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During our years in the countryside, my best friend Harper Cobb was frail, so my childhood companion Cliff Walker insisted I give way to her in everything.
When the work credits she earned weren't enough to eat on, he told me to hand mine over to her.
When she didn't want to haul stones up the mountain, he told me to trade her the lighter work.
And in the end, when I was the one who got into college, Cliff still told me to give my spot to her.
"Isabel Henson, out of the three of us, Harper's the only one who didn't get into college. If we all leave, she's so weak she'll die in a place like this. But you're different. You're strong, you're capable. Why not give her your spot?"
"Then you and I get married. That way, once I graduate and get assigned a job, you can move back to the city as my spouse."
In my past life I agreed to him. We held a simple wedding out in the countryside, and after he graduated he kept putting me off with one excuse after another, never letting me come to him.
Later I slipped into the city on my own, only to find that he and Harper had married long ago and even had a child.
I went half mad, waving the marriage certificate, saying I'd report them for bigamy. Harper only sneered. "Cliff tricked you back then for my sake. I'm the one he loves."
"The marriage to you was fake, just so I could get into the city and go to college. Even your marriage certificate is a forgery. What exactly are you going to report?"
In the end he shoved me down the stairs, and I died a brutal death.
When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day I received my college acceptance letter, looking over at the rugged man next door with the broad shoulders, narrow waist, and all that raw strength.
This time I wouldn't get either my future or my heart wrong.
...........
"Isabel, the three of us are the best of friends. You wouldn't say no, would you?"
Looking at the hope in Cliff Walker's eyes, this time I gripped my acceptance letter tight, my fingertips going pale from the pressure.
This time I would never repeat the same mistake.
"If you feel so sorry that Harper will suffer out here, why don't you give her your acceptance letter and stay behind yourself?"
Cliff hadn't expected me to refuse outright. He froze for a second.
Beside him, Harper started sniffling. "Cliff's a man. How could I go to college under his identity?"
Cliff caught on and chimed in, "Exactly. If mine could be used for her, of course I'd give it. But as things stand, only yours works for her."
"The three of us grew up together. How can you be so cruel, leaving her here alone to fend for herself when she's got no way out?"
The three of us did grow up together. But when we were young, the two of them were close, and I was just the tagalong.
It was only when all three of us were about to be sent down to the countryside that they suddenly turned warm toward me, and even that was only so I'd do Harper's work and share my food with her.
Five years in the countryside had left me dark and thin, my hands full of calluses, my skin rough and my hair dry and yellow.
And Harper, thanks to everything I'd handed her, looked almost exactly the way she had when she first arrived, her skin still smooth and pale, not so much as a torn seam in her clothes.
I shot him a look. "In that case, the two of you should just marry. Then once you're assigned a job, you can bring her into the city."
"Or don't you like her?"
Guilt flickered across Cliff's eyes before he quickly denied it.
"Isabel, what are you talking about? I only ever thought of Harper as a little sister. You're the one I've always cared for. Don't you understand how I feel?"
"I asked you to give her the acceptance letter only because I was worried that once we all left, she'd be left here alone to be bullied."
If Harper stayed, he was worried she'd be bullied. If I stayed, apparently there was nothing to worry about.
I used to be a fool, letting the two of them run circles around me.
I let out a scoff and was just about to speak when a low voice cut in. "What is this, treating people like they're stupid? Telling her to hand over a college acceptance letter?"
