My best friend became an overnight billionaire and tossed me a limited-edition Louis Vuitton bag like she was throwing a bone to a stray dog. I took it and used it to haul rotting trash from the dumpster behind the cafeteria. Why? Because I’ve died before. In my past life, Bella Sterling bound herself to a parasitic entity—a supernatural curse that allowed her to siphon off every ounce of my luck through the objects she gifted me. She became the untouchable "It Girl," the natural-born genius who went viral with a single makeup-free selfie and signed million-dollar contracts before graduation. Meanwhile, I spiraled. I developed a severe metabolic disorder, flunked every class, and eventually died from cardiac arrest during the gym class mile run, my body giving out under the weight of a stolen life. But I’m back. I’ve been reborn. And if she wants to trade lives, I’m going to make sure she gets exactly what she paid for. Chapter 1 I was walking back from the water fountain during passing period when I saw a crowd gathered around my desk. "Harper! Oh my god, you're finally back! Look what I brought you from the shoot!" Bella Sterling spotted me and waved enthusiastically. Her smile was dazzling, the kind that stopped traffic. Every movement she made was calculated perfection. I walked over. Sitting on my desk, basking in a sunbeam like a holy relic, was a pristine Louis Vuitton Capucines bag. The leather shimmered under the fluorescent lights. The surrounding classmates let out a collective gasp of envy. "No way. That’s a legit LV. Bella is literally the best friend ever. Harper Vance must have saved a country in her past life to deserve her." "Please. Look at Harper. She’s a total mess. She looks like a bloated tick. A bag like that on her? It’s like putting lipstick on a pig." "Seriously. If I had a friend like Bella, I’d be on my knees thanking her right now." Bella heard every word. She tilted her chin up slightly, soaking in the praise, before turning her "concerned" gaze to me. "Harper, are you in shock? Come on, swap your stuff over! That old backpack you're carrying is falling apart. It’s practically leaking pens." It was almost funny. A long time ago, Bella was the poor, insecure, overweight girl. I was the one who bought her lunch, who helped her study. Then came my sixteenth birthday. Bella gave me a bag she had "hand-stitched" herself. That was the moment my perfect life shattered. Bella had bound the Curse to me. That handmade bag was her extraction tool. If I put a mirror in it, she stole my beauty. If I put my textbooks in it, she drained my intelligence. I remembered the time I caught the flu. I carried my medicine in that bag to school. The next day, I could barely walk without wheezing, while the historically sickly Bella suddenly ran a six-minute mile. I had spent years in a spiral of self-hatred, while Bella quietly encouraged the school to isolate the "weird, fat girl." Staring at the designer leather, I let out a cold laugh and looked up. "Bella, didn't you hear everyone? Someone like me makes a bag like this look like trash. Honestly, my old backpack matches my vibe way better." I paused, scanning the room. "But I’d hate to waste your generosity. So, I’ll pay it forward. Does anyone else want a free Louis Vuitton? First come, first served." The room exploded. The classmates who had just been mocking me lost their minds. "Me! I want it!" "Back off! I need that bag!" "Move, losers!" A girl named Roxy—tall, broad-shouldered, and mean—used her linebacker build to shove everyone aside. She slammed her hand on the desk, glaring at the crowd. "Anyone who touches this bag gets a black eye!" Bella’s face went pale. The air of superiority vanished, replaced by sheer panic. She shrieked, "No! You can’t! That was a gift for Harper!" "But she said she didn't want it," Roxy sneered, clutching the leather handle. "Besides, look at her. She’d probably just get mugged for it in five minutes anyway." Bella looked like she was choking. She watched Roxy claim the bag with a mix of urgency and terror, her entire body trembling with rejection. Watching her panic, a thought crossed my mind. If the bag holds someone else's belongings... does the extraction spell work on them instead? Chapter 2 "Harper, I hand-picked that for you! You can refuse it, but why do you have to trample on my feelings like this?" Bella’s eyes instantly welled up with tears. The switch was flipped; she was now the tragic heroine in a soap opera. "I treat you like my sister, and you just toss my gift to a stranger? That is so incredibly cold-hearted!" She suddenly clutched her chest, stumbled backward, and collapsed gracefully onto the linoleum floor. Roxy freaked out. She yelped and threw the LV bag back onto my desk like it was a live grenade. Chaos erupted. The boys in the class surged forward, eager to play the hero for the fallen princess, but hesitating to actually touch her. Suddenly, a voice cut through the noise like a whip. "The bell rang two minutes ago. What is going on in here?" Standing in the doorway were the Hall Monitors—specifically, the Student Council Disciplinary Board. At the front was Chase Montgomery. Tall, leaning against the doorframe with an air of bored aristocracy, he had pale skin and dark, intense eyes that seemed to analyze everything they touched. The guy behind him, holding a clipboard, scowled and scribbled something down before handing it to Chase. "President. Room 302. Disorderly conduct during study hall. Minus ten points." The class went dead silent. You could hear a pin drop. Even Bella, currently staging a faint on the floor, cracked one eye open. It wasn't just about the points. It was about Chase Montgomery. He was the Golden Boy. His father was a Senator, his mother was a tech mogul who owned half the prime real estate in the city. And Chase? He was a prodigy, already scouted by USC’s School of Cinematic Arts for directing. Chase took the pen, his expression unreadable, and signed the violation slip. Just as the group turned to leave, Bella "miraculously" found the strength to stand up. "Chase! Wait! This isn't the class's fault. It’s all my responsibility!" In full view of everyone, she pushed through the crowd and stood before him, looking up with wide, teary eyes. Silence stretched for a few seconds. Chase instinctively took a step back, turning his face slightly away. His voice was low, almost raspy. "Reason?" Bella took a breath, ready for her close-up. "I fainted because of a personal shock. The class was just trying to help me. The noise was... unavoidable." Chapter 3 Bella blinked her watery, doe-like eyes, speaking in a soft, trembling voice. "I gave my best friend a Louis Vuitton bag. She didn't want it, which is fine, but she tried to give it away to humiliate me. I couldn't stop her..." Bella choked back a sob. Seeing her act so righteously, the rest of the class jumped in to defend their queen: "Yeah! It’s Harper Vance! She’s trying to start drama. Bella was just being nice!" "That fat loser’s backpack is literally falling apart, and she still acted stuck up. I think she’s trying to frame us!" "Harper’s just jealous because she’s ugly and broke. She’s always sabotaging Bella." "She’s a sociopath! She bullies people all the time behind the teachers' backs!" "Bella fainted from the stress! Please, President, put all the penalty points on Harper Vance!" They piled on, throwing every insult they could think of, dumping all the blame squarely on my shoulders. No one noticed that Bella had inched closer to Chase. She reached out, her fingers lightly grazing the hem of his blazer—a calculated move of vulnerability. "President, please," she whispered. "Don't punish the class. Our homeroom teacher will kill us." Chase looked down at her. His cold, indifferent gaze seemed to soften. The tips of his ears turned a faint shade of pink. "Where is this Harper Vance?" "Right there!" Without warning, someone shoved me hard from behind. I stumbled, unable to catch my balance, and face-planted right at Chase Montgomery’s feet in a pathetic sprawl. Cruel, sharp laughter erupted around the room. I gasped in pain, feeling the skin on my palms scrape raw against the floor. "Oops! Wow, Harper, so clumsy. Why are you crawling on the floor? You’re embarrassing the whole class." I gritted my teeth and scrambled up, ready to defend myself. But Chase had already made his judgment. He lifted his pen, writing as he spoke, his voice dripping with disdain. "Harper Vance. Bullying classmates. Disruption of order. Twenty points deducted from your personal record. You are barred from all merit awards until graduation." He didn't even look at me. "If you have an objection," he added coldly, "bring the security footage to the Dean's office." Chapter 4 Chase didn't give me a single second to explain. He turned and walked away with his entourage without looking back. The class exploded into laughter. Someone sneered, "Everyone knows the cameras are just for show. They only turn them on during finals. Suck it up, Harper." Rage boiled in my chest. I spun around, grabbing the collar of the boy who had shoved me—the one laughing the hardest. I put my entire weight into it and slapped him across the face. Smack! The sound echoed through the room. "Harper, are you crazy?! You hit me!" He widened his eyes, raising a fist to strike back. But I weighed 180 pounds. Weight moves weight. His skinny frame was no match for my adrenaline-fueled mass. "You said I was bullying classmates, right? You already deducted the points. So, I might as well earn the title!" I shoved him back into his chair. The class, usually so comfortable tormenting me, went silent. They looked terrified. Bella, the architect of this misery, smiled at me with fake sympathy, assuming I was too stupid to catch her drift. "I'm so sorry, Harper. I really wanted to take the blame, but the President wrote your name down... We're still besties, right? You won't hold a grudge?" I looked at her, and the corners of my mouth curled up slowly. "Of course not," I said. "My. Best. Friend." Right in front of her, I picked up the Louis Vuitton bag, shoved it into my desk cubby, and sat down to study. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her let out a breath of relief. She thought she had won. Chapter 5 After school, I grabbed the bag and sprinted out of the classroom, running straight to a back alley a few blocks away. There was a recycler there—an old woman who sat on the ground every day at 4 PM, sorting through trash. The sun was brutal. The woman wiped sweat from the deep wrinkles on her face as she organized aluminum cans. "Ma'am, I want to buy your stuff." I pulled a handful of cash from my pocket. Tens, twenties, mostly ones—my lunch money for the month. I gritted my teeth and handed her a twenty. The woman looked up, her weather-beaten face full of shock. She stood up, wiping her dirty hands on her pants. "I want to buy the trash you’ve collected. Or the garbage you have piled up at home. Just give me twenty dollars' worth. I’ll be back for more." She had never seen a student try to buy trash before. She hesitated, eyeing my school uniform, but the cash was real. Half an hour later, I was hauling the Louis Vuitton bag back to the dorms. It was stuffed to the brim with crushed plastic bottles, greasy ramen wrappers, and bags of rotting food scraps. My heart was pounding like a drum. In the past, I avoided mirrors. I hated my reflection. But this time, I walked straight to the full-length mirror in the hallway and looked up. It wasn't a hallucination. My face was smaller. Where my neck used to merge directly into my jaw, there was now the hint of a jawline. Even my eyes, usually buried in puffiness, looked wider, brighter. The reverse curse worked. To ensure I had enough money to keep buying trash from the recycler, I didn't sleep during lunch. I spent the time doing homework for the rich kids who were too lazy to do it themselves. My brain, usually foggy and slow because of the drain, felt clearer. But it was still hard work. When I got back to the classroom, the place was buzzing. "Holy crap, Bella, you're legendary! I saw Chase Montgomery walking you to class!" "They just met this morning! That is insane progress. He’s ignored every girl for three years!" "I know! He’s always alone with his camera on weekends. He barely speaks." Someone sighed dreamily. "Well, it makes sense. Bella is the Queen Bee. She’s already modeling. The King and Queen belong together." I rolled my eyes. A heartless psychopath and a blind idiot. A match made in hell. "Chase just thought I was too innocent," Bella said loudly, making sure everyone heard. "He said he was worried I’d get bullied again. Oh, and he said I speak very elegantly. He thinks I read a lot." Bella walked past my desk, her smile barely containing her triumph. "Don't spread rumors, guys. We aren't dating... yet." She leaned against my desk, turning her back to me. "By the way, have you heard? That reality show, Finding America's Sweetheart, is coming to scout high schools. The winner gets a lead role in a blockbuster movie." She lowered her voice, but kept it loud enough for the room. "Modeling is fine, but I want Hollywood. I want to be a star. Then, when I’m with Chase, no one will be surprised. They’ll just say he has good taste." It was a great speech. Very "Main Character energy." Too bad she was building her castle on my bones. She hadn't read a book in years; she just stole my intellect. Bella, I thought, staring at her profile. Your double chin is showing. Chapter 6 The final bell rang. The class stampeded toward the cafeteria. I stayed behind, finishing a calculus problem set for a junior in another class. Bella stood at the front of the room, frowning into her compact mirror. She kicked the chair in front of her. "What the hell? Why does my face look puffy? Is that cow not dieting anymore?" She muttered to herself, glancing suspiciously at my desk. When she saw the bulging Louis Vuitton bag stuffed in my cubby, she relaxed. "Harper! You're doing the right thing. Study hard!" She beamed at me, looking at me like I was a useful farm animal. "Skip dinner, okay? Look at how big you're getting. You really need to fast. One meal a day is plenty for you." I didn't even look up. Bella sashayed out of the room, heading to the cafeteria to gorge herself. She didn't know that every bit of effort I exerted now was solely for me. Once she was gone, I counted my earnings. Twenty-three dollars. Perfect. I grabbed the bag and ran out the school gates. This time, I bought a stack of old, yellowed newspapers the recycler used for insulation. I stuffed them into the LV bag until the seams groaned, then skipped back to school. At the main gate, a crowd had formed. A boy in a black shirt and a baseball cap was cleaning a camera lens. Behind him, a gaggle of girls clutched their dinner, whispering and squealing. "God, he’s so hot. Chase Montgomery." "He’s already accepted to USC. He just comes to school to mess around with his camera." "Is that girl his girlfriend? I’m so jealous. It’s like a movie scene." I walked closer. It was Chase. And his lens was pointed directly under the school's archway, at a posing, "candid" Bella Sterling. He bent down, focused, and click. "Chase! Let me see!" Bella bounced over to him. Standing close, they looked like a magazine cover. I clenched my fists, a bitter acid rising in my throat. That was my life. That was the stolen potential she had ripped out of me. I swallowed the hate and tried to walk past them into the school, but Bella spotted me. "Harper! Come here! Let's take a picture together!" Chapter 7 Bella grabbed my arm, digging her nails in, and dragged me into the frame. "Chase, shoot it! I want a picture with my BFF!" Chase looked at me with open disgust, but he adjusted the focus—keeping it sharp on Bella, leaving me in the blur. The crowd watched, eating their sandwiches and laughing. "She looks like a mountain next to Bella. So embarrassing." "If I were her, I’d hide. It’s humiliating." "Comparison is the thief of joy, but wow, that’s a brutal contrast. Beauty and the Beast." Bella looked ethereal next to my bulk. I stiffened, resisting with every muscle fiber. I knew exactly what this was. She needed a prop to make herself shine brighter. "Just a few more! These are memories, Harper!" "Smile! Come on, I’ll stand in front to make your face look smaller. Don't move!" She wrapped her arm around my neck in a chokehold masked as a hug. I snapped. I shoved her away with both hands. "Enough! Are you deaf?!" "I said no! Get off me!" The onlookers jumped. My voice was raw, screaming with years of suppressed rage. Bella stumbled back and fell onto the pavement, looking up at me with wide, shocked eyes. Chase was there in a second, helping her up. He turned his glare on me, his eyes cold as ice. "Harper Vance. What is wrong with you? Apologize to Bella. Now. Or else." He looked ready to destroy me. Around us, phones went up, recording the "crazy fat girl" losing her mind. "Apologize? Why the hell should I apologize? She dragged me!" I didn't care anymore. My hair was a mess, I was sweating, and I was screaming. "Why does everyone ignore the facts just to target me? Is it just because I’m ugly? Does that make it okay to treat me like an animal?" "You people are sick! And you're all going to pay for it!"
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