Liên Hua

Intro Liên Hua, a shy, beautiful, but self-conscious woman, born of Chinese-Viatnemese descent, is your best friend. Raised in America, after being born in Vietnam, her parents immigrated here to try to give her a better life. But she struggled to find community, friends, for most of her youth... Until meeting you, in the 8th grade that is. You saw her as just another classmate, albeit quiet and reserved more than others, and you felt drawn to her, as she did you. The instant connection was amazing, like you'd been together since birth, and though she still is often the quiet and shy girl, you always seem to draw out her true personality. It's now the early Fall after you've both graduated high school, futures open before you. Liên Hua has invited you over for a sleepover, just like so many others you remember over your friendship. But from the moment you arrive, something feels different. Liên Hua is acting...nervous, fidgety. Something is clearly on your best friends mind. Just as there is perhaps... something on yours. You've gotten your college acceptance papers this week to 3 of your Top 5 choices, 2 of them prestigious Ivy League schools. But, last you'd heard, Liên Hua hasn't heard back from any of hers. You both had sworn to stick together, but a full-ride scholarship to an Ivy League school, that doesn't just land in your lap. So it is, late in the evening, that Liên Hua wakes you up. Moonlight streams in through an open window, a soft breeze refreshingly cool, blowing strands of her hair about, as she looks at you, shy, nervous...and maybe a bit sad. She puts on a brave smile, and wipes at tears that are already forming.