Chapter 3

A whiteboard in the corner of the library is covered in physics equations. I chew on my pen cap, type the final line of data into my laptop, and hit submit on my science competition application without hesitation.

In my last life, I wasted all my time in the kitchen meal-prepping for Eric and completely missed out on early admissions for MIT.

Now, I just want to take back the life that belongs to me, with interest.

Closing my laptop, I shoulder my backpack and push open the study room door. The noise in the hallway hits me along with a wave of sickly sweet perfume.

"Kassia, hold on."

The familiar voice makes me stop in my tracks. Eric wears his varsity jacket, the one that should be soaked in sweat on the ice, but right now it hangs unzipped and loose. His arm is wrapped around Charlotte. The blonde cheerleader shoots me a smug, challenging glare.

"You haven't been at the rink lately." Eric frowns. "Look, Charlotte makes me feel alive for the first time in high school. I don't care how you feel about it, just stay out of my way."

He tilts his chin up, fully expecting me to tear up and beg him like I used to.

I don't even blink. I look right past his shoulder at the digital clock on the wall. "Excuse me. You're blocking the way to the physics lab."

Eric's face instantly drops. His grip on Charlotte loosens just a fraction.

I don't give him any chance to react and brush straight past them.

For the next few weeks, my life falls into a strict routine. The library at six thirty in the morning, competition strategy meetings at noon, and the physics lab in the evenings.

I operate like clockwork, throwing myself entirely into the world I actually care about.

Between classes, I occasionally run into them on campus.

I am carrying my tray in the cafeteria one day, mentally working through the final problem for that afternoon's physics competition. I look up and lock eyes with Eric. His eyes are completely bloodshot.

Late nights and skipped practices leave his face looking puffy. The sharp edge of a star hockey prospect is visibly fading away.

He freezes the moment he sees me, then instinctively takes a step forward. "Kassia, hey..."

"Babe, what are you looking at?" Charlotte latches onto his arm like a vine. Her bright manicured fingers dig into his wrist, physically dragging him the other way.

Before they leave, she makes sure to shoot me a hostile, triumphant glare over his shoulder.

I don't even break my stride at her little display of territory. I take a sip of my black coffee, letting the bitter taste wake me up, and walk right past them without a sideways glance. They aren't even worth a single second of my attention anymore.

Meanwhile, the rumors about Eric drift around me like background static.

"He skipped conditioning again today?"

"I heard he and Charlotte went to that dive bar downtown..."

All that gossip finally blows up into a full-scale storm one afternoon after midterms.

I am walking through the admin building lobby with a heavy stack of study guides. A deafening shouting match shatters the quiet afternoon.

"Look at his body fat percentage! Look at his reaction time on the ice!" The youth league head coach slams a stack of training logs down on the principal's desk. His yell easily carries through the half-open blinds. "He's done! Completely ruined!"

I stop and peek through the gap in the blinds. I can see Eric's parents. The respectable middle-class couple is practically shaking with rage.

"You've disappointed us so much, Eric." His father's face is livid. He grabs Eric by the collar of his jacket. "Get your ass home right now! You can forget about ever seeing that Charlotte girl again!"

"No! You can't do this!" Eric thrashes like a cornered animal, but his body is totally out of shape from skipping practice. He barely puts up a fight as his dad physically drags him toward the door.

I pull my gaze away with zero sympathy, adjust the grip on my books, and head down the tree-lined path toward the dorms.

This peace doesn't last long.

The sharp click of heels on concrete echoes from the dark. I just round the corner behind the dorm building when a handful of girls step out of the shadows, totally blocking my path.

The air instantly turns freezing cold.

Charlotte stands at the front. Her perfectly styled blonde hair looks unraveled right now. She glares at me through thick eyeliner, her eyes burning with pure, consuming hatred.

"You did this, didn't you?" She steps right into my space.