Chapter 4

"Kenneth's different," Mom blurted out. "He's behind in school, and he needs someone to help him adjust—"

"That's his problem." I cut her off. "I'm not going to pay for it with my future."

I straightened up, shutting down her attempt to keep persuading me. "I'm going to bed now. Please leave."

In my past life, I'd dropped down to a regular class so I wouldn't disappoint Mom and Dad.

But what had that gotten me? Kenneth acted weak and pitiful to win the sympathy of the whole class, then got them to ostracize and bully me.

My grades dropped sharply. For those three years, I was stuck with the ugly label of a vicious schemer.

Every time I tried to explain myself or set the record straight, a single line from him would drown me out—"I knew it. Jonah still hates me as much as ever."

This time, I wouldn't let his scheming ruin my future again.

…

On the first day of school, I walked into the honors classroom. A board on the wall celebrated past graduates who had been admitted to top colleges.

Everything here was the same as it had been in my past life—only this time, I wasn't going to leave.

"Jonah?" a familiar voice called out right beside me.

I looked up and saw my childhood friend, Julia Jensen, standing in front of me, her face lit up with delighted surprise.

"It really is you! We get to be in the same class again."

She pulled out the chair next to mine and sat down without a second thought, just as close to me as she'd always been since we were kids.

In my past life, having her this close would have made my cheeks burn and my heart pound.

But now, I remembered the words she'd said in the hospital hallway before.

"Jonah, Kenneth really needs me. Please, just let us be together. I know this isn't fair to you, but I really love him."

Those words cut like knives, slicing into my heart again and again.

I pushed down the emotions churning inside me and smiled politely. "Yeah. What a coincidence."

Julia noticed my cold distance and was visibly taken aback. "Jonah, what's wrong?"

I arranged my textbooks one by one without looking up. "Class is about to start. You'd better hurry back to your seat."

"I—"

The bell rang, cutting her off.

…

High school coursework was intense, especially in the honors class.

During lunch break, a roar of laughter echoed from the hallway.

"Hahaha, I'm dying!"

"Oh my God, he didn't even know it was an automatic door!"

"He thought it was a push door and walked straight into it!"

I had a hunch, so I walked over to the door and looked out.

Kenneth stood in the doorway of the classroom next door, his face flushed bright red and a noticeable mark on his forehead.

His backpack lay on the floor, its contents spilled everywhere—a few shabby notebooks, a ballpoint pen nearly out of ink, and a pencil case that had been patched up several times.

A crowd of students gathered around him, some laughing behind their hands, others whispering.

"He doesn't even know how an automatic door works…"

"I heard he transferred here from somewhere in the mountains, and both his parents are gone."

"No wonder he's such a hick."

Kenneth crouched down, fumbling to gather his things as tears welled in his eyes.

Just then, Julia walked over. She crouched down, helped him pick up the scattered books, and said softly, "It's okay. I walked into one of those too when I first got here."

Her voice was gentle and caring, like warm sunshine on a winter day.

Kenneth looked up, and right on cue, his tears spilled over. "I'm sorry. I didn't know. I thought I had to push it."

Julia handed him a tissue. "Don't cry. There's a first time for everything."

Then she turned to the students who gathered to watch the show and snapped, "All of you, clear out!"

But instead of leaving, they laughed even louder. They'd seen how Kenneth accidentally knocked Julia's bracelet to the floor as he took the tissue.