Future Me Says My Perfect Life Is a Lie

The video call cut off right then.

I stared at my reflection on the screen, completely stunned. For a second, I wasn't even sure if I'd just hallucinated the whole thing.

After all, my boyfriend, David Barrett, and I grew up together. Since we were kids, we'd promised each other that we'd get into Crythoria University together.

While I was lost in thought, David suddenly appeared behind me and tapped my shoulder. "Feli, the SAT is tomorrow. Why are you hiding out here slacking off instead of studying? If you don't make it into Crythoria, don't come crying to me."

"As if!" I laughed and nudged him.

I couldn't connect the young man standing in front of me with the scumbag my future self from ten years later described.

I ended up laughing at myself inside.

I hadn't even set foot in the exam room yet, and stress was already making me lose my mind.

But the moment I sat down back in the classroom, David dropped a stationery pouch onto my desk.

"Figured you wouldn't get your stuff ready, so I put everything together for you. Just pop your exam permit inside, and you're good to go tomorrow. I got a set for Brielle this time too, so don't you dare give yours away to her again!"

He slid an identical pouch onto the desk next to mine.

The smile on my face suddenly froze, and David gave me a puzzled look. "Feli, what's wrong?"

I shook my head, forcing myself to stay cool.

As soon as he walked away, I pulled out a pen from the pouch and scribbled a few words.

Two hours later, the ink faded into nothing. I tried the other pen, but the result was the same.

I couldn't believe it. David really did give me disappearing ink pens.

This meant everything my future self said was true.

I glanced over at their empty seats, then quickly swapped my disappearing ink pens with the pens in their pouches.

Sure enough, the pens David prepped for himself and my best friend, Brielle Rowe, were completely fine.

I was shaking with rage. I wanted nothing more than to grab him by the collar right then and demand to know why.

It took everything I had to choke down the anger burning inside me.

The next morning, right before heading into the exam hall, David made a point to check the pouch in my hand.

"Using matching pens means we're definitely landing in Crythoria together!"

My smile didn't reach my eyes as I asked him on purpose, "What about Brielle? You gave her a matching set too. Are you trying to go to the same college with her as well?"

David paused, then playfully tapped my nose. "Blame yourself. You always share whatever I give you with her anyway."

Brielle always thought David wasn't good enough for me, while David found Brielle totally fake.

The two of them never got along. Whenever they were in the same room, they'd be at each other's throats, leaving me to smooth things over. So, I never once doubted their loyalty.

Yet these two people—the ones I trusted with all my heart—ended up stabbing me in the back together.