In the North Pole 2000, Juliet is born on the coldest day ever. Due to the extreme cold she is born with a frozen heart which will not beat. The attendant midwife Madeleine saves her life by replacing her heart with a fragile but working glass clock. She then advises her of four rules to prevent her untimely death; she must never play with the hands of the clock, she must never lose her temper, never tell a lie and finally she must never fall in love. Juliet's mother, for reasons known only to her, quickly decides her child would be better raised by Madeleine and departs, leaving Juliet never seen her ever since that day. Madeleine, incapable of bearing her own children, raises and loves her as her own.
On Juliet's tenth birthday, Madeleine repeats the four rules before taking her into town for the first time. She meets a boy in town named Luke and becomes infatuated with him. After starting school shortly afterward, she also meets Maya, a bully who is in love with Luke as well. Jealous, the older girl and her gang of students torment Juliet for the next four years. During an assault from Maya, the glass of Juliet's clock heart gouges Maya's eye, and Juliet runs home believing she had murdered Maya. Madeleine, believing Juliet to be a fugitive helps her to escape for the county.
