Chapter 4

Corine said, "Melissa's totally stalling on purpose. She doesn't want us to catch this train.

"We planned everything out, and if nothing goes wrong, we'll only be able to catch the train back tomorrow to hand in our applications. She's just making a scene here to mess things up for everyone.

"Honestly, she probably hopes none of you make it back, so you'll all end up at vocational college with me."

As soon as Corine said that, the classmates who had just tried to calm things down froze. I watched as they all awkwardly looked away, and I dug my nails deep into my palms.

It was getting late, and the train was about to leave any minute.

Seeing that nobody cared, I made up my mind. Desperate, I was about to throw myself onto the tracks.

But in the next instant, my classmates rushed over and dragged me back.

Jared shot me a cold look. "You don't have to come with us to Isadore University, but how do we know you won't rat us out the moment we let you go?"

Corine suddenly suggested, "Hey, I know there's an old abandoned warehouse by the station. Why don't we lock her in there? We can let her out when we get back tomorrow."

Some of the others hesitated. "Isn't that kind of risky? Melissa's a girl, and it's late. What if something happens to her?"

"Come on, it's fine. The train station's right next door, and there's a police station nearby. If we lock her up, we can go to Isadore University without anyone killing the vibe or ratting us out. It's perfect," Corine said.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and started celebrating.

Corine led the group as they dragged me right up to the old warehouse.

My back was drenched in cold sweat as I stared at the rusted metal door in front of me.

Suddenly, Jared pulled a familiar application form out of his pocket. I looked closer, and my heart dropped. It was mine.

My face went pale. I reached out to grab it, but the rest of them pinned me down.

Jared waved the form in his hand, shooting me a smug look as he raised an eyebrow.

"As long as you do as you're told, your application stays safe," he said.

"Trust Jared to cover all the bases!" someone chimed in.

They shoved me into the warehouse. When I hit the ground, dust flew up, choking me as I coughed and gasped for air.

Jared sounded relaxed. "I'll keep your application safe for now. We'll let you out when we get back tomorrow afternoon. It's just one night. Nothing's gonna happen."

With that, the iron door slammed shut behind me, and darkness swallowed me whole.

The sound of the lock snapping shut sent me over the edge. I dropped to my knees, bawling my eyes out, totally consumed by terror.

The darkness kept closing in, swallowing everything around me. Right as I was about to lose consciousness, I heard someone burst in and scoop me up into their arms.

The next thing I knew, I was waking up in the school infirmary.

My homeroom teacher and a bunch of school administrators were all gathered around my bed, looking seriously worried.

I couldn't hold it in anymore. I threw myself into my homeroom teacher's arms and broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.

My homeroom teacher fumbled to wipe away my tears, gently stroking my hair. "What happened? Who locked you up in that warehouse?

"Thank goodness you were smart enough to send me a message for help. I barely made it to the station in time. Otherwise..."

Feeling me tremble, my homeroom teacher kept patting my back, not saying anything more.

Sniffling, I glanced at the school administrators. "Can we talk about that later? Someone stole my application form."

The principal tried to reassure me and immediately called the Board of Education.

With the school administrators and teachers vouching for me, even though we were running out of time, the Board of Education didn't waste any time and took it super seriously, helping me get a new application form in no time.

I clutched that thin piece of paper, and I couldn't stop the tears from falling.

When I finally made it home, barely holding myself together, I saw my mom waiting for me on the couch.

Even my dad, who couldn't get out of bed, was propping himself up, eyes fixed on the door, worry written all over his face.

Seeing my parents there, my eyes burned and I felt the tears coming.

My mom pulled me into her arms. "It's okay. Everything's fine."

"Your teacher called, and your dad and I nearly had a heart attack," she said.

The tragic memory of how my parents suffered before dying in my previous life flashed through my mind. Fighting back the sting of tears, I forced a smile and shook my head to reassure my mom. "I'm okay, Mom. Really, I'm fine now."

In this life, I won't ever let the tragedy of my previous life happen again.

The next day, I made sure to show up at school with my application form only when the deadline was just about to hit.