Chapter 1

I braced myself against a wall and pushed upright, only to feel a sharp pang shoot through my ankle. I belatedly realized that I had sprained my ankle while rushing to check on Jolyn. I had been so anxious to reach her that the adrenaline had masked the pain entirely.

But now? The pain had become so severe that I could barely walk. I could only limp toward the nearest clinic, dragging my injured foot and wincing with every step.

I entered an alley and heard footsteps behind me. I spun around, but no one was there.

I took a few more steps. Suddenly, the footsteps suddenly closed in. They crept closer and closer until I felt a hand settle on the small of my back.

I screamed and lunged forward, ignoring the sharp protest from my ankle. I ran for my life out of the alley.

"Watch out!" Someone grabbed the back of my shirt and yanked me to a stop.

I stumbled.

A car sped past right before my eyes, missing me by inches.

>Still shaken, the stranger who'd seized me panted out the question. "Oh my God, that was way too close, young lady! You could've been run over! Why were you running like that?"

My mind went blank. "I... I... S-Someone was following me in the alley!"

Five years ago, I had been stalked in an alley just like this one. It had left me with trauma that had never faded.

Alarmed, the kindhearted stranger was about to call the police when someone dashed out of the alley with an ingratiating smile.

"Hey, hold up! Don't call the police! We're her friends. It was just a practical joke!" Will quickly explained as he pulled me up from the ground.

Once the stranger left, Will turned sharply toward me. All traces of amusement had vanished from his eyes.

"Seriously?! Jolyn only asked me to pretend to stalk you so you'd remember not to walk alone at night!" he complained. "Jesus. You've gotten more and more uptight and sensitive!"

"Me? Uptight and sensitive?!" My voice shook from the pain in my ankle. "Do you have any idea how close I came to getting run over?!"

Jolyn pursed her lips as tears welled in her eyes. "Fine! That was my fault! I won't play jokes on you ever again, okay?"

She ran off in tears.

Will panicked. "Holy shit, did you just yell at one of your only friends for pulling a prank on you?! Man, is anyone surprised you grew up without friends?!"

With that, he chased after Jolyn.

I stood there in stunned silence. For a long moment, I couldn't move. My heart ached more than my injured ankle ever could.

Ever since my father died when I was young, my classmates always bullied me. Once, they cornered me, forced me to the floor, and made me call them “Dad”.

It was unbearable.

Then Will suddenly came to my rescue. He picked up a bench and used it to drive them all away in the process.

The injured students came from wealthy, influential families. After their families received financial compensation, the teacher immediately demanded that I apologize.

"It was just a prank! Getting someone to beat up your classmates over a silly prank is way out of line!"

Will stepped in front of me. "Check the classroom surveillance footage. If you still think we did anything wrong, ma'am, I'll personally upload the footage to the internet and expose them all."

In the end, I received an apology from my bullies.

Afterward, Will hooked his pinkie around mine and promised, "No one will ever bully you as long as I'm here!"

Everything changed after Jolyn came into our lives.

I attended boarding school during tenth and eleventh grade. Once, Jolyn secretly poured hair-removal solution into my shampoo. A huge patch of my hair fell out, and I cried for hours.

Will simply chided me for being "too sensitive."

"Jolyn thinks you're too naive. She thinks you might become a target for bullies once you get to college," he said. "So she decided to teach you a lesson about staying vigilant through a prank."

Then, on April Fool's Day, Jolyn deliberately replaced the cream filling in an Oreo with peanut butter and tricked me into eating it.

I was severely allergic to peanuts.

My face swelled up beyond recognition. My throat tightened. I could barely breathe. The doctor who saved me angrily chastised Jolyn and Will. Their prank had nearly killed me.

Instead of showing any remorse, Will argued, "Jolyn was just trying to teach you a lesson about being careful with your food through a prank! Besides, you should've carried allergy medication with you at all times. That was your responsibility, not hers!"

I actually believed him. I genuinely thought Jolyn was only trying to teach me valuable lessons through those pranks.

Today, however, I finally realized that couldn't have been further from the truth. They simply wanted a monkey to entertain them.

I collected myself and slowly made my way home to the apartment I had rented. As usual, I unlocked the door and stepped inside.

Then I froze.

I stood there, utterly stunned.