Chapter 2
“Finals are basically here,” Khloe chirped in the classroom, smiling like a celebrity. “I know everyone’s stressed, so tonight is on me. Black card energy only. I’m taking you guys to the hottest spot in town.”
Cheers erupted.
Khloe lifted a platinum card high in the air like she was blessing us all.
My hand froze on the classroom door handle.
Inside, the voices got louder.
“Oh, and whatever you do,” someone said, laughing, “do not tell Luna. She’s such a killjoy.”
Another voice added, “She’ll definitely snitch to the teachers or our parents.”
More laughter.
Khloe flipped her long hair, playing the benevolent queen.
“Be nice,” she said sweetly, like she was defending me. “Luna’s just intense.”
That sentence hit me like ice water.
The scene was too familiar.
I had already lived it.
Slowly, I let go of the handle and stepped away from the door.
I was reborn.
The realization rang through my head so loudly that my whole body trembled—not from fear, but from excitement.
In my last life, I hadn’t heard that conversation. Everyone had kept their mouths shut. Even Liam, my boyfriend, had told me, “Go home early. Rest. You need to be sharp tomorrow.”
I thought it meant he cared.
Now I knew he was just covering his tracks.
I walked down the hall quietly until I was out of earshot. My phone felt heavy in my hand.
Then I heard Liam’s voice in my memory.
Careless, smug, cruel.
Words I only learned after everything was over.
“She’s pretty, but she’s such a nerd. She follows me around. I can’t dump her right before finals. We’re classmates. I’d look bad.”
And Khloe, right on cue, playing saint.
“Stop. Luna’s desperate. This exam is her only ticket out of mediocrity. Of course she tries hard.”
Just like that, Khloe became the kind, gracious, rich beauty.
Liam became the gentle golden boy, the class president.
And I became the pathetic girl obsessed with him.
What made me shake with anger wasn’t just the betrayal.
It was the audacity.
Liam was the one who chased me for months.
Liam was the one who begged me to date him.
I had promised my parents I’d stay focused, keep my grades perfect, and earn valedictorian because I didn’t want anyone to say I was throwing my future away for a boy.
And he repaid me by using me as a placeholder.
I forced myself to breathe.
Think.
Timing.
Sequence.
In a few hours, the class would be at the club. Khloe would accidentally forget to block me from her story. I would see it, rush over, walk into her confession, and the dominoes would fall exactly the way she wanted.
It had never been an accident.
It was a trap.