MASTERPIECE; lynn gunn + alexa san roman

prologue

Lynn often pretended that the cold linoleum she tread upon was the luxurious wooden floors of a penthouse in New York City rather than the cheap apartment that belonged to her and her mother. Although this fantasy has faded over time, every once and a while, when Lynn was at her lowest, she would return to her childlike fantasy as a way of escapism, imaging the peeling paint and creaking doors were something much bigger than the reality she lived in. Despite her indulgence in a fantasy world from time to time, Lynn was still sure she was sane. Happy? Not exactly. Crazy? Not yet. Her mother thought otherwise due to her new found obsessions with poorly made horror films and late night walks in dangerous parts of town. Lynn assured her that those were the things that were actually keeping her sane, giving her something to do between the endless cycle of school, work and sleep.

Yet, Lynn couldn't sleep. Her mind kept running through ideas for art to be made or lyrics to be written as she stared at the dozens of brochures for colleges pinned to her wall. Her eyes always focused to the pamphlet in the middle for her ultimate school in New York. Ideally, Lynn would love to move to New York to pursue a career in graphic design. Realistically, she couldn't even afford a community college close to home. Despite saving every dollar she made from her part time job, the prospect of living in New York seemed further and further away. Her last hope was the prestigious scholarship that was only given out to artistic prodigies, which was a title Lynn did not think was suitable for herself.

But she couldn't help herself from applying anyway, resting all her faith into one application, in the slim hope that she was artistically talented enough for a scholarship. She decided that if the talent didn't get her through her passion would. And despite the fact it was the late hours of the night, it didn't stop Lynn from treading down the stairs of her apartment building and slipping the application into the post box in front of the café across the street.