What if you had the chance to see what your life would be like if you didn't have to make that life-altering decision?
Kayley is in college and regrets choosing the school she's in, so she fabricates an alter ego at her dream school. Her alter ego has a pen name which she writes stories under, a vivid social life with pictures on a facebook account to prove it, and a family overseas which distance doesn't allow her to see very often. Kayley gets to live life to the fullest...double life and all, or does she?
-Creates another life on the computer
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Leaving for college saying goodbye to HS friends. Scene between Jesse BF and Lyla where they wish they were going to same school.
Goes to college is homesick then meets guy/relationship develops/first love/meets girlfriends and decides to rush/2nd trimester and boyf's old GF returns from term abroad, makes everyone turn on Kayley. Sorority drops her, friends go anyways, she feels so deserted.
Kayley grows anxious paranoid depressed effects rel bc she doesn't feel he stands up for her enough
She turns to her writing for comfort, and is in constant communication with Jesse who went to a school totally different than Union.
She wishes she could transfer there but feels paralyzed in making a decision. Doesn't want to make another potentially bad decision (like coming to U) to repeat itself. What if this was the path she was always to take?
Rel ultimately breaks up can't stand the pressure
Turns more and more to writing/writing workshop class and decides to write abt her experience at college so far under pen name Lyla. Lyla gets published in a college's literary mag - not her own to play it safe. Imagines Lyla with confidence and bravado, standing up to people Kayley fears. Lyla becomes Kayley's alter ego. Students read her piece and are intrigued want to meet her/ask her questions abt their own life and want her to answer their questions. Kayley invents Lyla, yes I go to your school but am away on term abroad. She sends pictures from her "trip to Israel" and posts them to her website so her fans can see and stay updated on her life.
She writes about Israel where she imagines her old boyf and her can be freely tgthr.
Meanwhile she is slipping away from reality at Union as she develops this second life on computer via website, blog, fb, video chat. Her only connection to U becomes her writing workshop class and this nerdy hotty Jake who takes interest in her, curious abt her. He likes her but she doesn't care/notice.
She turns all this regret around, turning it instead into longing and projecting it onto imaginary Lyla.
It imbues her with confidence and swagger - she realizes she doesn't have to make any decision - she can have it all. She leads the life exactly the way se wants without any regret, without any memory of it actually happening, just the fantasy and excitement that it's about to. Picks and chooses from her life as Kayley what she wants to imbue into Lyla.
snr yr and she turns her stories into a novel which she publishes as (same name as this book - second life.com)
-is this how college lit mags work?
-goes to other college and writes just enough to give illusion she goes there.
-why important for her to go there?
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