25 years ago, most everybody knew the name Elena F. Crooke.

_A Shining Star!, _the headlines read. _Teen Broadway Star Elena Felisha Crooke Shatters the Glass Ceiling._

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No_ _one knew but her back then that she wasn’t destined for the spotlight. Any other 15-year-old girl dreamed of being rich and famous with a handsome, doting husband every single night. But Elena? She hated the thought of the entire world knowing her name, her face, her voice, even. It gave her feelings of dead in her stomach, and she felt woozy at the slightest notion of it.

Besides, she hadn’t even liked her _Rhythm of the Rebels_ days. Sure, she could act fine, and her singing voice was like smooth butter, and the way she moved through air challenged the grace of only a swan, but her heart belonged to something else: art.

Elena was only truly happy in her studio, painting s portrait or sketching a bowl of fruit.

Everyone was surprised when Elena quit acting to go to a prestigious art school. But Elena knew she would all along.

Elena spends her days painting in her studio along with her girlfriend, Amelia. Even though she works as a pediatrician, she’s still active in her church’s choir.

But best of all: no one recognizes her on the streets, begs her for autographs and selfies. She doesn’t need bodyguards, just Amelia and Baby, her lab.

Sitting in a coffee shop one day, reading a newspaper, someone came up to her.

“Excuse me?” He said, calmly, Elena looked up from the article she was reading. “But I feel like I recognize you. Were you an actor when you were younger? Like a movie star?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Elena lied with a smile and a shrug. Wearing a perplexed expression, the man walked away when he heard his order being called out.

Secretly, though, Elena smiled.