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On the first day of boot-camp orientation training, my cramps got so bad I couldn't stand. I asked my boyfriend, the instructor, for leave. He called me a drama queen in front of everyone. So I turned around, went to the hospital, and had my uterus removed.
In my last life, the whole class could hear the inner voice of my boyfriend's childhood sweetheart.
My cramps were so bad my whole body was shaking, and I asked my boyfriend for leave.
His childhood sweetheart shook her head and sighed.
"Barbara Swanson's just using the fact that the instructor is her boyfriend so she can slack off."
The next second, my boyfriend looked at me coldly.
"So many girls in this class, and you're the only drama queen. If your body's weak, then train harder. Everyone runs another ten kilometers."
And so the whole class froze me out.
Nine months later, during class, I had a sudden allergic reaction and went back to the dorm to take medicine.
Half an hour later, the dorm door was pushed open. My boyfriend's childhood sweetheart stared at me, wrestling with something in her head before she spoke.
"Should I really tell everyone that Barbara came back to the dorm to secretly give birth in the bathroom?"
The other two roommates pushed the bathroom door open, and there on the floor lay a Black baby, its neck covered in dark bruises where it had been strangled, no longer breathing.
Everyone decided that I had given birth to the baby and strangled it.
My boyfriend slapped me across the face too.
"Cheating on me behind my back is one thing, but you actually killed your own child. You're vicious."
I tried and tried to explain. No one believed me. The school expelled me, and everyone screamed at me that I was a murderer.
In my daze, I fell down the stairs and died.
When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day of the orientation training.
……
"Barbara's just using the fact that the instructor is her boyfriend to ask for leave on purpose so she can slack off."
Hearing that voice, I looked at the familiar surroundings around me, and my head snapped toward Janet Swanson. She hadn't said a word. In that instant I understood: I had been reborn, and I could hear Gay Donaldson's thoughts.
The next second, my boyfriend Byron Farley yanked me up and smacked his hand down on my arm.
"Barbara, so many students in this class, and you're the only drama queen, aren't you? If your body's weak, then train harder. The whole class runs another ten kilometers with you."
The moment he said it, the whole class started complaining at once.
"Instructor, this is Barbara's problem alone. Why should the rest of us get punished with her?"
"Why are we being punished? We weren't trying to slack off."
Byron spoke coldly.
"Because you're a unit. One person's problem is the whole class's problem."
Byron turned to look at me.
"Barbara, even if I'm your boyfriend, I won't indulge this kind of lazy, slippery behavior. Because of you alone, the whole class gets punished. Today you're going to learn this lesson well."
The other students shoved me hard.
"Barbara, aren't you having cramps? Too bad they didn't kill you."
"Happy now? The whole class finally gets a break, and you drag us into running ten kilometers again."
Listening to my classmates cursing at me, I clenched my fists.
In my last life, I asked Byron for leave because of my cramps.
Gay sighed, and in her heart she thought:
"Barbara's just using the fact that the instructor is her boyfriend to slack off on purpose."
When Byron heard it, he snapped at me furiously.
"So many girls in this class, and you're the only drama queen, aren't you? If your body's weak, then train harder. The whole class runs another ten kilometers with you."
Remembering my last life, I pressed a hand tight to my lower belly, crouched down, and looked up at Byron.
"It hurts so much I really can't move. I need leave to go to the infirmary."
But Gay frowned and spoke up.
"Barbara, Byron's an upright, by-the-book kind of guy. Don't put him in a tough spot. We just got punished with ten kilometers. If they add more, we honestly won't be able to run it."
