The heavy iron door slammed shut, plunging everything into darkness.
I lay sprawled on the ground, my voice raw and shredded as I screamed for help.
I lost track of time. Then—footsteps outside.
I practically threw myself at the door. "Help me—"
The door swung open.
It was Dad.
His face was tight with panic. He rushed in and pulled me into his arms.
"Son? What happened? I kept calling but couldn't get through. When I called Samantha, she said you were at some party."
"You'd never go out partying right before the college entrance exam—I knew something was wrong! I came looking for you immediately. I never imagined you'd be locked inside the school!"
"Was it Samantha? What's gotten into that girl?"
Two lifetimes apart, and here he was—alive, breathing, real.
I collapsed into his chest and sobbed.
Dad froze, completely at a loss. "Don't be scared. Tell me what happened."
"I'm fine." I wiped my tears and forced myself to stay calm.
Crashing their little party now would be letting them off too easy.
I wanted them to regret this for the rest of their lives.
When Mom arrived and saw the cuts and bruises covering my body, her expression shifted instantly.
But I just whispered, "I'm okay, Mom. I don't want to go to college here anymore. I want to study abroad—settle overseas with you and Dad."
In my past life, I'd given up an acceptance letter from a prestigious foreign university, all because Samantha had said, "Let's go to college together."
I'd taken the national exam instead.
And look where that got me.
This time, I wasn't going to gamble on her actually keeping my exam admission ticket safe.
This exam? I was done with it.
Back home, I passed out and slept fitfully until the early hours, my dreams filled with flashes of my previous life.
When I woke again, my pillow was soaked with tears.
I dried my eyes, swapped my SIM card into an old phone, and powered it on.
My feed was flooded with updates from classmates—and from Samantha and Roger.
In one photo, Roger was leaning back against Samantha's chest, his face flushed as he grinned up at her. She gazed down at him, the picture of tenderness.
I glanced at it once, then noticed the empty fruit wine cans piled on the table behind them.
That much alcohol? Forget affecting their exam performance—some of them might not even wake up tomorrow.
Someone had posted a video. The crowd was chanting: "Kiss! Kiss!"
Samantha pressed herself against Roger, kissing him desperately, deeply—a thin string of saliva still connecting their lips when they finally pulled apart.
Disgust churned in my stomach. I closed the video.
The latest post was from Roger. Clearly set to only visible to me.
I opened it. Heavy, ragged breathing filled my ears.
I frowned at the two bodies tangled together on screen. I didn't need to look closely to know the other person was Samantha.
Roger's voice came through between gasps, dripping with mockery:
"Daryl, Samantha says she loves me best. Says she wants to have my baby as a birthday present. What makes a boring little bookworm like you think you can compete with me?"
Then he sent a photo of an exam admission ticket—torn to shreds.
"I made her choose between you and me. To prove her loyalty, she ripped up your ticket. Said this way she won't have to go to the same university as you. Gives her an excuse to finally dump you."
"Can't wait to see you fall apart tomorrow, haha. Consider this an early congratulations on repeating senior year. Enjoy being a super-senior! "
Even though I'd already braced myself for my ticket being destroyed, seeing those scattered pieces still made my breath catch. A dull ache spread through my chest.
Three years of sleepless nights. Three years of relentless effort.
Gone. Just like that. Destroyed on a whim.
The sound of a phone ringing drifted in from the living room.
I opened my door just as Dad answered, his face shifting to shock. "What? A Westbridge High student? A senior about to take the exam? Alcohol poisoning?" He grabbed his keys. "I'm on my way."
