• At 17, you are just beginning to know yourself, figure out who you are and what you like. But for some people, 17 is the start of a whole new world.

• Caitlin left her Canadian home at 16 with a dream in mind; gain an American high school degree so she could enter a top notch American University. The goal? Become a translator at the UN.

• Full of energy and promise, she works hard, working long into the night as a waitress to make enough money to live; rising early in the morning to continue getting top marks at school.

• When she unexpectedly falls in love with an older man at the gambling club she works at it; she takes it in stride. Soon, at 17, Caitlin is running a household, getting top-notch marks, paying her half of the bills and preparing for graduation.

• When the education laws change suddenly, it seems that all her work has been for nothing, and she will be stuck with international tuition fees, unless she changes her life forever.

• She knows she loves Cordney more than anything; but will she love him the rest of her life? Are her dream and her love for Cordney about to become one?

Short Story Press publishes short stories written by everyday writers.