Chapter 1

After the SATs, my girlfriend, Emily Lane, and I decided to go on a graduation trip.

But I never expected her to want to get laid with me right there on the train. I was stunned and quickly refused.

She got pissed, calling me ungrateful and old-fashioned.

Then she spun around and jumped straight into the arms of that 35-year-old nerd in the maid-themed T-shirt from the next bunk.

I tried to pull her back, but she slapped me twice and shoved me onto the tracks.

A month later, she got pregnant, and her dad, Mark Lane, beat her up.

The day she lost the baby, the doctor shook his head and said her uterus was beyond saving. She'd never be able to have kids again.

At the graduation party, she publicly accused me of having STIs, and everyone looked at me like I was a piece of rotten meat.

I got wasted and stumbled out onto the street. As my head got hit and my brains spilled out, I saw her standing across the road, laughing at me.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on that old train from our graduation trip.

Emily cocked her head and flashed me a mischievous grin, holding up a condom, already unwrapped. "Birthday gift for your eighteenth. You want it?"

*****

"Alex, you're awake?" Emily called out.

She was sitting on the edge of my bed, tilting her head and flashing me a playful smile.

This wasn't a dream. I really had time-travelled back to that fateful train ride.

She pulled a Durex out of her pocket. "Why are you zoning out? Didn't we say I'd give you your eighteenth birthday present tonight?"

"Emily, let's talk," I said, taking a deep breath.

"Talk about what?" She pouted, her eyes glinting with mischief. "Do you even realize how precious a night like this is?"

I met her gaze. "We're only eighteen. We're way too young for this. And we're on a train, in different compartments. Sneaking over here in the middle of the night isn't safe."

Emily's expression shifted instantly. "Alex, are you seriously playing the prude now? Don't think I don't know what you guys talk about when no one's around. Suddenly you're Mr. Innocent?"

Before I could respond, there was a rustling sound from the top bunk.

It was Brian Carter, that 35-year-old anime nerd.

"Hey, cutie, don't be mad," Brian said. His voice was so sleazy that it made my skin crawl. "Guys like him who don't know how to cherish you aren't worth your tears."

In my previous life, this bastard pretended to be harmless, but behind the scenes, he had Emily totally fooled.

"None of your damn business," I said coldly.

"Right? You get it too?" Emily's eyes lit up, like she'd finally found someone who understood her. "I'm literally handing him a present and he just says no!

"You're into anime too? I'm super into Fate's Night!"

Brian's eyes sparkled. "Have you seen the movie adaptation? The one with..."

Watching them chatting away like old friends, I felt a tightness in my chest.

Memories came rushing back. It was just like last time. Right after this, Emily would ask to swap bunks with me, and then she'd end up doing something intimate with Brian.

"Alex." Emily suddenly turned to me, her voice sharp. "Let's switch bunks. If you don't want my gift, I'll give it to this guy instead."

This was the moment.

"No way," I said firmly. "It's the middle of the night. You're a girl, and he's basically a stranger. It's not safe."

Brian jumped in, "Hey, what's that supposed to mean? Do you think I'm some kind of creep?"

Emily shrieked, "Why are you so dirty-minded? Brian just likes anime. Who are you to look down on him?"

"Exactly!" Brian chimed in, puffing out his chest so the sexy anime girl on his T-shirt was even more obvious. "Seriously, what century are you living in? Still so old-fashioned."

Last time, they shut me down so hard that I couldn't even get a word out, and I just gave in.

But this time, I whipped out my phone. "If you think it's no big deal, then let's call your dad and see what he thinks."

Emily's face went white. "Are you crazy?"

I'd already dialed and put it on speaker. "Hey, Mr. Lane. Emily and I are on the train and something's come up."

"Alex, hang up!" Emily lunged for my phone, but I sidestepped her.

"There's a 35-year-old guy here, wearing a T-shirt with a sexy anime girl on it, and he wants to share a bunk with Emily," I said, keeping my voice steady.

Mark Lane's voice exploded from the phone. "What? Let her talk to me!

"Emily, are you out of your damn mind? I spent ten thousand dollars sending you to a top high school, and this is what you do? Messing around with some old guy in the middle of the night?

"Where'd you get that trashy behavior from, huh? Is it from your mom, the bitch who ditched us for some other guy?

"Just wait till you get home. I'm gonna break your legs. You just wait!"