I Died Once So This Time I Was Ready

Wren's POV

The night before the SAT, I brought homemade pastries from our bakery to share with the whole class.

The next day, over thirty students collapsed at the testing center. The exam was voided.

I became the target of everyone's rage. My family fell apart. I ended up in a detention cell.

The internet tore me apart. My classmate Lainey Prescott went on camera sobbing, saying all she wanted was for me to own up to what I did.

While I was in detention, I found out my mom had a mental breakdown and jumped off the overpass outside of town.

That same night, I went into the river too. The water was freezing.

When I open my eyes, Lainey is right there. She's holding that same sheet of paper with everyone's signatures, smiling like nothing's wrong, eyes just as calculating as I remember.

I'm back.

And this time, I'm not making anything for anyone.

"Wren Monroe, what are you spacing out for? We're all waiting on those good-luck treats, you know!"

The voice hits my ear sharp and syrupy all at once.

I blink. The fluorescent lights sting.

No water in my lungs. No detention uniform.

I'm standing at the front of the classroom. Lainey Prescott is right in front of me, face done up in that carefully effortless way she always does it. The calculation behind her eyes is the same as I remember. She's got that petition in her hand — the one with every single person's signature on it.

Everyone around her is talking over each other, leaning forward, waiting.

I got sent back.

Last time, it was this exact afternoon. Lainey pitched the idea of getting the whole class a treat before the SAT, standing right here in front of everyone, laying on the guilt thick — asking if my mom's bakery could just donate forty custom orders. No charge.

I said yes without thinking twice. We'd been in the same class for three years. It just felt like the right call.

The next morning, the entire class was sick at the testing center. Some of them passed out on the spot. Investigators found a heavy-duty laxative injected into the pastries.

Lainey was the only one who hadn't eaten anything that day. Stomachache, she said. Then she went on camera and told everyone I'd done it out of jealousy.

"Come on, Wren, your family literally has a bakery," Lainey says now, moving toward me, reaching for my arm. "A few things off the menu won't even make a dent, right?"

I step back before she can touch me.

Her hand hangs in the air. Something flickers across her face.

"Seriously, Wren, we're literally all in this together. The SAT's tomorrow. You can't just bring a few things for everyone?" someone from the back calls out.

"She's always got the nicest stuff anyway. Why is she being so cheap about this?"

"So selfish."

The voices pile on, and underneath them I can hear the echo of everything people said about me online. The comments. The threads.

I laugh under my breath and look around.

"Lainey." My voice comes out flat. "My mom runs that bakery to pay the bills, not to hand things out for free. You want to do something nice for everyone, go buy it yourself."

The room goes quiet.

Nobody expected that from me. I've always just gone along with things.

Lainey's eyes well up fast, tears already spilling: "Wren, how could you say that? I'm just trying to do something nice for everyone before tomorrow. If you don't want to, fine, but did you have to make it weird?"

"Cut the act." I grab my bag. "I'm not doing it. And honestly? Everyone should be careful about what they eat before a big test. If something goes wrong, no one's going to be responsible for your life but you."

I walk out before anyone can respond.

"Wren Monroe!" Lainey's voice follows me into the hall, something vicious underneath all the anger. "You walk out that door, don't come crawling back to any of us!"

I don't turn around.

I'm almost at the front entrance when I nearly walk into the principal.

She frowns at me. "Monroe, the SAT's tomorrow morning. Why are you leaving during evening study hall?"

"I think I've got a stomach bug," I say. "I'm sweating and I don't want to get anyone else sick. I was hoping I could go home and rest up for tomorrow."

She takes in my pale face and nods. "Go ahead. Take care of yourself."

"Thank you."

I turn and walk out. I don't look back once.