*Kelly Criswell*

I was born into what most people would consider a life of privilege. Although it was true that I had everything I needed and usually got what I wanted, "privileged" was not the term I would have used to describe myself.

I was rich and famous just because I existed. As strange as it sounds, it wasn't the lifestyle I would have chosen for myself. It wasn't that I took my comfortable, carefree life for granted, it was just that I wanted to be special in my own way.

I had debated with myself a lot recently about whether or not I deserved the three million dollars per year that was spent on my education alone. Considering the fact that I was only an average student, I didn't think that I did.

Avalon Artisan did. She tolerated every rude remark the teacher and other students had made and it was obvious she'd gone through a lot of other heartache too, simply because she wanted to learn. I had always hated school and though of it as a pain, not a privilege, but the new girl had given me a new perspective.

I was still thinking about Avalon when I ran into her after school.

I smiled and nodded to acknowledge her, then turned to keep going my own way. It was the same way I treated all of my other classmates.

"Um, Kelly?" She said, so softly that I almost thought I'd imagined her speaking.

"Yeah?" I responded, only slightly louder.

"Thank you," she said a few seconds later. "for helping me in class this morning. You didn't have to and I know not a lot of people would have."

"No biggie," I assured her. "So, where're you headed? Do you need a ride?"

"Um, I'm going to Lillith Eldertree's..." She trailed off uncertainly.

Lillith and her brother Cato had only one purpose in life: controlling the future of sixteen year olds. I instantly sympathized with Avalon. "Okay, just wait a second. Oh and happy birthday."

I unzipped my baggie and fished out my cellie. Before Avalon had a chance to object to my charity, I dialed my family's butler, William Kingston.

"We'll drive you over there," I explained for Avalon.

"You don't have to-

"I know."

Someone answered the phone a second later, I didn't give him a chance to say anything though. I happily screamed "Wilkins!" into the phone and explained the favor.

The butler arrived a few minutes later and Avalon shyly climbed into the back of the limousine with me. Wilkins sent her the same disapproving look that my daddy had sent Jonathan Cold. She hung her head and looked away so, I glared at Wilkins.

Six uncomfortable, silent minutes later, we pulled into the Eldertree's driveway. I walked Avalon to the door.

"Are you nervous?" I asked her.

She nodded.

"Yeah, I was too, but don't worry about it too much." I directed, trying to quickly and kindly teach her a lesson that I'd had to learn the hard way. "Look, I know the Eldertrees control your-"

"Life." Avalon supplied the word. I hadn't expected her to have the temerity to interrupt me, but apparently she did.

"No," I argued. "They get to choose your job and your husband...and your car." I added with a touch of envy concerning my own non-existant car. "But they don't control your life, okay? And whatever they say about your hope and dreams...don't listen to that, okay?"

"Okay," She repeated.

Cato Eldertree opened the front door at that moment, looking expectant, "Avalon Artisan?"

Avalon looked at me blankly.

"Go on, Av," I pushed her forward gently and she timidly walked inside.

Cato, however, remained there, staring at me. "Kelly Criswell," he said, identifying me dramatically.

"Yes?" I responded unhappily.

"Have you given up that foolish dream of yours yet?"

He was referencing the guitar I'd finally gotten my daddy to buy me and the songs I wrote and sang in my spare time. It was supposedly just a phase, but I'd wanted to be a musician for as long as I could remember.

"No, I haven't." I answered Cato's question and walked back to the car, angirly.

All the way home, Wilkins lectured me about my choice in friends and what my daddy would have to say about a girl like Avalon, but I wasn't listening. I was composing music and lyrics that would be my escape someday.