Chapter 2

I tuned him out, climbed into bed, then yanked the curtains closed to shut out the noise.

He kept on with his apologies, begging me to stop being so stubborn.

I closed my eyes, trying to silence the world.

The pounding headache was like an alarm clock, waking me up to my second chance at life: back to the first day of school.

In my previous life, today was the day Joanna, with her camera always rolling, would fuss over me, promising to clear up my acne.

I was thrust into the spotlight, but instead of support, I was drowned in a sea of cruel comments.

My photos spread among students and I became the biggest joke in the school.

Joanna, with her flawless beauty, was always held up next to me, making me feel even more insecure and miserable.

One day, she whispered a promise, "Work with me on a skincare routine, and I'll make you beautiful."

Trusting her, since she claimed to be a blogger fighting against beauty pressures, I naively gave her several vials of my blood.

However, my acne did not get better; it spread like wildfire across my skin.

As she grew more stunning by the day, I clung to the hope that she could somehow fix me.

I never imagined that this hope would lead to my downfall.

…

My face started to decay, and my body ballooned out of control.

Still, Joanna used me for her live streams, preaching self-acceptance to her viewers while my condition worsened.

She became an internet sensation.

Meanwhile, she lived a wild life, bringing different guys back to our dorm. I warned her about the dangers of her reckless lifestyle, but she brushed me off, telling me to mind my own business.

Then, I got sick, really sick. I caught a bunch of infections, even HIV.

When her secret flings were exposed, she flipped the script and blamed me, claiming I was the one who could not keep it in my pants.

My boyfriend, devastated, confirmed my illness during a live stream, and just like that, I was a pariah.

My friends turned their backs on me, and strangers told me to leave school before I infected them.

Disgusted, my parents threw me out.

With nowhere else to go, I dropped out and holed up in a tiny rental all on my own.

I once believed that if I could just get away from them, my life would get better.

However, instead, my health spiraled, and my stomach seemed to expand every day.

Joanna showed up at my doorstep with her crew, pretending to care about body image issues, only to film me at my lowest.

I became the talk of the town, and not in a good way.

"People are probably betting on who the kid's dad is."

"Looking like that, plus the HIV? Might as well check out early, you're a walking hazard."

"Seriously, how can you stand being so huge? Doesn't it make you sick?"

The gossip and insults hit me like a tidal wave, destroying any peace I had left.

Kicked out by the landlord, no one else would take me in.

I was left with no choice but to scrape by under a bridge.

My belly did not stop growing, and my skin was a roadmap of stretch marks. I even birthed a hideous placenta that seemed to ooze darkness.

A Mystic took one look at me and declared I was cursed, which explained the disasters befalling me.

All the hurt was piling up on me.

I had to find the source and smash it.

Joanna noticed what I was up to and teamed up with my boyfriend to trap me in a basement.

She blocked every exit, her face twisted with rage.

"We're so close, I can't have any slip-ups!!

"When you're gone, I'll just move on to the next one."

Lucky for me, fate handed me a second shot.

I was going to find the source and make them pay.

…

To keep the curse from striking back, I stripped my life down to the essentials.

However, I was still out of it, too weak to even make it to class.

I decided to take a break and track down Joanna and send back the agony she had caused.

I tore through her desk, searching for a clue, but came up empty.

The room started spinning worse than before.

I struggled to breathe, shocked by how frail I had become.

I flopped down on my bed, a sudden poke from something small and hard under my pillow jolting me awake. I flipped the pillow and found a little amulet, weirdly warm to the touch.

Clutching the amulet, a chill ran down my spine, and I felt like I had just dived into an icy lake.

Then it hit me: that was the birthday present from my boyfriend.

Oddly enough, he had made me promise to keep it under my pillow.