Sophia Kate Lawson always dreamed about what life would be like outside of Sadler, Texas. According to the stories from both sets of great-grandparents, every known relative had been born and raised there. Her father, Stanton Lawson, ran the city's staple law firm. Her mother, Jessica Lee Lawson, had been the Vice Principal at Smithson High School for over ten years.

Growing up in a small town had its benefits, especially when you had such rich ancestral roots. However, Sophia Kate was ready to make a name for herself outside of Sadler. She had two more months before she would be on her own in Austin, Texas and she could hardly wait.

*****

Caleb Calloway didn't think he would ever forgive his mother for her selfish decisions. He had accepted that his parents were never going to make their marriage work, despite his pleas and those of his younger sisters. He knew deep down his father had zero idea about what it took to be a husband and clearly missed the session on how to be a decent father.

His twin sisters, Claire and Charlie, were about to start high school so their mother appealed to their desires for a fresh start outside of Los Angeles, California. He knew LA was not for the faint of heart. It was gritty, frank and mean, but also beautiful and unlike anywhere he'd ever been. So, when his parents broke the news he was beyond devastated.

His father barely put up a fight for custody, so they were moving to Austin, Texas thanks to his mother. She was a notorious real estate expert throughout the West Coast and lived for the challenge to expand. The move, she said, was for them all. But Caleb knew it was mainly to be closer to her new job and boyfriend. According to his mom, they had two more months left in LA and Caleb was determined to figure out a way to stay.

*****

Aria Caldwell usually lived for summer. She adored working for the city at the San Antonio Riverwalk and meeting all of the dance students and families on vacation. One of the many perks of working at the San Antonio Riverwalk Marriot hotel meant free room and board, which Aria thoroughly appreciated.

It was a great change of scenery from the one bedroom apartment she lived in with her single mother and two younger brothers. However, this summer was different. All she wanted to do was stay home and enjoy the last few months she had left in San Antonio with her mom, Judah and Ezekiel.

She would start her freshman year in a couple of months and was torn. She was excited to start her academic career, but also saddened by the thought that she would be in the largest social jungle ever. It would have been nice to just curl up indoors with a good book all summer, but Aria needed all the money she could make to help with the upcoming semester.

*****

Jaden Zazo-Kepner was a native to New York. By the age of seventeen, he had accomplished a rag to riches urban fairytale that many of his bunkmates at Little Flower Children and Family Services dreamed of.

Jaden was a charismatic child that focused on what he wanted and got it. Born Jaden Jackson, he was determined to get out of the Bronx and he did. He was adopted at the age of ten by Christopher Kepner and his partner, Roger Zazo. He then became a resident of Manhattan, New York and never looked back.

His good grades and dads' socialite statuses got him into the best prep schools. He was becoming a household name all on his own, so when he expressed interest in an out-of-state university with heavy hearts his dads obliged.

They would spend his last few months vacationing in The Hampton's with friends and family. Jaden thought leaving the Bronx would be good enough, but he was realizing that maybe New York as a whole was tainted by his past.

*****

Daisy Reynolds had always been a firecracker. Her twin brother, Damon, was the good one. Everyone had stated that obvious fact since they were toddlers. She was always on the go, always doing something. By her senior year in high school, Daisy found herself in an unfortunately familiar predicament.

She was pregnant for the third time, but with no money for an abortion this go around. Her brother found out about the second one, though he thought it was the first, and helped pay for it. This time she had no money and no clue which guy she could try and pin it on.

Her holy rolling parents would fall out into bigger theatrics if they had inklings that she was "dating" let alone having sex. She had two weeks before they were shipping her off to Austin, TX to start the university summer program and she needed this handled as soon as possible.

*****

Avery Williams was one of the most promising athletes at Mountain Pointe High School. His records in swimming and track gained state and national recognition, but that didn't get to him. His humble and kind nature made him popular all around. Overcoming various family hardships and losses allowed Avery to become the type of person teachers appreciated, students loved and strangers enjoyed.

He liked the comfort of his hometown, but he knew that he had to figure out who he was outside of the medals and popularity in Phoenix, Arizona. He had a taste of what life could be like, where no one really knew or cared who you were, during a winter swim meet in Colorado.

It was through a chance encounter that he met a girl that had changed him forever. Avery knew he would never see her again, but it left him trying to chase the high she gave him any chance he got. He had two months to make sure his family was settled before heading out to Austin to start college and hopefully become the kind of guy he was that faithful winter.

*****

Brooke Brunson at times definitely embodied the stereotypical traits of an only child with rich parents. She was used to getting things a certain way and on her terms. Many people would say to her face or behind her back that she was a bitch. She knew it. Her family knew it. Her "friends" knew it. However, no one was ever going to do anything about it.

Brooke was the only child of James and Barbie Brunson of the Brunson & Brunson group. The Brunson family practically owned North Carolina due to their business monopolies. Their mansion in Raleigh, North Carolina, along with family photos, made their yearly debut in various magazines nationwide.

However, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) were asked to investigate Brunson & Brunson by an anonymous tip and what they exposed changed the Brunson name forever.

Money laundering, price fixing and insider trading had been uncovered and over half of the company's employees were facing jail time, including Mr. and Mrs. Brunson. The fall of Brooke Brunson, thanks to social media, spread faster than wildfire.

In less than a week, Brooke had lost her parents, her house and her prized social status. Her maternal grandmother, Mary Beth, who lived in a small town outside of Austin, TX was given custody. Brooke went from the city's socialite to small town nobody in record time.

*****

Preston Smith and Tyler Paxton have been best friends before birth, but growing up in New Orleans, Louisiana definitely presented strains for their friendship and family dynamic. The race divide in Louisiana grew daily, especially after Katrina. The fact that Preston was half-Black and half-White seemed to be a topic of discussion everywhere they went together.

In the beginning, the older people, and some younger ones, did not understand him or get why a White boy like Tyler would hang out with him as much as he did. Their teenaged mothers tried to shield them as best as possible, but life had a way of dealing everyone their own set of cards at impromptu times. Neither knew much about their father and the reaction either got from their mom when asked told them all they needed to know at an early age.

Their mothers had gone to high school together. When they found out that they were both pregnant at seventeen they stood by one another through the critiques, gossip and neglect. Sade Smith and Hannah Paxton were now nurses at Ochsner Medical Center and had blossomed into the women no one, except their sons, thought they could be.

The boys felt it was time for them to come into their own as their mothers wanted. The decision to go to college was one both mothers talked to their sons about since they were toddlers, but the option of them going to school together was never up for debate. They would be heading to Texas in their typical Double Trouble fashion.

*****

Elsa Liakos, Stefan Lopez and Hieu "JT" Trang met at their Campbell Middle School 6th grade spelling bee in Houston, Texas. They couldn't tell you how or why, but only that something clicked and they were inseparable from that moment onward.

Naturally, at the bee Elsa took home 1st place while Stefan came in 2nd and JT celebrated for weeks on his 3rd place win. This would become the cadence of their friendship and neither boy would dare complain or compete with Elsa. She was the "leader" and they let her be.

They trusted her choices, because Elsa was always thinking, worrying or strategizing. It was her idea to apply to the three schools they had based on stringent criterion. Elsa focused on the likelihood of them all getting accepted, the distance between on campus housing and academic activities available, and thanks to JT's hassling she included schools with some prominent social features. They knew they were going to Austin, Texas, because Elsa said so and for the time being they were fine with that.

*****

Olivia Ito and Faye Hamilton were an unlikely pair. Olivia moved to Macon, Georgia from Japan with her father when she was five years old and barely spoke any English. Faye's mother, Tara, was a Teaching Assistant at the nearby community college where John Ito began taking courses and working as a janitor.

Tara and John, despite the language barrier, became very close friends and coincidently so did the girls. Faye, when described by Olivia, was the protector when the mean girls would make fun of how she talked in class. Olivia, when described by Faye before their parents even got married, was the sister she never knew she needed. They were now older, closer than ever and heading off to college together. Both never mentioned to the other, but equally feared that old habits would die-hard in their new playground.

*****

Gracia Pereira was one of those girls who walked into a room and without trying had everyone's attention. She was beautiful, funny and dominant. Her stereotypical Puerto Rican attitude only came out when necessary and still managed to charm those on the receiving end.

She was a loud mouth from Staten Island, New York with an unapologetic personality. However, the decision to follow her older brother, Danny, and sister-in-law, Piper, to Texas as they prepared for the arrival of their firstborn was definitely going to have an effect on her.

She was going to be an aunt and a college student...in the South...without the comfort of the neighborhood bodega to subdue her. She knew before moving that, whether it meant to or not, the year was going to be an interesting one. She just had no idea how true that statement would become.