Intro: She let strands of hair fall to her face as her head lowered. There she lie on her bed, spacing out to the lavender painted wall. Her eyes would corner to the sides of her room, inspecting. There she saw pictures of maps and places she always wanted to go, with intricate details of what they were like, and what the scenery would. She blinked slowly, still dazed. Her auburn locks were still hanging and messed up, with no effort. She closed her eyes once again, and breathed deeply to take a hint of honey and lavender that she left near her bedside. Getting up lazily, she turned to her bathroom and gazed at herself. Her hair was curlier than the night before, and no makeup on her face. She saw pimples forming, but took no action for it, and headed downstairs. She felt something, an emotion she couldn't quite recognize. For the past few days, all she could do was daydream onto those paper brochures, and feel her heart quicken. Already dressed in some simple jeans and black turtleneck, she topped it off with some black flats. The season was getting colder, so she opted to wear something warm. She didn't bother eating, and got her house keys, shutting the door and sighing as she heard the door shut. All she could say to herself: "My hopes are high, I must keep them small." Chapter 1: Feeling shivers down her spine, she waited for the bus at the nearby bus stop 10 minutes walking distance from her house. She always enjoyed that little corner she would sit in, and take in the scenery. Mountains covered with grassy plains were seen far away with few eyes to recognize, and the city full of brick buildings that seemed to tower over her. She always wanted to know what it was like to be on top of a hill near the area. She imagined a place no more beautiful that that. The bus slowly made it's turn, and she entered, but nearly stumbled for dozing off as usual. The bus was nearly full, so she quickened herself to find a seat available. People hurried to fine a seat, and she put in her earbuds to cancel out the noise. While listening, out of the corner of her eye, she seems an elderly man come up into the bus, struggling to take a seat. Many people did not notice him, and he struggled to find a spot where he could rest. A woman sitting in front of him just eyed him occasionally, hearing him cough and disgusted by the sounds he made. She back away from him and used her phone. The girl took her earbuds off, and motioned the older man to sit in her seat. "No, I don't want to trouble you." The old man said wearily, coughing. "Please. It's no trouble." The girl assured him. He looked into her eyes and somewhere in those eyes the girl saw gratitude, so the old man thanked her and sat down. He coughed still, but he was suffering less. The bus shifted a turn, and the girl quickly grabbed onto the rail. She closed her eyes and breathed of relief. She just only thought to herself: "I hope people can change." She stood silent without her earbuds he whole ride, only the silence and sounds of cars were ringing in her ear. ---- She arrived at the studio, where her co-workers and manager were arguing about recent sales. "Look at these reports! This dropped 13% in sales! Who would think of an idea this idiotic? Who wears orange lipstick?!" Her manager stated aggressively. One of her co-workers, Alaska, rolled her eyes for a quick second but kept it professional, "Ma'am, we get it. It's just an experiment. We'll just ask Carolina to find better nudes colors and update the website." Her manager rubbed her temples, and saw Carolina look at them both tiredly, "Where have you been? You're three hours late. Did you doze off again?" She asked aggravated. "I've been out of it lately, sorry." Carolina managed to say quietly. The manager clapped her hands and rolled her eyes, "Carol, dear, you don't get it. If this keeps up, you won't have a job. All your college experience will be for nothing. I suggest you take it seriously." She shook her head, and walked away from the both of them. Alaska nudged Carolina playfully, "Yeah, even though she's a pain in the ass sometimes, she's right. You're acting strange...more than usual." I guess you could say Carolina was strange. She was usually really friendly, but distant. Many times people would be surprised if she was sincere, and not blunt and straightforward. She was always picked on for being too loud, or too aggressive, or just plain rare. She wasn't good-looking with her straight face, which seemed to everyone as she was shooting daggers left and right. Now she's extremely different, and just doesn't like people anymore. They both sat down at their desks, letting their latops turn on. "So, tell me why you're like this again?" Alaska asked with a coffee mug in her hand. Carolina just looked back at her co-worker, opening her mouth. But she closed it. And opened it, hesitant. "I'm tired of this place." She said, like thin air. Alaska raised her eyebrow, "Everyone is hun. Heck, I don't get paid enough." Carolina just looked at the floor. "Yeah." She nodded. Alaska smiled sadly and went back to her work, and Carolina looked at the ceiling. She thought how strange time slowed as one stared at something long enough. But she was cut off by a slam of her desk. Another co-worker of hers, David, mounted a pile of papers on her desk. "We have a meeting. Can you help me get all these papers?" He asked, pleading. Carolina nodded, taking almost half of the load. She started to walk in the meeting room, the scenery still on her mind. --- Chapter 1 to be cont'd. -----