Project Oxygen

important note - please read!

           Hi!

           As you guys might know, I'm in college getting my master's degree in Clinical Psychology as I'm writing this note. It's extremely expensive, but Psychology is my one true passion—as you can see from this book—and I'm looking forward to seeing where I can go with it. Therefore, when I was offered the opportunity to get paid for doing something I love—writing, even though I'm not planning on pursuing it professionally as a first career choice—and have that money help me further my education, I was ecstatic.

          I didn't expect to be chosen for Wattpad Paid Stories and I also didn't think this would be the book that would be chosen, but I'm hoping you'll all love it as much as I do.

          I wrote this book as half of my Nanowrimo 2017 project (the other half was Counterfactual), after it had been in a planning stage for around a year and a half or so. I've never been paid for my writing (meaning any ads you watched while reading this book didn't pay me; that's a different program!) and I work very hard in everything I do. I have a job outside of college and writing, but I only get paid when I actually get chosen for commercials/photoshoots, so it's not entirely a safe net.

          I've been on Wattpad since 2012 and some of my books have come and gone, but, after all the time I've spent here, I've learned to call it my writing home. It's an honor for me to get to share my work with the community, and I've always been amazed at the sheer quality of so many books that are shared here—and for free! However, those quality works should also be appreciated and I'm very thankful that there's a way of financially supporting these authors (they're, most likely, struggling young adults) even though the program isn't open in my country. When it is—and it will be!—I'll be there to support you in any way I can.

          You can support authors by reading their free stuff, yes, and no one is taking that away from you; think of this as a way of tipping your favorite barista.

          I also understand not everyone is on board with this program and everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I'd also love for people to respect my choice when it comes to my participation in this program. Not everyone can or wants to pay to read a book online and I fully understand that, so please don't feel forced to pay for my book! Even though this is a paid story, Wattpad in general will always be free, and the vast majority (we're talking about millions) of books are free for you to enjoy.

          All my other stories are free, including the companion novel to this book (Counterfactual). It's set in the same universe, shares some characters from this book and there are scenes you would find in this same book—except they're told from the point of view of the narrator from Counterfactual, obviously—so I assure you you won't be missing out on this book's plot. They have entirely different focuses in spite of all the overlaps, and they're standalones. Promise!

          This story will remain free for the next few days, after which the paywall will be turned on; this means you'll have to purchase coins to unlock the full book.

          With that being said, I hope you understand where I'm coming from. Thank you so much for reading this note, whether you choose to pay for the full story or not!

          — Cate