Second Life: I Choose My Childhood Sweetheart

In my last life, I let myself get played by Zeke Fulton's good-guy act. I took his manipulation as proof of love and foolishly gave up a spot at a top university to follow him to some no-name college in the middle of nowhere.

Zeke… Even now, I couldn't help gritting my teeth at the thought of him.

All that nonsense about how he would love me forever and how he would treat me right if I left with him—every word was a lie he cooked up to get his hands on my family's money.

The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. But just then, my phone rang, interrupting my train of thought. Speak of the devil—it was Zeke.

I drew in a deep breath and answered. I wanted to see what he would say to try to fool me this time.

"Liss, today's the last day to submit college applications. Do you wanna double-check that you filled yours in right?"

Over the phone, Zeke's voice was gentle and warm. If I hadn't already lived through this once, I would probably still be stupid enough to think he was planning for our future.

"Relax, Zeke. I'll send you a photo later. I'm not gonna mess this up," I said.

"That's good. I'm just worried about you. You're always so scatterbrained, after all. Lucky you've got me watching your back."

It was so like him to act like he was super considerate.

"It's late. I'm going to bed," I said, hanging up in a hurry. One more second of his voice and I really might've thrown up.

It was a little after 10:00 pm. There was still time.

On this last night before the due date, I checked the requirements from previous years and changed my application. I applied to Joslin University's literature department instead.

By the time I'd checked and rechecked that everything was in order, it was past 11:00 pm. I grabbed my keys and headed out.

The summer night was warm, a soft breeze stirring the air and scattering my thoughts. I was in the middle of my graduation trip, in an unfamiliar city, at a strange turning point in my life, when old memories came rushing back.

I was Elisa Sutherland, the youngest daughter of the Sutherlands, based in Joslin. My dad was one of the city's top real estate tycoons, and my mom was a famous painter. They were a loving couple.

I also had an older brother, Edgar Sutherland. He was a junior majoring in finance at Joslin University, but he was currently on exchange overseas.

Edgar never liked the way I constantly lowered myself for Zeke. In his eyes, a daughter of the Sutherland family should've carried herself like a proud swan, not a doormat. Because of that, we'd had a horrible relationship in my last life.

Come to think of it, he and I had gotten into a huge fight before he'd left the country, and we hadn't spoken since.

Just thinking about it gave me a headache—though it could also be because I'd stayed out in the night breeze for too long. I headed back to the hotel, showered, and got into bed.

I tossed and turned for ages, unable to sleep. In the end, I booked the earliest flight back home to Joslin.

For some reason, I was hit with this overwhelming wave of homesickness the next morning. I left the hotel in a hurry, not even bothering with makeup.

That was how I ended up just standing around at the airport like an idiot.

I couldn't help laughing at myself. I'd literally been given a second shot at life, so why was I still so impulsive?

At least my waiting around didn't end up being for nothing, because I ran into my childhood friend, Hugo Lodge, at the airport.

Hugo… I remembered…

In my last life, he told me he'd liked me since sophomore year of high school. But back then, I'd only had eyes for Zeke, and I'd said some really awful things to Hugo.

Now…

I felt a little embarrassed. Still, I figured that I might as well say hi since we'd already bumped into each other. I was just about to stand up and wave when Hugo walked right past me as if I wasn't even there.

I froze. Seriously? What was his problem? Had he just acted like I was invisible?

I stared at his back as he walked away, and a familiar pang of guilt rose in me. In my last life, he'd looked just as lonely as he seemed now as he walked off alone.