Serenity Falls has got to be the most deceiving slice of country ever heard of before. That is, if you've actually ever heard of it. Nestled in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, surrounded by wild woods, towering mountains, and occupied by a few hundred people, not much changed.

Until they changed. But of course that's their most precious secret of all.

That, and the little princess who didn't have an inkling of how important she, or her family, really was.

Serenity is clueless about a lot of things: the town she was born in and the people she's expected to remember; the reason behind her Mom packing them up and moving across the country; and the group of teenagers who seem to regard her as a piece of meat every time they look at her.

New town, school, friends… torn between her emotions and who she thinks she is, how much more can Serenity take before she cracks?

Prologue

"Mom!" I silently curse as I finally slip my heavy bag off my shoulders. I honestly do not even know what I put in it to make it so heavy. School books can't possibly weigh that much.

"Hey honey!" Mom's bright smile precedes her as she comes into the kitchen. "How was school?"

"Totally awesome." I roll my eyes, plucking an orange out of the fruit bowl to cut up. Barely noticing Mom's nod of approval, I move around to the cutting board. "The rumors are getting more and more ridiculous," I tell her, "Apparently I read encyclopaedias as bedtime stories and listen to classical music in the shower."

The laugh that escapes her lips brings a smile to my face.

She knows just as well as I that while I'm good at English, my afterschool hobbies include painting and singing along off-tune to various pop songs.

We chatter for a while, discussing my school work and her latest pottery creations.

She's really into it at the moment, always appearing from the garage with clay or paint smeared all over her.

I guess that's where I get my creativeness from, because it's definitely not my grades.

After struggling for a couple years, Mom dropped out of school at the age of fifteen so she could look after her parents and help support them by getting a job.

It's a little over a week left until we'll be moving to Serenity Falls, the town Mom was born, raised and eventually married in.

Located in the Appalachian mountains of Virginia, it couldn't be more different from our home in California than if we moved to Russia. Okay the language doesn't change, but I have no way to even prepare myself for this.

The place doesn't even exist on Google Maps! Trust me, I spent hours trying to find it.

At first when Mom spoke to me about it I had been horrified. Moving to a place I barely remember to help care for a grandmother I couldn't even recognise if I passed her on the street? Not exactly something to rejoice about.

But then I thought about it. I have no friends, not really fitting in with any of the kids at school, so I don't have anyone I'll have to worry about losing contact with. I can't miss friends I don't have.

While Santa Monica is nice, I hate the muggy heat in summer and the judgemental looks from other girls if I wear shorts or crop tops.

That is something I won't miss, ever.

So slowly I convinced myself that this move is going to be the best thing to have happened in a long time. I see it as an adventure, and I couldn't be happier.