Chapter 1

In my past life, the night before the National Cheerleading Championship finals, my "best friend" Lily, the scholarship student I'd been sponsoring, handed me a brownie she claimed she'd "baked herself."

She knew I had a deadly peanut allergy. Yet she'd loaded it with concentrated peanut butter.

When I collapsed on the locker room floor, hives erupting across my skin, my throat swelling shut until I couldn't make a sound, Lily just covered her mouth and nestled into my boyfriend Liam's arms, whimpering: "I'm so sorry, Chloe. I'm such an idiot. I mixed up the peanut butter with chocolate... you won't blame me, right?"

Of course I blamed you.

The quarterback I'd loved for three years didn't call 911. Instead, he frowned down at me convulsing on the ground.

"Chloe, stop faking, okay?" Liam's voice dripped with annoyance. "Lily already apologized. Why do you have to put on this dramatic show to scare her? You're always so controlling."

Controlling?

My airway was closing. My lungs were on fire. I was dying, and I couldn't force out a single word to tell him.

They didn’t call an ambulance until I stopped moving, but by the time it got there, it was too late. I was already dead.

When the police questioned him, Liam gave false testimony to protect Lily. He claimed I was afraid of losing the competition, so I tried to use an allergic reaction to avoid competing, but accidentally ingested too much of the allergen and died.

The man who said he loved me let me die with the reputation of a coward.

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back on that day.

...

"Chloe? Chloe, why are you spacing out?"

That sickeningly sweet voice pierced through. I snapped my eyes open, gasping for air.

Wait.

The familiar smell of disinfectant. Dark blue lockers. The St. Jude Academy cheer banner on the wall.

I looked down at my hands, completely intact. Then I looked at the girl standing in front of me, wearing our matching custom uniform, blinking those innocent wide eyes.

I've been reborn.

Back to the afternoon before the finals. Before the tragedy. Before everything went to hell.

Lily was holding a delicate pink container with that brownie inside, the one that smelled like death. She bit her lower lip, her eyes all shy and sweet: "Chloe, I made this especially for you. Energy boost before the competition. I know you've been so stressed training all of us. Try it, please? I worked on it for hours."

Looking at that familiar pastry, remembering the suffocation, the desperate fight for air, I clenched my fists so hard my nails bit into my palms.

"You made this?" My voice was ice.

"Yeah, even though I'm clumsy, I really wanted to do something for you." Lily stepped closer, trying to link her arm through mine.

I swung my hand.

The pink container hit the floor with a sharp crack. The poisoned brownie tumbled out, shattering into pieces.

Lily froze. She clearly hadn't expected this. Her eyes instantly welled up, tears streaming down her face like broken pearls: "Chloe... what are you doing? If you don't like it, you could just tell me. Why do you have to destroy my gift like that?"

Her voice got louder, dripping with hurt: "I know my family's poor. I know I can't afford the fancy French pastries you're used to. But this was from my heart..."

The crying immediately drew people from outside the locker room.

Liam burst in. He took one look at the mess on the floor and Lily's tears, and his expression darkened instantly.

"Chloe, what the hell is wrong with you now?" He pulled Lily behind him like some knight protecting his damsel, glaring at me. "Lily made you something nice, and even if you don't appreciate it, you don't have to humiliate her like this."

He stepped closer, his voice accusatory: "Do you even know how long she saved up to buy those ingredients?"

Looking at that face, the face I'd loved desperately in my past life, the face that watched me die, my stomach churned.

"Fuck your 'something nice.'" I laughed bitterly, grinding the brownie into the floor. "Her kindness would've sent me straight to meet God. I can't accept that kind of gift."

"What are you talking about?" Liam's jaw clenched, his eyes full of disgust. "How did you become so cruel? Lily wouldn't hurt a fly. How could she possibly harm you?"

He pointed at me, his voice rising: "You're just jealous that everyone likes her now!"

"Me? Jealous of her?" I almost burst out laughing.

Me. Chloe. Daughter of St. Jude's biggest donor. Ivy League guaranteed admission candidate. Jealous of a parasite who couldn't even pay her own tuition without my charity?

I walked toward them. Lily was trembling behind Liam. I looked at her and smiled.

Then I raised my hand.

Swung it back.

And slapped her fake, pitiful face as hard as I could.

"CRACK!"

The sound echoed. The entire locker room went dead silent.

Lily clutched her cheek, staring at me in disbelief. Tears hung on her lashes. She was completely frozen.

"That slap was for being stupid enough to try this shit on me." I looked at her coldly, then turned to Liam.

His expression morphed from shock to rage. His fists clenched so tight I could hear his knuckles crack.

But I didn't care.

"As for you, Liam." I stared into his eyes, enunciating every word. "If you want to collect trash, that's your business. But don't shove your trash in my face. As of right now, we're done."

I took a step back, sweeping my eyes over both of them.

"Take your true love and get the hell out of my sight."