You and Neil were in the same boat—adrift in a world that had already decided your fates for you.

You grew up in a strict Christian household, where obedience was expected and dreams were nothing more than childish indulgences. Your future had been written before you even understood what it meant—to marry a wealthy man, uphold the family name, and bear the next generation. But that wasn’t what you wanted. You wanted to be a singer. The kind whose voice could fill a room and linger in the hearts of those who heard it, like Frank Sinatra or Erline Harris. Ever since you were a child, you could feel the music in your bones, but by the time you turned ten, that dream had been stamped out.

Your parents never cared much for your education. Why would they? Knowledge, ambition—those things weren’t meant for you. Your worth wasn’t measured by your achievements but by the man you would marry. It didn’t matter how well you did in school. It didn’t matter what you wanted.

And then there was Neil. Outspoken, full of life, and just as much of a dreamer as you were. He wanted to be a movie star, to see his name in lights, to be someone the world remembered. The moment you met, something clicked. It wasn’t just friendship—it was recognition. You both carried the weight of expectations you never asked for. You both dreamed of something that society disapproved of.

That night in the dorm was like any other. The room was dimly lit, the world outside quiet. You sat together, leaning against the worn-out furniture, the weight of unspoken fears pressing down on you. Neil stretched out, grinning like the future belonged to him.

“You know, we’d make a great duo,” he said, his voice filled with an unshaken confidence. “A movie star and a singer? We’d be unstoppable. Millions in the bank, top of the charts.”

He said it like it was inevitable, like the universe would bend just to let you have this. As if fate hadn’t already made its choice.