Chapter 2 Darlene's Call

I stared into Henry's bloodshot eyes coolly, then I tilted my head and turned my attention to the classroom's top left corner. Sure enough, the camera's red light was blinking right there.

"Do it," I said quietly. "And the dean's office will get the live feed. You'll be disqualified from the SAT. If that's something you can handle, go ahead."

Henry narrowed his eyes as his hands stiffened.

Chris' face fell, and he growled, "Let her go!"

Henry didn't move. So, Chris hissed in warning, "I said, let her go!"

I could practically hear Henry's teeth clenching and chattering. Eventually, Chris reluctantly let go of me, finger by finger. Then, he shoved me backward for good measure. I staggered but found my bearing a moment later before I smoothed out the creased collar.

I decided to leave the classroom after shooting them one final mocking glance.

"Hold it!" Chris said darkly. "Where are you going?"

"Headmaster's office."

The three went rigid and taut. I continued, "Signing papers for a spot in college."

The tension left their bodies, replaced by blatant scorn. Chris snickered. "A guaranteed spot in college? You?"

I sneered. Of course, he was the one who came with that response. In my previous life, I gave him the state's only guaranteed spot in college. His mother told me Chris had a lot of pressure on his shoulders, and I could still get in through the regular SAT route.

I foolishly bought that story. Thanks to that, these people thought that spot belonged to Chris from the get-go. Explanations would be wasted on these people. I left the classroom, but before I left the corridor, I turned back for one last look.

Carrie had wiped her tears away, holding her paper as she collected everyone's passcode. I could hear her cloying voice coming from the classroom. "Do you trust me?"

A moment of silence later, someone started muttering their credentials. A smirk curled my lips.

In my previous life, Carrie changed 17 students' applications to the college she wanted to attend. Thanks to her, that college raised its bar for acceptance and refused people who would've stood a chance in the past.

That girl ruined seventeen students' futures with one single act. And here Chris was, handing the paper to her without hesitation.

A student was going to see our teacher, but Yves stopped her. He was smiling. "She's just trying to help. You don't want to waste everyone's time, do you?"

Henry was standing at the door like a loyal dog, stopping anyone from leaving. These three were destroying everyone's future bit by bit, and they had no idea at all. The absolute morons.

I could barely stop myself from smiling victoriously because the only one who would be getting out of this unscathed was going to be me. Someone with a guaranteed spot didn't even need to hand in their application.

The file was sitting on the headmaster's desk, its stamp gleaming under the light. It read, 'Harland University Guaranteed Spot 2024.'

"This is the only guaranteed spot thanks to the competition. You're the top scorer and nationally recognized math wizard of our state. Only you can have this spot, and the deadline's today. Sign it."

I took the pen, signed the paper, and stamped my fingerprint on it without hesitation.

My headmaster heaved a sigh of relief and handed a stamped copy of the file to me. "Keep that safe, understood?"

I folded the papers and tucked them into my pocket. Memories from my previous life kept replaying themselves in my head the moment my fingers touched them.

I helped Chris deal with the competition's questions, wrote Henry's experiments' reports, and signed the papers for Yves' punishment. I helped them with their future, yet they pushed me off a fucking building.

Well, we'd be walking our own paths this time around. Unfortunately, I should have known that life wouldn't go that smoothly all the time. The second I left the headmaster's office, my phone buzzed. It was an unknown number.

"Nancy, am I speaking to Nancy?" the voice spoke, and I froze in my tracks.

Chris' mother.

She'd taken me in for three years after my parents died in a car crash in my past life. She made sweaters for me, cooked for me, and gave me a roof over my head.

Her hands shook when she signed the temporary guardianship papers at the hospital. She was the only sliver of hope in what was otherwise a bleak life.

"Nancy, please…" Darlene's voice was shaking and filled with sobs. "Something's wrong with Chris. He'd locked himself in his room for the past three days. I went inside after he left for school today and found this."

Darlene turned on the speakerphone, and a voice recording played. Chris' raspy, nearly mad voice spoke. "If anyone even touches Carrie in this life, I'll have them fall from a higher place than they did!"

The recording stopped abruptly.

"I have no idea what he's talking about, but I'm scared. You grew up together, and he listens to you. Please, just talk to him."

There was no one in the corridor. Sunlight streamed through the windows and shone on the tucked papers in my pocket. I knew it was all in my head, but the edges burned, albeit slightly.

I closed my eyes. I remembered the scent of her cooking, the warmth of her sweater during winter, and her shaking hands as she signed the papers that made her my guardian.

However, I also saw something else. I saw the rooftop, a murderous Chris, and the hands that pushed me down.

"Mrs. Gray, I'm at school. I don't think I can skip it."

Darlene's breathing hitched. "Nancy?" she said, her voice filled with confusion.

"Call the cops." I hung up. My fingers were shaking, but I didn't call her back. I turned and started walking in the opposite direction.