Everyone has a memory that they'll never be able to forget. A special memory that can be set apart from the others. It can be either good or bad, but there's absolutely no in-between. If it was an in-between, not horrible but not life-changing memory, it wouldn't be different from the rest. Instead, it would merge within the other memories which will later be forgotten.

    Those are your immortal memories. Most people believe that you can have multiple immortal memories, but my mother and I have always thought otherwise. Even if it is possible to have multiple immortal memories, which it isn't, there would always be one that's not the same as the rest. One that holds more significance than the others. That would be your true Immortal memory.

    They're always changing so it's typically never the same memory for more than a year, maybe even longer depending on different situations you find yourself in. But regardless, that's how things have always been. Or used to be, I guess. I agreed with the statement about immortal memories changing all the way up until the expected, but still devastatingly tragic passing of my mother, Fiona Lester.

She was taken away from me, from this world, almost one year ago on 7th of August by a God-awful disease.

Cancer.

Lung cancer to be specific. The day that the glowing light left her beautiful pale blue eyes, my eyes, was very difficult for many. Everyone adored my mother and so her passing, though didn't necessarily come as a shock, was the cause of many heart aches on that rainy afternoon.

As painful as it is to plaster on a smile and pretend that everything is fine in my life, it's the only thing I can do to keep my mother close to me. Ever since that day in August, I've made it my soul mission to keep her fire, her light, burning through me.

"Annalise darling, you have mail!" My mother's best friend called from the bottom of the stairs, breaking me out of my depressing thoughts.

I didn't want to lay down the book I was pretending to read, but the curiosity burning in the back of my head spurred me to leave the guest bedroom and walk down to the kitchen where Mrs. Kathy was.

I didn't usually get mail. No, I don't ever get mail.

"I have a letter?" I questioned, sitting down at the round, wooden table.

"You do," She nodded, laying the envelope down in front of me. "I think it's from that school you used to go on and on about."

I furrowed my eyebrows. There's absolutely no way a school that prestigious could want anything to do with me. And besides, hadn't mentioned Bellewood Academy to anyone since mom passed away.

"This must be a joke," I muttered mostly to myself, tucking a curl of my long, fiery red hair behind my ear.

"Check the address sweetie," Mrs. Kathy mused, obviously over-hearing my comment.

Doing as she suggested, I flipped the envelope over and my jaw dropped to the floor the minute I read the beautiful slanted cursive scrawled onto the beige paper. If the return address wasn't enough proof to show that it really was from Bellewood, the famous wax seal label is what proved it.

I ran my fingers over the red wax and traced the bell stamped into the wax in awe. But how do they even know I exist? I had my application ready to be sent out and I really was going to apply, but when mom passed away, all my dreams of leaving the country to go to school in England died with her.

I mean, I still think about what would've happened if I had left, but the thought of being somewhere without my mom beside me always made my palms sweaty.

Mrs. Kathy's delicate hand being placed over my shoulder snapped me out of my thoughts. "Are you alright dear?"

I took a breath. I know she's dying to see what's inside the envelope. For as l0ng as I've known her, she's always been a gossip addict. "I'm good."

With slightly shaking hands, I break the wax seal and take the single sheet of parchment paper out of the envelope. I unfold the letter and read it out loud for Mrs. Kathy to hear.

Dear Ms. Annalise Oliva Lester,

    We are very pleased to inform you that we've received your application to our humble school and that you've been officially chosen to attend classes with us this up-comming fall. If you choose to decline this offer, please stop reading now, and write back immediately stating your refusal to attend our school. If you choose otherwise, please continue reading the rest of this letter to it's full completion.

We're so very thrilled that you've chosen to attend Bellewood Academy this semester. Listed below are a few things that you need to take notice of before we see your bright face at registration.

School uniforms, toiletries, linens, class books, and other forms of school supplies will already be provided for you in your selected dorm room

There will be three meals provided for you every day and the cafeteria will be open until Midnight

You are to be prompt with your classes and respectful to your teachers, along with your peers

Whenever you do not have class, you are free to leave the campus as long as you're back before Midnight

More details about your schooling will be provided when you arrive at our campus on registration day, August 4th. We hope to see you there!

I fold the letter back up and place it on the table, leaning back into my wooden chair. I'm at a complete loss for words. I heard Mrs. Kathy move to sit across from me, but I'm too busy trying to figure out how my application got sent out in the mail in the first place.

"Annalise honey," Mrs. Kathy said softly, placing her hands over my clasped ones. "This is something huge to think about."

Something huge? No, this is a total no-brainer. I shook my head, "There's absolutely no way I'm going to that school."

Mrs. Kathy frowned, "Don't say that. Just think about it, okay?"

"I didn't even send out the application," I said, raising my light blue eyes to hers. "How could I be accepted if I never even sent out an application?"

"Wait, you didn't send one out?" She asked, clearly shocked.

"Nope. I wrote it out and completed everything, but it was never submitted."

"Huh," She said, raising her eyebrows. "Now, I'm not trying to sway you or anything, but I think that's more of a reason for you to go."

"What? Why?" I asked incredulously.

"It's kind of like a sign." I stared at her, really confused and she just rolled her eyes and continued. "If you didn't send out the application and you were somehow still accepted, don't you think that something's pulling you in that direction?"

I stayed silent, pondering her words.

Mrs. Kathy's eyes softened. "Annalise, you know that you're going to have to leave this house eventually, right?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Why would I need to? I have everything I could ever want right here in Charleston."

"Darling, you and I both know how unsatisfied you are here. You can try and convince me otherwise as much as you'd like, but I know that you want more. You've always craved adventure."

She's right. Ever since I was a child I couldn't wait to leave for college, or to just leave the state at all. Even after mom died, I still wanted to leave. But I just couldn't bring myself to go somewhere that she's never been, or to leave the town where she raised me by herself.

Maybe I should go. I am eighteen after all. I need to learn to handle things by myself, or to prove that I am doing...better. And besides, this is probably what I'm supposed to be doing. I mean, how often is it that you get selected by what used to be the school of your dreams when you didn't even send out an application to begin with?

Never. That literally never happens.

So for once, I need to trust the universe and just go. I have to do this. I need to do this.

"I think you've managed to sway me," I sighed dramatically as I placed my head on my arms and thinking about what I was about to do.

"I knew I could do it," She replied with a laugh and of course, I joined in.

"Okay, so what's the date?" I asked after we sobered up.

She squinted her eyes at the calendar that was hanging on our fridge. "Um, August second."

"What?" My eyes bulged.

"I said the second of August-"

"No, no I know, but that means we have like-" I did the math quickly in my head. "One day and a fourth to pack my bags and buy a one-way ticket to England?"

"Oh," She drawled, tapping her nails against the table. "We've gotta start getting ready!"

"Okay, you make a list of everything that we'd need to buy that the school doesn't provide and I'll start packing my room up."

She clapped her hands. "I can't believe you're doing this!"

"And so randomly too," I laughed, putting the letter back into the envelope so it stays safe. When I went to stuff the paper inside, I noticed another rectangle of paper in the envelope and I took it out, realizing that it was a plane ticket.

I held it up in Mrs. Kathy's face and laughed at how insane this whole thing is.

"How rich is that school?" She snorted, shaking her head.

"Well, it is in England so," I trailed off, leaving her to fill in the blanks. She laughed again.

After we exchanged a few more tasks to get done before tomorrow, I headed up to the guest room to pack away my extra clothes and keep-sake items into a suitcase. Once I was through, I sat on my bed and basked in the enormity of what I was about to pull off.

Please God, let this not be a mistake.

Hey everyone!

I'm so glad you've made it this far. I just wanted to thank you again for giving my new book a chance. It really really means the world to me.

Now, if you don't mind, could you do me a favor and hit the little star on the bottom of your screen? Or at the top left depending on what device you're using lol. If you want to, feel free to tag anyone you think would like this story! I'd really appreciate that too haha.

What were your thoughts on the prologue? Are we excited for chapter one?

^ It'll be out soon btw <3

Is there anything I should fix?

Well, I think that should be all for now. Have a good week y'all! <3

Word count: 1813

Oh, also, the chapters are gonna be a lot longer than this. Just putting that out there.

~ Your Cool Mom <3