Chapter 1

Senior year was a major bust. Bombed my art school application, then Mom and Dad peaced out in a series of cruel twists of fate. I was coasting through the haze, when boom — I found out my art portfolio was jacked. The swiper? My girl, Isabella, the school's OG glam queen. Everyone was on about Isabel being some celestial vibe, the moon from the heavens or some jazz. Girl whipped up a masterpiece, scored the international gold medal, and swooped up the heart of this primo catch, the heir to the Vanderbilt fortune. Just a month shy of walking down the aisle into a life of dollar bills. But, plot twist... Tonight, Isabel became toast in a serious blaze that took down her whole fam. Tragic. 1 I'm Autumn. Autumn like the season, not the band. They'd crack up calling me 'the background dancer', 'the sidekick' to Isabel's solo. Everyone said I was just dirt beneath their sneakers. Failed my art school application, lost my parents, living off a bun a day. While Isabel was on the fast track to becoming Mrs. Moneypenny, I was stuck slaving away in the art studio, grubby and grim, bending over backward just to make ends meet.