Chapter 1

At the welcome party, my external pacemaker started beeping, warning me it was down to 10% battery.

Good thing I always kept a backup power source with me.

But when I opened my bag, the medical power supply was gone, replaced by a portable charger with one bar of battery left.

I panicked and reached for my phone to call 911, but my boyfriend Jason Reed stopped me.

"Emily Shaw's music player died, so I lent her your power supply for now. Use the portable charger for now, and it'll be fine," Jason said.

I yanked his hand away, my voice cracking with panic. "That's not enough. If my pacemaker dies, my heart stops."

Jason's face fell. "Em's the freshman rep. If she screws up, everyone will laugh at her. Can't you, as a senior, let the freshman have it this once?"

"My life or her performance, what do you think matters more?" I shouted, rushing toward the backstage.

But Jason grabbed my wrist, refusing to let go. "I looked it up. Pacemakers have emergency batteries. It's not a big deal, so you're not in real danger. Stop being so selfish."

Clutching my chest as panic and pain squeezed my heart, I desperately pressed the emergency alarm button my dad had installed for me.

*****

"It's borrowing your power supply. Is that really worth hitting the emergency button over?" Jason scoffed.

Before I could even get a word out, Jason ripped the alarm pendant from my neck and, with a mock basketball shot, tossed it straight into the trash.

"Boom. Three-pointer," he cheered, showing off to his roommates.

My pacemaker started beeping. The loud sound in the room meant only 10% battery left.

Fighting the panic and pain in my chest, I tried to grab the alarm pendant.

But Jason shoved me back into my seat, sounding annoyed. "Come on, you're always healthy, do you really need that pacemaker? Can't you tough it out for a few minutes?"

I stared at him, my eyes wide with disbelief. "If I hadn't shielded you from that falling surveying instrument during the summer internship, would my heart have been pierced?

"Would I have spent 13 hours in surgery in the ICU, and then had to wear a pacemaker for a whole month?"

Jason's eyes flickered with guilt, but the beeping started up again, and he frowned. "Can't you quiet it down for a bit? Em's performance is getting totally wrecked by all that noise."

My fingers went numb as I clutched the cold pacemaker, but the real chill was in my heart.

The beeping was like a death clock ticking down, but to him, it didn't matter nearly as much as some freshman's performance on stage.

I watched him, totally absorbed in snapping photos of Emily as she took her final bow, and it hit me. After two years together, I was only now seeing who he really was.

After she stepped off stage, Emily, wearing a strapless mini dress, bounced over to Jason like a butterfly and gave him a hug, completely ignoring everyone else. "Jason, thanks to your power supply, my show went perfectly."

Before Jason could say anything, I reached out to Emily, my voice sharp with urgency. "Give me back my power supply, now."

Emily blinked, giving me an innocent look. "But I already gave it to my roommate for her act."

"Who gave you the right to hand it off?" I snapped, my vision blurring as my heart twisted painfully.

Emily's eyes grew teary, and she looked at Jason, all sad and helpless. "Jason, did I cause trouble for you? I didn't want Sophie to mess up her routine without the music. I never thought you'd be so upset.

"I'll go find Sophie. Even if she totally bombs her act and gets chewed out by the teachers, I'll make sure to get your power supply back," she said, acting like she was about to turn and leave.

Jason slipped his arm around her shoulder, speaking softly. "Don't worry about it. You were being nice. She's making a scene over some stupid power supply and being a total buzzkill."

Emily glanced at me, shivering a bit. "Is she gonna be alright?"

"When my grandma had a heart attack, she passed out right away. Guess she's young, so she can still stand there and watch like nothing's wrong," Emily muttered under her breath, but everyone heard it.

Jason's roommates snickered, clearly not buying it.

"She still has the energy to make a fuss. Does that look like someone with a heart problem?" one of them scoffed.

"If she's gonna fake being sick for attention, at least try harder. She's bullying Emily because she thinks Emily is easy to mess with," another said.

Jason scowled, watching me clutch my chest and gasp for breath. "Are you done pretending? If you were really that sick, would you still have the energy to talk? You're jealous and can't stand seeing a younger, prettier girl take the spotlight."

I was so furious I wanted to slap him, but with my pacemaker running out of power, I barely had the strength to even lift my hand.

It felt like a boulder was crushing my chest, my heart skipping beats and struggling to keep going. Cold sweat drenched my back, soaking through my shirt.

"My pacemaker's dead. If I don't charge it, my heart could stop." I clung desperately to Jason's sleeve, using every bit of strength I had left.

Emily giggled, "Now you really look the part, senior. That's way more convincing."

Jason sneered, "The moment I call you out, you start hamming it up? You really think you're the lead in some cheesy drama?"

He shook off my hand, and I collapsed onto the cold, hard floor.

My bones ached from the fall, but the panic and suffocating tightness in my chest made the pain fade into the background.

With trembling hands, I fumbled in the side pocket of my bag for my heart meds, praying that one pill would help me make it through the rest of the show.

But when I held the blister pack up to the colorful stage lights, all I saw was the big, bold print on the foil, [Multivitamin Tablets.]