May I Be Unyielding, May I Rise Unbound

Serena spent years chasing her childhood sweetheart Aiden. When application season came, Aiden and her best friend Vivian both applied to Yale — and casually told her to pick nearby Quinnipiac. Even the consultant was hired for them, leaving her out. This time, Serena secretly applied to Pomona College in California. She stopped running after others. After the breakup, she traveled alone, discovered her genius in neuroscience, published in Frontiers in Neuroscience, and got into Harvard Medical School. Aiden chased her to Pomona, stood there all night — but could never catch up. Vivian's true face as a manipulative snake was exposed, and they tore each other apart. Serena stopped chasing someone else's light — and became her own.