My best friend blamed me for breaking up her and the school's notorious bad boy. She reported me for a testing violation during our final exams. My scores were canceled. She got exactly what she wanted: an acceptance letter to an Ivy League university, and she cut me out of her life completely. Years later, when she returned to our high school as a distinguished alumna to give a speech, I hid in a corner to watch. When the massive backdrop behind her started to collapse, I instinctively sprinted toward her... My entire body was crushed with agonizing pain. As my consciousness faded, I let go of the hand I had been gripping so tightly. "This is the last time. If there is a next life, I will never help you again." We were both reborn. She went back to loving the bad boy with a toxic, fiery passion. They cut class to go to concerts. He used the school's morning announcements to make dramatic declarations of love. They were reckless and loud, burning like a wildfire, leaving destruction wherever they went. As for me, I followed my dying words from my past life. I stayed far away from Chloe, and I studied like my life depended on it. She mocked me. "You were stupid then, and you're stupid now. No matter how hard you study, you'll never get into Columbia. Stop wasting your youth." Armed with the memories of the exams from our past life, she fantasized about having both a perfect romance and a perfect academic record. 01 With only 100 days left until graduation, Chloe Vance and Caleb Stone officially got together. The photo of them kissing on the roof of the bleachers in the rain spread throughout the entire school. Chloe had Caleb pinned against a discarded desk, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him while his ears turned bright red. She moved fast. Reborn yesterday, confessing today. It was as if she was terrified someone would stop her. I let out a self-deprecating laugh and buried my head in my AP vocabulary flashcards. Classmates around me were whispering. The restless energy of youth drowned out the sound of studying, filling the classroom. The girl sitting in front of me kept turning around, shooting Chloe looks of awe and envy. Chloe had her textbook propped up, hiding her phone underneath to text Caleb. Her eyes were bright, her cheeks flushed, and she would occasionally let out a soft giggle when the conversation got exciting. After a few times, I frowned in annoyance. "If you want to play on your phone, go outside. Don't disturb other people." Chloe glanced up at me, letting out a dismissive scoff. "It's not like you haven't lived through this before. What's the point of acting like such a try-hard?" She paused, as if remembering something, and intentionally added: "Don't worry. As long as you don't violate testing rules this time, I'm sure you can get into a decent state school." I gritted my teeth and gripped my book. Remembering what happened in my past life, my heart felt like it was being pierced by needles. It was hard to breathe. In my past life, after the final English exam, I told Chloe that I hadn't put my pen down immediately when the bell rang. She didn't say anything at the time, but a few days later, I was notified that my scores were canceled. Someone had reported me for a testing violation. The only person who knew about it, and the only one who knew my candidate ID number, was Chloe. When I confronted her, her smile was even more mocking than it was now. "You exposed my relationship. I exposed your rule-breaking. We're even, Hannah." During the final semester of our past life, Caleb had been harassing Chloe relentlessly. She complained to me that it was ruining her studies. I didn't know she was just showing off. I told her mother, hoping to help her. As a result, her mother went straight to Caleb's family. It caused a massive scene, forcing Caleb to transfer schools, and he eventually moved on to someone else. I never expected her to hold such a deep grudge against me for that. I never expected that in her heart, my entire future meant absolutely nothing compared to her high school romance. I suppressed the bitter churning in my chest and carefully etched the vocabulary words on my desk into my brain. In my past life, violating the exam rules was my mistake. Trusting the wrong person was also my mistake. I owned that. But in this life, I had to work twice as hard to make up for my past regrets. 02 Chloe was still texting, her thumbs flying across her screen. The textbook in front of her had dense notes on the left side, but the right side was completely blank. Since she was reborn, she hadn't paid attention to a single class or taken a single note. Her heart was entirely devoted to Caleb. She faked being sick to skip school and celebrate his birthday, and cut classes to watch him play basketball. She even spent class time folding origami stars and writing love letters to him... The homeroom teacher caught her and warned her twice, but it was useless. Chloe's desk grew cleaner, and the crowd she hung out with grew rougher. She no longer sat at her desk studying all day. She preferred leaning against the hallway railing, chatting with a group of slackers. Her school uniform hung loosely on her frame, unzipped to reveal the limited-edition designer streetwear she wore underneath. And Caleb would bring her snacks and boba tea between classes. The two of them would flirt and soak up the sun. Chloe's face, bathed in the sunlight, looked relaxed and soft, forming a stark contrast with the stressed, studying students inside the classroom. When I walked past to get water, her new friends called out to me. They slung their arms around each other, asking with a smirk: "Hannah, working so hard, are you planning to go to Harvard or Columbia?" I couldn't be bothered with them and walked straight past. I faintly heard Chloe's mocking laughter behind me: "Working hard is useless. With her IQ, she's destined for community college at best." In my past life, after my scores were canceled, I ended up at a low-tier state teachers' college. Even if my scores had counted, I was still a long way from the Ivy League. I simply wasn't enough. I wasn't as naturally smart as Chloe. When she spent an hour absorbing a concept, it usually took me two or three hours to fully grasp it. In our past life, even when we spent the exact same amount of time and energy studying, I was always just chasing her shadow. "This is destiny, Hannah. Even if you work a thousand times harder, you'll never beat me just flipping through a textbook." Chloe hid under her desk, painting her nails while laughing at me for wasting the second youth God had given me. I ignored her. I wrote "Hard Work Pays Off" on a sticky note and stuck it to the top right corner of my desk. Harvard was fine, Columbia was fine too. Regardless, I didn't believe in any bullshit destiny. To get more time to study, I applied to live in the campus dorms. After so many years, the routine of going strictly between the dorm, cafeteria, and classroom became my norm again. Meanwhile, Chloe and Caleb loved each other with a dramatic, fiery passion. They had minor arguments every two days and explosive fights every three. Every time they fought, Chloe would lay her head on her desk, weeping and acting like the world was ending. Then she would stare up at the sky, sighing, and listen to sad breakup songs on repeat. Until Caleb showed up with chocolates to coax her, and they were back to being a perfect couple. I endured it until the midterm exams were over, then asked the homeroom teacher if I could change seats. The teacher sighed and pulled out the freshly printed report cards. I scanned the list from the top down. I was ranked tenth. Chloe had plummeted out of the top hundred. In our past life, Chloe had never dropped out of the top ten, and she always ranked higher than me. "Chloe's performance has been terrible lately. Since you two are close friends, how about you don't change seats for now? Keep an eye on her." I rejected the idea immediately. "Mrs. Davis, I'm struggling with my own studies right now. I don't think I can help her." I had forgotten a lot of the material over the years. Even cramming desperately before the exam only got me to tenth place. Moreover, Chloe didn't need my supervision. She wished I was a million miles away from her and Caleb. On our first day back in this life, she had already warned me: "Don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong this time. Stay as far away from me as possible." So, when I ran into Chloe's mom in the hallway again, I chose silence. "I'm sorry, ma'am, I really don't know. Maybe you should ask Chloe." Because of this exact incident in the past life, I became the "evil best friend" in Chloe's eyes. She thought I was jealous of her, that I couldn't stand seeing her happy, so I intentionally sabotaged her and Caleb. I never imagined that I would hear the most vile things about myself from the mouth of my closest, most trusted friend. We had known each other since preschool. I originally thought we would be friends for life... Unable to get any answers, Chloe's mom refused to give up. Her gaze turned sharp as she interrogated me: "Aren't you her best friend? How could you not know?" It felt like someone had slapped me. My cheeks burned, and my heart ached sourly. I shook my head, and as soon as the elevator doors opened, I broke free from her grasp and rushed out. Just as Chloe wished, this time I didn't say a single word. And not just this time. I would never interfere with her business again. I kept strict boundaries, watching the fire from the opposite bank. Total respect, total understanding, but zero concern. But even though I played my part perfectly, the mess between Chloe and Caleb couldn't be hidden forever. The day after the report cards were handed out, her parents were called into the school. 03 When I went to the teacher's office, Mrs. Davis was talking to Chloe's parents. Chloe stood next to them, nonchalantly rubbing her newly done black manicure. I set down the collected test papers, just in time to hear her shamelessly making promises. "Don't worry. This won't affect my studies. Scoring a 1550 on the SATs won't be a problem." Mrs. Davis looked at her, clearly exasperated, earnestly advising her not to be blindly confident. Unfortunately, Chloe was completely stubborn and refused to listen to a word. She had already been through this senior year once. She knew the exam questions perfectly well. As long as she remembered the original questions and memorized the answers right before the test, getting a perfect score was totally possible. I lowered my eyes, preparing to slip out unnoticed, but Mrs. Davis called out to me. "Look at your good friend, Hannah. She has never dropped out of the top ten. You should really learn from her." That sentence seemed to step on a landmine for Chloe. Like a cat with its fur standing on end, she glared at me, full of defiance. "I just wasn't trying! If I actually tried, she wouldn't even be fit to tie my shoes!" As soon as she said this, all the teachers in the office looked up at her. Her parents' faces changed color. Her dad quickly and loudly ordered her to stop talking nonsense. Under everyone's gaze, her mom looked utterly embarrassed and awkwardly apologized to me. "Hannah, please don't take it to heart. Chloe is just in a bad mood because she didn't test well. You're best friends, you should understand." I remained silent throughout, greeted the teachers, and walked back to the classroom. Not long after, Chloe stormed into the classroom and swept everything off my desk onto the floor. "Why is it always you! Who do you think you are, daring to compare yourself to me?" She pointed at my nose and cursed, her eyes red as if she had been crying. Before I could react to what was happening, Caleb chased her into the room. He wrapped his arms around her from behind, shooting me a bizarre, cold glare. Then, in front of the entire class, he pulled Chloe into his embrace. "Chloe, you're the only one I want in this life. Even if God himself came down, he couldn't tear us apart!" Chloe looked up from his chest to meet his eyes. She gripped his shirt tightly, her voice firm and deeply affectionate: "Caleb, even if we have to make an enemy of the whole world, we will never part, even in death." The whole class and I stared blankly at their performance until the bell rang for class. Caleb's expression softened. He intertwined his fingers with Chloe's and ran out of the classroom. I bent down to pick up my scattered books, hearing the whispers of my classmates around me. Chloe's parents had pressured her to break up with Caleb and even yelled at him to his face. They threatened that if they didn't break up, they would make a scene at his house and his dad's company. The storyline seemed to be reverting back to our past life, and everyone was guessing if they would break up. Noah, the class representative who sat next to me and was always silent, finally stood up and handed out the new test papers for everyone to do. I packed up my things. I held the math test in my hand, but my mind was a bit of a mess. I originally thought that as long as I stayed quiet, Chloe wouldn't be able to blame me for anything. But it turned out, even scoring higher than her was a crime. In my past life, I foolishly felt a hint of guilt towards her. Looking back now, it was pure stupidity. "You got this wrong." A cold voice suddenly sounded beside me. Noah's gaze lingered on the problem I had just finished. After my request to change seats was denied last time, I was placed next to Noah. In my impression, this guy was an absolute academic god who consistently ranked first in the grade, and he was very low-key and quiet. If the academic god said I was wrong, then I was definitely wrong. I tossed out the chaotic sadness and disappointment in my head, focused my mind, and re-read the question... Mrs. Davis didn't show up to teach the class until the very end, walking in hurriedly with a dark expression. As for Chloe, she never reappeared for the rest of the afternoon. 04 During dinner time, it started raining outside. I held an umbrella and walked to the cafeteria. Passing by the football field, I saw a crowd gathered around. Looking closely, it was Chloe and Caleb. They were running side-by-side in the rain, letting the water hit their faces. Occasionally, they would turn to look at each other with affection and smile. The Vice Principal stood on the sidelines with an umbrella, scolding them with an ugly expression. I heard they had run out of the classroom and tried to jump the school fence, but were caught red-handed. Suddenly, Chloe tripped over her own feet and fell to the ground. Caleb immediately stopped, rushed over, scooped her up into a bridal carry, and sprinted toward the nurse's office. The students gathered around holding colorful umbrellas automatically parted to make way for him. At that moment, no matter how bright the colors were, they all became their background props, turning into a dull gray. I heard people secretly exclaiming how cool and romantic it was. "This is what youth should look like!" I turned my head and looked at the digital countdown clock hanging high on the senior building. 80 days until graduation. The red numbers on a black background were the only bright spot in the gray scenery. The cold rain was blown onto my face by the wind. I shivered. I pulled my school jacket tighter and quickened my pace, following the crowd toward the cafeteria. During evening study hall, Chloe still hadn't returned. I heard she caught a high fever from the rain. At such a critical, race-against-time moment, Mrs. Davis actually took up half a period to hold a class meeting. "There are only a few dozen days left. Those who want to date, hold it in for a bit. After graduation, you can date whoever you want." "Of course, if you absolutely must date right now, there's nothing I can do." A flash of sorrow crossed her tired eyes. "Your future belongs to you. I hope you will take responsibility for your own future, and for the future of the person you claim to care about." The commotion caused by Chloe and Caleb had too big of an impact, and many students were getting restless. But with graduation so close, the school couldn't really expel them. They only gave them a formal warning and a school-wide public criticism. During the Monday morning assembly, Chloe and Caleb, who had been missing for days, each took an apology letter and stood on the podium. Caleb, sporting a newly dyed ash-blonde haircut, slouched and grabbed the microphone, but not to apologize. "Sorry to disturb everyone's studying. I promise, from now on, we won't show off our affection in front of everyone." He was a rich kid. After his parents divorced, no one disciplined him. He spent his days fighting, going to bars, and street racing with thugs outside of school. Writing apologies was a daily routine for him. He didn't feel embarrassed at all; instead, he seemed rather proud. I stood in the first row, focused on the small notebook of mistakes in my pocket, completely indifferent to the farce on stage. Until Chloe spoke up. I glanced up and froze. She was wearing makeup. Her eyelashes were thick and dense, and black eyeliner traced a beautiful curve from the corners of her eyes. Her originally baggy uniform pants had been altered into fitted capris, revealing slender, pale ankles and matching couple sneakers. This wasn't her first time speaking from the podium, but it was her first time reading an apology letter. She cleared her throat, looked toward Caleb, and declared in front of all the teachers and students: "I do not regret being with Caleb, and I promise the teachers and students right here, right now, that I will absolutely get into an Ivy League school." This was the second time she had said something like this, brazenly relying on her memories of our past life. But how could she be so certain that the exam questions in this life would be exactly the same as in our past life? 05 The morning assembly ended hastily, and Chloe and Caleb were invited to the principal's office for a chat again. I followed the crowd back to the classroom. Passing the bulletin board downstairs, I saw a newly updated poster. The results for the school's "Senior of the Month" selection were out. My name and photo were posted in the most prominent spot. In our past life, that spot belonged to Chloe. She even complained that the photo was too ugly and said she'd rather not be on there. Now, as she wished, it was me, but she started mocking me again. "It's just 'Senior of the Month,' what's the big deal." A few days later, my photo was scribbled over. Next to it, a large poster was taped up. The headline read: "Can the daughter of a murderer be called outstanding?" I stared at that piece of paper, feeling like I was plunged into an ice cave, my whole body trembling. A crowd had gathered, and classmates who recognized me turned to look at me. I pushed through the crowd, tore down the paper, and went to the rooftop. I found Chloe leaning into Caleb's embrace, trying to snatch a cigarette from him. "You posted this?" I threw the crumpled ball of paper at her face. She shrieked and hid in Caleb's arms. Caleb tossed his cigarette, pulled Chloe behind him, and shoved my shoulder. "You got a death wish? How dare you touch my girl." He was strong, and he hit hard. I was pushed to the ground. My palms scraped against the rough concrete. It throbbed and burned, the pain reaching all the way to my heart. The truth about my dad was my biggest secret. Nobody in the school knew except Chloe. She had sworn she would never tell anyone. No matter how bad our relationship had gotten, I never thought she would use this to hurt me. "Aren't you afraid of karma?" I stood up, staring dead at Chloe, my heart feeling like a desolate wasteland. She used to say that if she ever leaked it, she would be cursed with bad luck for the rest of her life. "Karma? Which sentence on here isn't a fact? Your dad is literally a murderer." Chloe hid behind Caleb, acting tough. The guilt in her eyes turned to resolve in a matter of seconds. She looked down at me and sneered. "I just raised a reasonable question about the selection results. Is that against the rules?" I looked at her completely unfamiliar, vicious face, not understanding where things went wrong. In my past life, I genuinely treated her as my best friend, the person I trusted most, sharing everything with her. Now, the secrets whispered in the dead of night had all been laid bare under the sun, turning into swords aimed right at me. It felt like a ball of cotton was stuck in my throat. It took all my strength to ask the question I had been holding in: "Why?" Chloe acted like she had just heard the funniest joke in the world, looking me up and down with contempt. "Hannah, you don't actually think I considered you a good friend, do you? You really need to look in the mirror. Do you even deserve it?" The girls watching around us erupted in laughter, gathering around her and affectionately linking arms with her. Someone pulled out a phone they had snuck into school, turned on the front-facing camera, and grabbed my hair, forcing me to look at the screen. In the camera, my face was sallow, my dark circles were heavy, and I had red, swollen acne on my forehead. I was wrapped in a faded, baggy uniform, and my slightly unglued canvas shoes were wrinkled. I raised my hand to fight back, but they pinned me down, shouting about giving me a makeover with expired lipstick. Chloe leaned against Caleb. The sun was warm, and a gentle breeze ruffled her perfectly styled, bouncy curls. Like a divine maiden, she looked at me with a mix of pity and mockery. "Don't bully our 'Senior of the Month', guys. She's pretty pathetic." "Her family is super poor. Her mom washes men's feet at a massage parlor just to pay for her schooling, and she has to take the need-based financial aid every year." "One year she didn't get the grant, and her mom came to the school to beg the homeroom teacher. She literally got on her knees in the office. I saw it with my own eyes." Caleb lit another cigarette. He took one drag, choked, and started laughing hysterically while coughing. "Damn, that is so pathetic. If you're that poor, why are you even studying? Just go work on an assembly line at a factory." He pulled Chloe close and kissed her cheek affectionately. "Babe, stay away from her from now on. Don't let her poverty rub off on you. You're going to marry me and be a wealthy socialite." The followers around them laughed too, brandishing the lipstick and lunging at my face. The bell rang. I had nowhere to hide and was slapped hard across the face by one of them. "Don't be a bitch. We'll let you go after we put some lipstick on you." I was dizzy from the slap. In my daze, I heard a furious roar. "What are you doing!" The crowd was startled and turned around. Mrs. Davis, the Vice Principal, and the Principal were all standing at the entrance to the rooftop. I gritted my back teeth, forced myself to lift my red, swollen face, and let tears roll down from the corners of my eyes. "Mr. Principal, I want to call the police." Chloe's rosy complexion instantly turned deathly pale. She was completely at a loss regarding this sudden turn of events. She was so immersed in her wild youth that she forgot I was no longer that fragile girl from before. My mind was mature, my soul resilient. No amount of humiliation was enough to destroy me. Anyone who humiliated me, I would fight back against, one by one. 06 The door to the principal's office was tightly shut. I held my mom's hand, facing Chloe and her parents. Except for them, none of the other students' parents had shown up. The police had arrived too, but because the group consisted of minors, and Chloe was still a month away from turning eighteen... And because they hadn't caused any severe physical harm to me, they advised me to settle it through mediation. "I do not accept an apology. Punish them exactly as the school handbook dictates." The school rules stated that insulting or assaulting a classmate, in severe cases, would result in suspension, and the student must be taken home by their parents for disciplinary action until they showed true remorse. Long before I went to the rooftop to confront Chloe, I had asked someone to fetch Mrs. Davis and the Vice Principal. If Chloe messed with me once, there would be a second time. I still had to take my final exams, and I didn't have time to play her games. Since she didn't want to study and only wanted to date, she could go home and date to her heart's content. Chloe's mom's face changed drastically. "There are only two months until graduation. Isn't this demand a bit excessive, Hannah?" "If Chloe's exam performance suffers because of this, can you take responsibility?" She tried to guilt-trip me from every angle. "Besides, aren't you and Chloe like sisters? You know she likes to joke around. She didn't even lay a hand on you..." Even my mom, who was usually incredibly gentle, darkened her expression. She wanted to say something, but I stopped her. "Ma'am, your daughter never treated me like a sister, and I wouldn't dare claim such a high status with her." I gave a fake smile, my attitude resolute. "If she is not punished according to school rules, I will pursue legal action against all of them and file a formal police report." Hearing the words 'police report,' the group cowering in the corner looked up in terror. Caleb clenched his fists, stepped forward, and pulled Chloe behind him to shield her. "This is mostly my responsibility. It has nothing to do with her. If you have a problem, come at me." Chloe wasn't afraid at all. Instead, she stepped out from behind Caleb and provoked me right in front of the police. "Who are you trying to scare? File a report then. If you have the guts, get us all thrown in jail." Finally, even the police couldn't stand listening to them anymore. They scolded them loudly and gave them a stern lecture on the law. The two were chewed out severely, reluctantly accepted their school suspensions, wrote their letters of guarantee, and were taken home. I walked my mom to the school gate. She was still incredibly puzzled. "How did Chloe turn out like that? She used to seem so sweet and well-behaved." She urged me to study hard and advised me not to get too close to her in the future. Not only was I not getting close to her, I wished I would never have to see her again for the rest of my life. I even felt embarrassed that I ever knew her and hung out with her. Without Chloe and Caleb on campus, even the air felt fresher. It was just that my heart felt strangely empty. The air I breathed into my lungs turned into a raging, icy wind. I used to lie in the same bed with Chloe, fantasizing about our future. We promised to get into the same university and graduate together. Then we would make money together, build our careers, and be each other's bridesmaids. Our significant others would become good friends, and our babies would grow up to be close friends just like us. Finally, we would hold hands, move into a retirement home together, and find handsome old men to dance with... I once swore to be Chloe's best friend for life. I valued her more than I valued myself. But in the end, it was all fake. It was all just my own wishful thinking. The hole in my heart was blown wider by the icy wind, yet on the surface, I became increasingly calm. Mrs. Davis told me that the school would issue an official document stating that my dad's situation would not affect me. My spot for "Senior of the Month" had been approved through multiple levels of school administration. There was absolutely no problem. I ignored the strange looks from my classmates and walked back to my seat with my head held high. Noah, who was always bent over his desk doing practice problems, mercifully turned his head and shot me a glance. His gaze lingered on my still-swollen right cheek for a few seconds. Then he pulled out a few practice tests from his desk and pressed them down in front of me. I stared at the tests, which were cleaner than my face, and the icy wind in my heart suddenly stopped. I took a deep breath and resigned myself to focusing entirely on the tests. I had absolutely no time to think about anything else. When the graduation countdown reached 40 days, the results of the final city-wide mock exams came out. I scored a 1550 on the SAT equivalent mock test, doing better than I ever had in my past life. On the same day, Chloe also returned to school.
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "408342", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel