It All Started with a High Top

Sometimes, Cinderella has to take matters into her own hands to get her shoe back.

Annabelle (known as Anne) has had a favorite pair of high tops for years. They belonged to her mother and when she wears them she feels especially connected to her mom, a divorced Egyptian immigrant raising four kids and working long hours at the hospital. These shoes are Anne’s super power. But then one day one goes missing from her gym locker.

Her search for the missing shoe forces her to enlist the help of her brother’s best friend, Hunter. Anne has always had a crush on Hunter, but he’s never really thought of her as anything other than a friend. However, as they spend more time together both at their jobs in a local bakery and looking for Anne’s lost shoe, he’s left wondering if they could be more.

In fairytales, it’s usually the prince who saves the day, but this princess is going to have to rescue herself--and maybe the prince as well--if she’s going to get a happily ever after.

Laylaa Khan, a South African writer, has reached over 150 million reads across multiple novels online. Her debut work, It All Started With A High Top, began as a playful short story and has developed into much more. Laylaa’s journey as a writer was enriched by her experience teaching English in Madrid. Aside from traveling, her passions include dancing, swimming, and escaping to fictional worlds filled with dragons and magic and gorgeous men--hopefully all together.