirty minutes away from the town Henrietta lived in. I noticed myself glued to the window as I admired all the houses we passed. Since Henrietta lived by the beach, I assumed most houses to be beach houses, but I was wrong. People actually lived here in these gorgeous houses. None of the houses looked alike, and each of them was unique in its own way. I swear every second I spend here, I'm more and more convinced this is all just some coma dream.

As we got into the city, it wasn't exactly small but not big either; there were a few apartment buildings, a mall, a library, and a few restaurants. We soon arrived at a small, adorable coffee shop.

We got out of the car, and outside of the coffee shop, I saw a woman who had noticed us and waved her hand toward us. Henrietta waved back as we walked to her.

"Henrietta, it's been a while. How are you?" the woman said as she pulled Henrietta into a hug before she had time to react to the situation.

"You know, same old same old. How are you, Annie?" Henrietta replied, slightly laughing to cover her embarrassed tone.

"I'm good, as usual!" She responded with a bubbly attitude.

Annie looked at me, and I got a good look at her as well. She had a red pencil skirt and a white-collar shirt paired with black heels. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail, and she had little to no makeup on. She was very tanned, though.

"You must be Rosalie. I am principal Annie Daz." the woman said and smiled at me as she raised her hand. I shook her hand and replied: "yes, but you can just call me Rose."

"Rose, got it!" she replied.

Unlike any principal I've met before, she had very peppy energy, which makes it hard to believe she even is one. Where's the rude comments, the eye bags, the eye-rolling? Could just one person be normal around here? I guess I'm not used to friendly people since I lived in a big city and well schools were overcrowded, and there were a lot of troubled kids. Me included.

"Now that we have all met, let's head inside," Annie said.

We walked inside and sat down in the far corner of the shop to have a bit of privacy.

"So, you are looking to transfer into our school?" Annie started after we got our drinks.

Henrietta cleared her throat and looked Annie straight in the eyes.

"We've known for a long time Annie, so I'll be straight with you. Rose is my niece, and she had to leave her home, as I imagine you know why. So, if she were to transfer there, you can't contact her old school for her records." Henrietta spoke quietly but clearly.

"I see." Annie started. "But you do realize this isn't exactly an easy task, and I can't just have a student magically appear into the system without any background information."

"I understand that, but what if we, for now, fill out all the necessary information and then just say that you are waiting for the other school to send out her files?"

At this point, I sort of just zoned out while listening to them talk. I couldn’t even begin to grasp everything that was happening. They went on for a while, and finally, Henrietta brought me back by tapping my shoulder.

"So, would that be okay with you?" She asked

"Huh?"

"You will change your last name for now and enroll in school in two weeks. We will provide Annie with all the necessary information about your education now, and the rest will be handled later."

"That sounds fine with me." I shrugged and took a sip of my coffee.

I began answering Annie's questions, and after an hour, we got done.

"So, from Monday morning, you Rose will be Rosalie Simmons, and you will be transferred to a senior class, and your homeroom teacher will be Mrs. Wells," Annie said and tapped a stack of papers on the surface of the desk before placing them into her briefcase.

“Okay,” I responded.

We finished our drinks, and Annie briefed me on the basics of the school.

After we left the shop and got in the car, Henrietta turned to me.

"Would you like to grab some takeout on our way home?"

"Why not," I said and smiled.

"How about Thai food?"

"Sounds amazing!" I responded a little too enthusiastically than I thought, and even Henrietta seemed a little spooked by it.

We returned to the house and sat around the kitchen table to eat.

“So, how do you feel about all this?” Henrietta asked.

“To be honest with you, I’m not even sure myself.”

Henrietta looked troubled like she had something to say but shook it off by continuing;

“I don’t blame you; not every 18 year old has to uproot their whole life in the span of two days,”

“Yeah.”

“It’ll get easier, Rose, I promise,” Henrietta said and gave me a warm smile.

“Thank you,” I responded.

We finished eating, and I helped her clear the table before heading upstairs.

I decided to explore the house a little since it was only 4 pm. The upstairs only had two rooms on opposite sides of the chairs and a hallway that had one door at the end of it. I walked up to it and touched the doorknob. It felt cold to the touch, and as I tried twisting it, it wouldn’t open. Locket? Huh. I wonder what horrible secrets Henrietta has behind this door. I chuckled to myself.

I returned back to my room and went to the balcony. It wasn’t long until the sun started setting, and the ocean looked like it had been set on fire. It was mesmerizing. I couldn't stop looking at it until it disappeared under the sea. I waited till the lamp posts turned on before walking downstairs to let Henrietta know I'd be going out.

I walked up the path, and saw Ethan sitting where we first met, he turned around, and his expression brightened instantly

"You actually came!" Ethan yelled excited

"Well, I did promise, didn't I," I said and shrugged my shoulders comically.

"Still! I don't know you; you could have just lied to me."

"So could have you."

Ethan got up and practically ran toward me with a big smile.

"Hey, come here. I want to show you something!" He said while grabbing my hand and dragging me near one of the trees.

He gestured me to lay down, confused as I did, and he laid beside me so our faces were next to each other.

"Okay, now look up," Ethan said, excited.

I looked up, questioning why I even agreed to this in the first place, then I saw it. When you walk up here, the trees create a tiny shelter around the cliff covering the sky completely, or so I thought. Right where we were lying, you could see an opening, a bright little spot filled with stars. It was beautiful, and this wasn't something you could instantly see.

"Wow" – was the only word I could get out of my mouth.

The wind blew and rustled the leaves, creating gentle sounds.

"I know, right, I come up here a lot and one time just laid down and looked up. Ever since that night, this spot became like a safe place, if you will." Ethan chuckled. "Well, I don't blame you; it's sort of like a tiny escape in a closed-up space." I rambled - "So you sort of always have a way out" Words poured out before I even realized I said them out loud. I stopped and felt the blood rushing to my cheeks.

"Exactly," Ethan said with a quiet voice. I could feel his gaze on me, and he looked baffled, as if I had just said what he was thinking.

"I'm sorry. I tend to speak before thinking sometimes." I closed my eyes to not see his gaze on me, hoping it would be dark enough so he wouldn't see my face.

"No, it's quite okay, that's exactly how I would describe it myself, so it just surprised me someone thought the same way."

I opened my eyes and saw him looking at me, reading me, trying to figure me out. To his disappointment, he didn't seem to grasp at anything. His eyes kept studying me, my hair, my features, even my eyes. We lay there in silence for a while until he sighed loudly and threw his hands in the air dramatically.

"You are one confusing cookie, blueberry. I can't wait to get to know you."

"Good luck with that.” I laughed

"I’ll have you know that I am a regular Sherlock Holmes. There isn’t anything I cannot solve!" Ethan said in a goofy voice.

I couldn't keep back a laugh, and we both burst out laughing. We started back up at the sky as the moon started to pass us. It shined brightly and lit up only the tiny circle where our heads were. In moments like these, it's easier to forget my life for a second. To laugh and enjoy the night sky with this insanely goofy person next to me.

As we lay there, what else should fly right in front of our faces than a tiny blue butterfly flapping its wings? Seriously what the hell is up with this place.