Second Chance, I Lost Him First

Synopsis

I found myself back at the graduation dinner, and Jack Evans, my childhood friend, slammed his fork down in front of everyone, declaring, "I hate you." In my previous life, those words hurt me for ten years. But this time, I glanced at the orange juice in my hand and smiled. With a loud snap, the fork bounced up, hit the floor, and rolled right to my feet. The whole room went dead silent. Jack stood there, his face blank, hand still frozen in the motion of slamming the fork down. "Sophie," he said, "I can't stand girls like you, always pretending you're better than everyone else." In the big private room with over forty people, even the singing stopped. Liam Warren, our teacher, stood there with his cup in hand, frozen mid-air. Henry Cole, the class president, stood there with his mouth hanging open. Olivia Quinn was off to the side, holding her wine glass, and she looked so pleased with herself. Back then, when I saw this scene, I was eighteen, and it felt like someone had grabbed my heart. But with my twenty-eight-year-old soul trapped in my eighteen-year-old body, I sat there, staring at the fork on the floor, and suddenly it felt like I was watching a rehearsed play. It was all so familiar that I could predict who would say what next. Olivia chimed in, as I expected. "Sophie, don't go. Jack was joking." Not a single word was different from my previous life. I ignored her. Without another word, I got up, grabbed my bag, and walked out. I stepped out of the private room. The cold air in the hallway hit me. My phone buzzed. Jack texted: [Aren't you going to ask why?] In my previous life, I stared at his message for a few seconds. This time, I blocked his number without hesitation.