No Way Back to Summer

Ezra's POV

The glaring red numbers on my printed SAT score report were proof enough. This was not a dream. I had really been reborn.

My parents' ecstatic cheers rang in my ears.

"That's our Tobias! I knew our boy was as good as anyone!"

"Exactly! His grades might be bad most of the time, but when it counted, he beat his brother!"

Marisa Doyle's smile was so doting it was practically spilling over. "He's my man. Of course he takes after me."

I stood quietly in a corner where no one paid me any attention, and my heart grew colder by the second.

In my past life, when I found out I had scored 790 on the SAT, I refused to believe it. I cried and made a scene, demanding that my test be rescored.

I had been at the top of my class since I was a child and, in all three years of high school, I had never once dropped below second in my grade. There was no way I had failed to break 1,100.

However, the moment my parents heard the word "rescore," they turned on me and slammed their hands on the table.

"Rescore? Ezra, do you want all of Halverton to see how you've made a joke of yourself for 18 years, all because you can't let go of your pride?"

When I learned Tobias Kerr had scored 1,520, I lost my mind and accused him of tampering with the results. That outburst was the last straw. My parents showed me no mercy, shipped me off to community college, and washed their hands of me for three years.

Thinking of Marisa's confession before I died, I clenched my fists until they shook.

"Mom, Dad, please don't be like this. Ezra didn't do well this time, so let's just skip my send-off party, okay?" Tobias gave me a look of feigned sympathy.

"Ridiculous!" Dad barked. "I haven't even blamed him for cheating and embarrassing the Kerr family, yet he has the nerve to be upset?"

Mom furrowed her brow as well. "You're too kind for your own good. Your brother would sell you out, and you'd thank him for it!"

Marisa fixed her cold eyes on me in warning. "Ezra, this is the SAT. Are you really going to claim it was faked?"

My fingers dug hard into my palms, but my expression did not change as I nodded. "I'll go to community college. I don't need your money."

The three of them froze.

Marisa frowned slightly. "Tobias got into Wexley University on his own merit. What's the point of sulking?"

I scoffed inwardly. He was a slob who skipped class to sleep and spent every day partying. Some merit that was.

Ignoring their suspicious looks, I turned and headed for my bedroom to pack. I had barely taken a step when Tobias rushed over and grabbed my hand, looking anxious.

"Ezra! Don't be mad. I'll cancel the party, okay?"

I frowned and was about to shake him off when someone pinched my arm hard, and Tobias fell straight backward with a cry.

In the next instant, Marisa shoved me into the wooden cabinet. Liquor bottles shattered across the floor, and my palm came down hard on the broken glass. I sucked in a sharp breath because of the pain.

Marisa's expression turned icy. "Ezra! How dare you push him! Admit it, you're just jealous of Tobias!"

My parents rounded on me, red-faced with fury.

"If you have a problem with us, take it out on us! What kind of person hits his own brother?"

"Tobias has always been frail. If anything happens to him, you'll pay for it!"

Tobias was so frantic that tears spilled down his face. "Mom, Dad, Mari, I fell by accident! Don't blame Ezra! He's hurt!"

As if none of them had even seen my hand, the three of them rushed out and drove to the hospital.