Chapter 3

The last class event before the SATs was an outdoor cookout in the countryside.

I'd made up my mind not to go, but Jake kept bugging me nonstop from morning all the way through break, like he was stuck on repeat.

"Come on, it's our last class event. Can't you just do me a favor and show up?" he pleaded.

In the end, he wore me down so much that I just gave in and got on the bus.

The bus was filled with chatter, and at some point, Caspar ended up in the empty seat beside me.

His face was unusually flushed, and a few strands of hair clung to his sweaty forehead.

Once the bus started moving, he gently tugged at my sleeve. "Ellie, I'm feeling a little dizzy."

I shot him a look. "Yeah, I can tell."

He seemed surprised by how cold I was, pausing for a second with a bit of hurt in his eyes.

"You always made sure I had motion sickness pills before the trip..." Caspar said.

He sounded dazed, his voice fading to almost a whisper.

He murmured, "Last time I had a fever, you ran out into the storm just to get me medicine...

"When my stomach hurt, you'd stay with me and rub my stomach until I felt better..."

With every word, my heart sank deeper.

These were clearly memories from my previous lives.

I desperately tried to reach out to the System in my head, but all I got was a harsh busy signal.

I didn't even have time to react before the whole bus lurched violently.

A panicked scream came from the front. "Landslide!"

The bus suddenly tilted hard to the right, and everyone inside started panicking.

Caspar, who'd been all out of it just seconds ago, suddenly snapped back to reality. Almost on instinct, he dove forward and covered Winnie in the seat ahead with his back, shielding her from harm.

I was getting tossed all over the place, while Jake was yelling his head off and threw his arm out to shield me from the flying debris.

"Hey, Ellie, you gotta let me copy your homework until the SATs!" he shouted over the chaos.

Once the bus finally stopped, everyone was leaning on each other as they got off.

Winnie was being supported by Cheney, not a scratch on her.

But Caspar, who'd shielded her, had a nasty cut on his arm. It was so deep that he could see the bone. His school uniform sleeve was soaked with blood.

He sat alone on a rock by the roadside, hunched over, trying to patch himself up.

He looked up in Winnie's direction, his gaze bleak.

Jake nudged my arm. "Hey, why aren't you going over to check on Caspar?"

I was busy cleaning up his wound and clicked my tongue in annoyance. "Seriously, take care of your own mess first, will you?"

As I pressed the cotton swab soaked in disinfectant to his cut, Jake yelped and practically jumped up, whining in pain.

I rubbed my ears, still aching from the jolt, when I suddenly sensed someone's gaze on me.

I turned and saw Caspar sitting there, looking at me with a dazed expression.

He pressed his lips together, his eyes slightly reddened, as if holding back tears.

I was about to turn away when he called out to me. "Ellie..."

His voice was rough. "I can't bandage this with just one hand. Ellie, can you help me?"

I gave a sarcastic laugh. "Not my problem. Why don't you ask the person you got hurt for to help you out?"

His eyes suddenly lit up. "Are you upset because I've been hanging out with Winnie? We're really just..."

I cut him off. "Whatever you two are, it's got nothing to do with me. Move it, you're blocking the way."

He just stood there, staring as I walked off. His hand fell to his side, and he had given up on bandaging himself, just letting the blood drip.

The atmosphere on the bus ride back was much more tense than when we left.

Everyone was leaning against each other in small groups, not saying a word. Suddenly, Cheney spoke up and said that two hundred bucks from the class fund was missing.

"It was in the outside pocket of my backpack before we got on the bus," Cheney said, frowning as he checked his bag.

The whole bus erupted in chaos.

Someone shouted, "Check everyone's bags! The money's gotta still be here!"

In the middle of all the chaos, Caspar clutched his old, beat-up backpack tighter to his chest.

That little move didn't slip by unnoticed.

"Caspar, what's in your bag?" a guy called out.

Caspar blurted out, his face suddenly pale, "Just some books..."

"Let's see what's inside." A couple of guys snatched Caspar's backpack before he could react.

They tore it open, and all his stuff spilled out across the bus aisle.

There were some old books, a battered wallet, and a wad of cash.

"What's this?" Cheney grabbed the bundle of bills and counted them. "That's exactly two hundred bucks."

Caspar shook his head desperately. "This isn't the class fund! It's my mom's medicine money for this month..."

"Oh, quit pretending," a girl shrilled. "Everyone knows your family's broke. Where'd you even get two hundred bucks?"

Everyone stared at him with nothing but disdain.

He finally turned to Winnie, his voice rough. "Winnie, you know I just got paid from my part-time job yesterday..."

But Winnie looked at him with disappointment all over her face. "Caspar, I really didn't expect you to do something like this. If you needed money, you could've just told us. Why'd you have to steal from the class fund?"

Caspar's gaze just crumbled.