Chapter 3

The building entrance was swarming with students, all gathering to catch the excitement.

I clutched my application materials, staring at Andrew's hand blocking my way. "Move," I said.

He didn't budge. "Apologize first."

Melissa tugged at his sleeve. "Andrew, don't be like this."

She tugged lightly, making sure everyone could see she was trying to calm him down.

In my previous life, this act of hers always drove me crazy. The more reasonable and mature she appeared, the more petty and unreasonable I looked.

Eric was standing nearby, holding a stack of forms. He said quietly, "Charlotte, the whole cake thing yesterday was a real mess. If you say a few kind words, we can all still be friends."

I looked at Eric. "You saw the cake was ruined yesterday, and you heard me say there was nothing I could do."

Eric shifted uncomfortably. "But your attitude was terrible."

"I didn't buy the cake, I didn't drop it, and I didn't eat it. So because I was a little cold, I'm supposed to apologize?"

Melissa's eyes grew teary. "Charlotte, I'm not blaming you. It's just, everyone was really happy before."

I asked, "Then why did you have Andrew block my way?"

She bit her lip and stayed silent.

Andrew immediately stepped in front of her. "Don't bully her."

I let out a laugh. "She hides behind you, drops a couple of tears, and suddenly I'm bullying her? Andrew, you should go patrol the neighborhood and settle playground disputes full-time."

A few people nearby burst out laughing.

Andrew's face darkened. "Charlotte, don't go too far."

The school counselor, Edwin Hunt, came over. "What's all this noise here?"

Andrew jumped in right away. "Sir, Charlotte made things really awkward at the party yesterday on purpose, and now she refuses to apologize."

Edwin turned to me. "Charlotte, what's going on?"

I explained, "Sir, I had a fever yesterday, so I didn't go to their party. The cake got ruined, and they wanted me to come downstairs and fix it. I'm a student, not a magician."

He adjusted his glasses. "If the cake's ruined, you should call the bakery, not bother someone who's sick."

A girl nearby snickered, "Yeah, it's not like she's some kind of wizard or something."

Melissa spoke up quietly, "Sir, it's my fault. I shouldn't have tried to get Charlotte to join in."

She played it off like she was being nice.

Edwin looked at her. "Even if you wanted her to join, you shouldn't have made her come downstairs to deal with the cake when she was sick."

Melissa couldn't keep up her hurt act anymore.

Andrew was about to say something else, but Edwin said, "Everyone, get upstairs to my office or leave. Anyone who keeps causing trouble will have their parents called."

I walked around them and headed toward Edwin's office.

Andrew followed me. "So, where are you planning to apply?"

"None of your business," I shot back.

He spotted the out-of-state college brochures mixed in with my papers and frowned. "You're not considering any schools in town?"

In my previous life, he stayed in town to study architecture, all because Melissa was at the Academy of Fine Arts here.

I stayed too to be close to him.

And then, little by little, I kept sacrificing my own future, turning myself into the perfect go-between for him and Melissa.

I walked faster, trying to pull away from him.

Andrew grabbed my wrist. "Charlotte, are you really going to keep this up? You've said since we were kids that we were going to the same college."

I pushed his hand away. "When I was little, I said I wanted to be a fairy too. Have you ever seen me sprout wings?"

The students nearby burst out laughing again.

Andrew lowered his voice. "Don't regret this."

I ignored him.

From behind us, Melissa spoke up, "Charlotte, are you really planning to go that far? Your grandma's not doing well. If you leave, who's going to take care of her?"

As soon as she said that, a few students shot me judging looks.

In my previous life, she had always used my devotion to my grandmother as a weapon to keep me in line.

I looked at her. "If you care so much about my grandma, why did you send Eric to drag me downstairs to fix the cake last night?"

Melissa's face went pale. Eric awkwardly looked down, shuffling through his papers.

*****

In Edwin's office, he asked, "You sure about this?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," I replied.

Andrew stared at the school names I applied, like it was the first time he realized I wasn't going to listen to him. "Charlotte, are you really leaving?"

I gathered up my papers. "Yeah."

He opened his mouth to say something, but Melissa suddenly called out softly, "Andrew."

He immediately turned to look at her.

I walked past them.

As I reached the door, Edwin called out, "Charlotte, wait a second."

I stopped. He pulled a letter out of his drawer, lowering his voice. "Someone asked me to give this to you. They said you'd understand once you read it. Don't open it here."

The envelope was old, with two words written on it: "To Lottie."

I'd seen that handwriting before, in a restoration notebook from my previous life.

My hand hovered over the edge of the envelope for a long time.

Turned out, in this life, some people showed up way earlier than before.