Chapter 1 During gym class, I crouched on the ground, clutching my chest and gasping for air. Coach Albright kicked me squarely in the back, her face twisted with contempt. "Stop acting like some fragile little snowflake! You'd really fake something like this just to get out of running?" The surrounding students erupted into laughter. They were all watching me, the school’s most pathetic simp, make a fool of myself again. My face was deathly pale. My hand trembled as I pointed toward the pocket holding my emergency nitro pills. But the prom queen got there first. Kennedy crushed the pill bottle beneath her designer sneaker, clinging to Connor’s arm and whining playfully. "Connor, baby, look at her. She’s putting on another show just to get your attention." Connor stopped dribbling his basketball and stared at me with icy indifference. "Stop embarrassing me. If you don't finish this 5K, don't even think about going home." A violent, agonizing spasm ripped through my heart. My vision began to blur, and I collapsed onto the rubber track. Before my consciousness completely faded, I used the last ounce of my strength to dial Connor’s mother. "Mrs. Sterling... I can't deliver Connor’s birthday present anymore. I'll repay your kindness in the next life." I could hear Mrs. Sterling’s panicked screams through the speaker, but the sound was already fading away. The phone slipped from my fingertips, hitting the track with a sharp crack, shattering the screen. My vision plunged into total darkness. It felt as if a massive, invisible hand had ruthlessly crushed my heart. After the excruciating pain, there was only a deathly silence. But I didn't disappear. I felt my body become incredibly light, floating up into mid-air. I looked down at myself—curled up on the track, my face a horrifying shade of blue-gray. I was dead. Elara, you are finally free. "Hey! Elara! How much longer are you going to play dead?!" Coach Albright’s shrill voice pierced the noise of the field. Wearing her chunky heels, she marched over to my corpse, raised her foot, and kicked me viciously in the ribs. Once. Twice. "Don't think playing dead will get you out of this 5K! Let me tell you, even if God Almighty came down here today, you are finishing this run!" My corpse swayed lifelessly with each of her kicks. The surrounding students formed a circle, watching the spectacle like a circus act. No one stepped forward to stop it. Some even whistled. "Coach, Elara’s acting skills deserve an Oscar!" "Seriously. She’s rolling around on the dirty track just to get Connor to look at her. That's dedication." Outside the circle, Connor held his basketball, his brows furrowed tightly in absolute disgust. Kennedy clung to his arm, laughing until she shook. Her other foot was still resting on the pile of crushed powder from my pills, grinding it further into the dirt. "Connor, look at her. She's so obsessed. She’ll even pull this pathetic victim act just to get a second of your time." Kennedy’s voice was sickeningly sweet, drilling into my ears like a venomous snake. Connor let out a cold scoff and hurled his basketball violently at the ground. The ball bounced, grazing the scalp of my corpse, before crashing into the chain-link fence. "Elara, I’m counting to three." Connor’s voice was as cold as ice chips. "Three." "Two." "One." The 'me' on the ground didn't move a muscle. Connor’s patience completely evaporated. He marched forward, grabbed the collar of my corpse’s shirt, and hoisted half my body off the ground. "Are you fucking deaf?! I told you to get up!" My head lolled lifelessly to the side. My eyes were wide open, staring blankly at a fixed point in the void. It was a classic death stare. But Connor acted as if he were completely blind. He entirely ignored my ashen complexion and my perfectly still chest. He shook my body violently, with enough force to rattle my bones apart. "Stop faking! You think this is going to make me feel sorry for you? Elara, these pathetic stunts only make me sick!" Floating in the air, I watched this man—the man I had loved for ten years—venting his rage on a lifeless corpse. Feel sorry for me? Connor, you really won't. Because dead people don't need your pity. Chapter 2 "Connor, babe, don't be mad. She’s not worth getting worked up over." Kennedy leaned in, feigning comfort while pouring gasoline on the fire. She reached out a manicured finger and poked my freezing hand in disgust. "Ew, why is her hand so cold? Elara, did you go lay in a meat freezer before class just to sell the act? That's trying way too hard." The crowd erupted into roaring laughter. "Hahaha, a meat freezer? Kennedy, you're hilarious!" "She's taking the simp lifestyle to a whole new level." Coach Albright crossed her arms, looking impatiently at her watch. "Alright, that's enough. Connor, just drop her on the side so we can finish class. Once everyone leaves, she'll get bored and get up on her own." Connor let go of my collar with a look of pure revulsion. Thud. The back of my head slammed heavily against the concrete edge of the track. If I were alive, a hit like that would have made me cry from the pain. But now, the shell on the ground was just a lump of meat incapable of feeling. Connor pulled a wet wipe from his pocket, scrubbing the fingers that had touched me one by one, as if he had touched something diseased. "Disgusting." He balled up the dirty wipe and casually tossed it at my face. The white paper landed squarely, covering my unblinking left eye. "Let's keep playing." Connor turned and walked away without a single backward glance. Kennedy followed him smugly. Before she left, she deliberately kicked a spray of sand toward my open mouth. "Eat some dirt. Maybe it'll wake you up." The gym field returned to its chaotic noise. The sound of bouncing basketballs, boys cheering, and girls screaming filled the air. Only in the corner of the track lay a solitary, abandoned corpse. The sun beat down mercilessly. I watched my skin slowly lose its remaining luster. Lividity began to quietly pool in the hidden crevices of my body. I just floated above Connor's head, watching him break a sweat on the court. He sank a three-pointer, and Kennedy jumped up excitedly to hand him a bottle of water. Connor took it, tilting his head back to chug it, his Adam's apple bobbing. "Hey, Connor... Elara is still laying there. You don't think something actually happened, do you?" Finally, a boy couldn't help but glance in my direction and asked nervously. Connor paused wiping his sweat, then sneered. "Happened? Bad weeds never die. Someone like her has a life harder than a cockroach." Kennedy chimed in, "Exactly! Last time she claimed her stomach hurt, but then turned around and went to eat ghost pepper wings. This is definitely fake too. She just wants Connor to carry her to the nurse's office. Anyone can see through her little tricks." The boy scratched his head and didn't dare say another word. Floating in mid-air, I couldn't help but laugh. Last time my stomach hurt? That time, my stomach was actually bleeding internally. I was rolling on the floor in agony. It was Kennedy who had forced me to go eat blazing hot wings, claiming that if I didn't, I was disrespecting her and Connor's friend group. Desperate not to look pathetic in front of Connor, I forced myself to go. I ended up in the emergency room right after. And what was Connor doing then? He was playing video games with Kennedy. He never even answered my calls. And now, they were using that as proof that I was a liar. How incredibly ironic. Chapter 3 The bell finally rang. Students walked toward the cafeteria in groups of twos and threes. As they passed me, they pointed and whispered. "Still sleeping? She's committed to the bit." "Hey, Elara, lunchtime! They're serving pizza today!" Someone purposely yelled right by my ear, trying to scare me awake. But I remained perfectly still. The boy who yelled flinched when he saw my deathly gray face and backed away. "Holy shit... why does her face look like that?" "She probably put on corpse makeup, right?" Coach Albright walked over, tucking her clipboard under her arm. Seeing me still on the ground, she flared up again. "Elara! Is this ever going to end?! Get up right now!" She raised her foot, this time aiming the pointed toe of her stiletto directly at my stomach. Just then, the frantic wail of an ambulance siren pierced the campus air, growing louder by the second. Immediately behind it, a black Maybach tore through the school gates like a feral beast, speeding straight onto the gym field. The tires shrieked against the pavement, coming to an abrupt halt right next to the track. The door flew open, and Connor's mother stumbled out. Her perfectly maintained face was twisted in horror and soaked in tears. Her hair was a mess. She looked nothing like her usual elegant, wealthy self. "Elara! Elara!" Mrs. Sterling's agonizing scream froze everyone in their tracks. Connor, who had been about to leave, stopped and frowned. "Mom? What are you doing here? Why did you drive onto the field?" He walked over, irritated, trying to block her path. "Did Elara complain to you again? She just wants you to yell at me, don't believe her—" Smack! A resounding slap struck Connor's face. Connor was stunned. He covered his cheek, looking at his mother in absolute disbelief. "Mom, you hit me?" Mrs. Sterling ignored him completely. She threw herself onto my body like a madwoman, her trembling fingers reaching to check my breathing. A few seconds later, she let out a soul-tearing shriek. "AHHHHH!!!" The sound was so haunting and visceral it made everyone's scalp tingle. The paramedics rushed out of the ambulance with their trauma kits. They quickly pulled Mrs. Sterling back and began examining me. Connor stood frozen, watching his mother collapse onto the ground, sobbing hysterically. A faint sliver of unease crept into his chest. But he quickly shoved it down. "Mom, why are you playing along with her act? We're in public, aren't you embarrassed?" Connor gritted his teeth, walking over to pull his mother up. "Elara, that is enough! You know my mom has a bad heart. Are you trying to scare her to death?!" He yelled impatiently at me through the wall of paramedics. Kennedy stepped up beside him, muttering, "Mrs. Sterling spoils Elara way too much. She actually brought a whole medical team to help her fake this..." Chapter 4 The paramedics stopped what they were doing. An older medic pulled his stethoscope off, checked his watch, and shook his head with a heavy tone. "Pupils are dilated and fixed. No spontaneous respiration. Heart has been stopped for over thirty minutes." He stood up and gave Mrs. Sterling a slight, respectful nod. "Ma'am, I am so sorry for your loss. The patient... is gone." Boom. Those words struck the field like a thunderbolt. The noisy crowd instantly fell into a deathly silence. Everyone's jaws dropped. Their eyes widened as if they had just heard a fairy tale. Connor's expression froze. That look of annoyance was still pinned to his mouth, making him look utterly ridiculous. "What did you say?" Connor stared at the paramedic as if he had just heard a joke. "Gone? Gone where? Did she go home?" The medic looked at him with deep pity and repeated, "The patient is deceased. Preliminary assessment is sudden cardiac death, likely triggered by acute heart failure from intense physical exertion." "Bullshit!" Connor suddenly exploded, shoving the medic aside and lunging at me. "Quacks! You're all actors Elara paid off, aren't you?! How much? How much did she pay you? I'll double it!" He dropped to his knees, grabbed my shoulders, and shook me frantically. "Elara! Get up! Stop pretending! This isn't funny!" "Didn't you say you were going to give me a birthday present? Where is it? Get up and give it to me!" "Didn't you say you'd repay my mom in the next life? This life isn't over yet! Who gave you permission to move on to the next one?!" His voice went from a roar to a desperate scream, carrying a faint, undeniable tremble. My body flopped wildly in his grip like a broken doll. Yet, despite the violent shaking, I didn't give him a single response. I didn't timidly pull at his shirt and apologize like I used to. I didn't look up with red eyes and say, "I'm sorry, Connor." There was nothing. Only a dead, icy stillness. Connor's hands touched my skin. It was no longer warm and soft. It was rigid, radiating a biting, bone-deep cold. That coldness seeped through his fingertips, traveling up his veins, freezing his very heart. He finally realized what was happening. With a trembling hand, he slowly reached for the carotid artery on my neck. It was completely silent. No pulse. Not a single beat. Connor's pupils violently contracted. His breathing became erratic and rapid. He snapped his head up, his gaze falling on the crumpled wet wipe he had carelessly tossed aside. Beneath that wipe, my unclosed eye was staring blankly, fixedly, right at him. There was no love in that gaze. No grievance. Only an endless, empty void. As if mocking his stupidity. As if looking at a complete stranger. A massive, suffocating wave of terror drowned him. "No... impossible..." Connor's voice broke horribly. He let go of me as if he'd been electrocuted, collapsing backward, scrambling away on his hands and knees. "She's faking... she has to be faking..." He whipped his head around, locking onto Kennedy like a drowning man grabbing a lifeline. "Kennedy, say something! She's faking, right?! She just moved a second ago, right?!" Kennedy was completely paralyzed with fear. Her face was as white as paper, her lips trembling so hard she couldn't form a word. "I... I don't know... I didn't see anything..." Mrs. Sterling pushed herself off the ground. Like an enraged lioness, she charged at Connor. In her hand, she tightly gripped my shattered cell phone. "Connor! You animal! You killed her! You forced Elara to her death!" Mrs. Sterling smashed the phone violently into Connor's face. The screen flickered to life. It was an unsent voice memo. With trembling fingers, Mrs. Sterling pressed play. It was my voice. Weak, agonizing, yet final. "Connor... if I die... will you be sad... even a little?" The recording cut off abruptly. Connor stared blankly at the phone on the ground. His face burned from the impact, but it was nothing compared to the agony ripping his soul apart. Dead? The Elara who had followed him around for ten years, the one he couldn't chase away no matter how hard he pushed, the one he couldn't break no matter how much he cursed her... She was really dead?
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