not this time

Evelyn’s P.O.V. (Continued)

“I am okay, Zack. Thanks for your concern,” I answered him politely but couldn’t mask the detachment in my tone.

His eyes widened in shock, but he covered them instantly.

“Okay. You are fine… you… I guess I startled you in the worst way.” He mumbled, smiling awkwardly, and pulled back his hand.

“You… you are under so much stress because of this match. I should have thought it through before doing something like this.” He continued, clicking his tongue, sounding a bit disappointed, but I just stared at him blankly.

It was the same tactic that he always used to gain my sympathy and raise the urge to comfort him in my heart.

But not this time.

I tightened my grip on my tablet against my stomach when I noticed his gaze darting to the tablet from time to time.

The chill ran down my spine at that very instant, but my jaw clenched when I saw the beautiful face of the ugliest and cruellest girl behind him.

She stopped at the far end of the hallway and looked at me.

Our gazes met, and I grimaced when I saw mockery and contempt in her gaze.

Jessica Stone…

The cheerleading captain and the meanest girl in the university.

The one whom Zack would hook up with after this match.

The one who had already made my life hell here, and after this match, she would make sure that I wouldn’t get a single day of peace here.

She just scoffed and then walked away with her team.

“But you should have said something instead of running away like this, you know.” I looked back at Zack when I heard him complaining.

Yeah… the proposal.

His blue eyes were now filled with hurt and something that I couldn’t pinpoint.

“About that,” I said to him and cleared my throat when my voice came out hoarse.

“Here. Drink some water first.” Cathy offered me the water bottle.

I took the bottle without hesitation and smiled weakly.

My throat was now completely parched.

I drank the water greedily.

The warmth of the water not only soothed my aching throat but also my soul.

My mind was now completely clear, and my heart was beating steadily.

After drinking to my content, I gave the water bottle back to Cathy.

She looked worried, but I just smiled at her reassuringly.

Cathy Hart was my best friend ever since we were in diapers.

She never liked Zack, and now I knew why.

Because my blind love had fogged my mind, but she saw everything clearly.

Cathy was killed by Zack and Jessica before our graduation ceremony.

She accidentally heard something that panicked Zack and Jessica.

After her disappearance, her parents and I tried our best to find her, but we couldn’t.

Because Zack had buried her body in the same place where I died.

But this time, I would make sure that she lives a good and full life.

I jerked my head slightly, forcing all those bad memories of my past life deep inside the memory lane, and looked back at Zack.

He was still looking at me with the same hurtful gaze.

“Let’s talk about that after your match, Zack. It’s almost time.” I said to him calmly, my voice now clear and firm.

He blinked, not expecting this calmness and detachment from me.

“Yeah.” He answered, scratching the back of his head, a habit whenever he felt frustrated or confused.

“You… you said yesterday that you have a surprise for me, an… and you would give that to me before the match.” He said to me in anticipation; his eyes darted to the tablet one more time and then back to my eyes.

I tightened my grip on the tablet but flashed a flat smile.

“Yeah. But I just received a message from the courier th…. that it’s delayed.” I answered him, feigning disappointment.

Cathy snapped her head towards me, widening her eyes in surprise, but I kept looking at Zack.

His smile vanished slowly, and he frowned.

“Courier?” he asked me in confusion.

“Yeah. I ordered it in advance, and they said th…that I would get it before the match, but…” I trailed off and sighed in disappointment.

This was the first time that I acted out of my character, and for some reason…

It felt so good.

No wonder girls like Jessica enjoyed putting on shows like this.

“Oh.” He whispered, disappointment evident in his expression, but he still chuckled, trying to act nonchalant.

"I thought you were talking about something important." He added, keeping his voice a bit soft.

"It is important," I answered stubbornly, holding my chin high.

"It took me almost a week to prepare," I whined, glaring at him as I always did whenever he tried to brush off something important to me.

His smile stiffened for the briefest moment before softening again.

“Then give that to me after the match.” He coaxed me but didn’t try to reach me.

His hand was still at the back of his head, but now I could notice impatience in his body language.

The signs were always there.

I was the blinded fool.

“Okay,” I replied with a wide grin.

“But you didn’t give me any pointers for this much, babe. How am I supposed to perform well? You know that you are my lucky charm, right?” He complained softly, trying to pull his charming and innocent smile once again, but I looked at him apologetically.

That grin of his urged me to throw a punch to knock all of his teeth out, but I just tightened my grip on the tablet.

“You know the Black Raven Team has the strongest centre forward, Zack. To win against him, just keep your mind calm, and don’t get impatient with your strikes.” I said to him in a serious tone.

His expression darkened, but he nodded as if he mentally noted everything.

“You need to stay cautious on your left side, just like always, Zack. In the last match, you almost missed that winning strike because of that.” I added it while giving him a pointed look.

At the same time, the loud horn announcing the players' entrance echoed throughout the stadium.

The game was about to begin.

“I gotta go now, babe. Don’t forget to cheer for me.” He said impatiently, and I just nodded with a soft smile but didn’t rush to him like I always did.

He ran away without even looking back at me once.

My throat tightened, but this was what I brought upon myself.

He didn’t ask me why I felt nauseous earlier.

Because my health never mattered to him at all.

He acted lovey-dovey towards me but never cared about me.

I always comforted myself by saying that it's his nature.

How pathetic I acted in my past life.

He never showed a bit of concern or care towards me, but he never forgot to ask for some pointers and praise me for my observations before the matches.

I was my parents' third child and the most neglected one.

Apart from Cathy, Zack was the one who showed some concern when we were in middle school, and I naively thought that…

I gulped hard and breathed out shakily.

I was such an idiot in my past life.

I believed in his every lie and worked my butt off to find weaknesses of the rival teams before every match to help become invincible on the ground.

But I never got a word of gratitude from him.

Instead, he threw me into that pit of hell.

Because he was too proud to admit that I had a big hand in his achievements.

“What’s going on, Evelyn?” Cathy asked me in a whisper, worried evident in her voice.