Now the beautiful view of the Laurel cityscape was shared by two people from the balcony. Two chairs, a little round table, a couple of plants around the fairy light, and two girls sitting by each other. Everything created a simplistic yet sweet little moment.

'I thought you were asleep.' Julianna said.

'Actually, no! There were just so many things that happened today that still left my mind active.' Beth chuckled. 'I like watching the cityscape of Laurel as well. So here I am, just hanging around, enjoying a little breeze. Do you want anything to eat? I can get some leftover pizza for us.'

'Umm, I am fine.' Julianna looked into Beth's eyes. 'Thank you for rescuing me today. I am very sorry that I snapped at you when you were looking at my old photo. Maybe I had overestimated my abilities to handle so many things. I have emotional monsters now. I should really care about my well-being.'

'There's no need to thank me! You are my good friend, after all. Honestly, I admire you a lot. You always shared interesting trivia articles, and you had a witty sense of humor. I grew apart with quite a few close friends after I left my small-town upbringing. I don't want to lose you as I lost them.'

Julianna lowered her head.

'There's something I have held for a long time but never told you. It's about my past.'

'Oh...? Tell me.'

'Before I was adopted into the Miller household, I lived under the poverty line in a crowded district with my birth parents. After a while, they decided that they couldn't possibly raise me again, so I was put into foster care. Over the years, I have come to understand their intentions, that they wanted me to have a better living environment. Back in the day, it was hard for me to comprehend that. All I saw was them breaking their promise of staying with me.

When I first entered local Laurel schools, many kids either shunned me or teased me about my unfitting family, calling me an imposter. Though I told myself to be strong and stay away from all those slander words, deep down, I was so afraid. Why wasn't there a place for me, even when my upbringing doesn't really represent me, and I tried treating everyone equally? When I put my whole emotions and trust into my current family, the reality still disappointed me—they adopted me partly as a remembrance of their precious daughter.

However, there was still a little bit of hope in me—maybe someday someone would come to see me and treat me as who I am, and we could have a special bond shared together. Whenever I think about that scenario, thousands of critical inner voices come to me again—what if I seem too aloof? What if when that aloofness wears off, my emotions suddenly push towards being too headstrong? My feelings, strangely, are a very versatile thing to me. Sometimes it stays like a placid river. Other times, it burns like a fire. Therefore, whenever I latch onto something that I love, the fire begins to burn deeply, filling my whole world with colors.

Look at my blue hair. Do you know why I dyed it this way? It's the color of the ocean. Nature is its own artist, isn't it? The stars, the animals, the chemical reactions, the regularity of the seasons, and the moon eclipses....everything has a beautifully written formula. It's a pity that my feeble power couldn't give me a full understanding of the world, my emotions, even the things that happened in my own life.'

'Jules. You are such a little girl inside, aren't you?' Beth poked Julianna from the side. Then, she looked her in the eyes. 'It doesn't matter where you came from. The fact that you are here with me now is the only thing that matters.'

Julianna stood up and walked towards Beth, almost burying her head into Beth's shoulders.

'Beth, would you always be my partner in crime?'

Beth nodded. Her heart skipped beating for a second.

'Really? Would you promise to never leave me?'

'I promise. Don't expect to get rid of me too soon from your life, Ms. Miller!'

Julianna smiled and patted Beth on the shoulder.

'Beth, you are so funny. And that's what I love about you.'

She walked away and turned away to look at the sky. 'Let's go pick out outfits for the networking event tomorrow morning! I couldn't miss our chance to be the best-dressed duo at the event!'

'That's amazing! I will tell Simone about our plan as well.'

'Of course.'

Under the moonlight, Beth's puffy golden hair was freckled with silver glitter. A white glow contoured the edge of her hair like a mild halo.

Alas, the night was never so gentle as this.