Chapter 1

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.

As the elevator descended, I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes.

A second ago, I was twenty-eight, working overtime until two in the morning, when a truck ran a red light and sent me flying as I crossed the street.

And in that split second, my mind was still on Jack.

Ten years passed, and I still couldn't forget him.

Seriously, it was so ridiculous.

Then I woke up, sitting on the couch in the private room, holding a glass of orange juice, back in my eighteen-year-old body, after the SATs.

It took me a few minutes to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

My phone said June 8th. The menu had prices straight out of 2014. The pizza on the table was courtesy of Henry's dad.

I got a second chance.

In my previous life, I ran out of that private room in tears, hid at home for three days, but in the end, I couldn't bring myself to leave.

I stayed in the city, went to a local university, and spent ten years trying to forget Jack. But I never did.

Even when that truck sent me flying, I still couldn't let go.

This time around, I was going to live a whole new way.

The taxi pulled up at a red light, the radio playing an old tune in the background.

I gazed out at the neon lights, letting memories from ten years in the future run through my mind.

In my previous life, I spent a decade learning to code from scratch, eventually landing a senior engineer gig at some big tech firm.

I knew which apps would go viral, which startups would hit the stock market, and which tech trends would take off in three years.

I knew what Olivia whispered to Jack the night before the party.

She told him, "Sophie's been talking behind your back, calling you a simp. She said you chased her for three years, and she couldn't care less. And she said your mom was a mistress."

Every word was a lie, but Jack bought every bit of it.

In my previous life, I only found out the truth three years later. By then, Olivia and Jack had already broken up, and she let it slip while drunk, as if it were a funny story.

By the time I heard it, I was already living in another city, had packed up and moved three times, and had switched jobs four times.

But it didn't matter.

This time around, I wasn't about to forgive him, either.

Jack believed her, and that was all there was to it. Our sixteen years of trust were thrown away for a couple of Olivia's lies. Someone like that was not worth my time.

The taxi pulled up downstairs.

I paid the fare and headed upstairs.

My mom was watching TV in the living room, and she froze when she saw me walk in. "Didn't you say it wouldn't end until midnight?"

"I was tired, so I came back early," I replied.

"Why are your eyes red?"

"The wind blew into my eyes."

Instead of heading to my room, I plopped down right next to my mom. "Mom."

"Yeah?" she replied.

"I want to go to college in Riverstone," I said.

My mom nearly dropped the remote. "Riverstone? Weren't you always set on going to Liabrenn?"

"I changed my mind."

"Why?"

"Techbridge University's computer science program is one of the top ten in the country. I'm thinking about majoring in computer science."

My mom stared at me, trying to tell if I was being serious or sulking. "Did you and Jack get into a fight?"

"No fight. He said he hated me in front of the whole class and slammed his fork down," I replied.

My mom's hand froze.

The TV was blasting some noisy laundry detergent ad.

"He really said that?" she asked.

"Yeah, he did. The teacher and more than forty classmates were all there," I replied.

My mom turned off the TV.

The living room went dead quiet.

"Alright," she said, "Riverstone it is."

*****

First thing in the morning, I heard someone shouting my name from downstairs. "Sophie, come down."

It was Jack.

In my previous life, I spent a whole hour hesitating, hiding behind the curtains, and sneaking peeks at him. My heart melted a hundred times, but in the end, I never went down.

This time, I didn't even touch the curtains.

My mom pushed open my door. "Sophie, Jack's downstairs."

"I know," I replied.

"You're not going down?"

"Nope."

"He said he wants to talk to you."

"He said it all last night."

My mom walked over to the window, glanced outside, then turned back. "He's standing by the flower bed, still wearing yesterday's clothes, and his hair looks a mess."

"That has nothing to do with me," I said.

My mom gave me a long look. "Alright."

She walked out and closed the door behind her.

I turned on my laptop and started checking out the majors at Techbridge University.

In my previous life, I went to a regular local college and majored in Gilianish. After graduation, I realized I couldn't land a job, so I started teaching myself to code. I spent ten years stumbling around, totally lost.

This time, I was not making that mistake again.

Jack was downstairs, calling out for me all morning.

His mom called three times, but my mom told her she didn't know where I was and that we were busy.

By noon, my dad glanced down from the balcony and came back with his lips pressed tight. "Sophie, Jack is still standing down there."

"Let him stand," I replied.

"Did he bully you?"

"Yeah."

My dad was quiet for a few seconds, then went to the kitchen and cracked open a beer. "Riverstone's great. The seafood stew there is amazing. I've always wanted to visit there."

My mom shot him a look. "All you ever think about is food."

My dad chuckled and didn't say anything else.

*****

At two in the afternoon, I headed out to do some shopping.

I slipped out the back door, making sure Jack didn't see me.

As I walked past the neighborhood store, the lady at the counter called out, "Sophie, Jack has been standing downstairs at your place all morning. Did you two have a fight or something?"

"No, but he said he hated me in front of everyone yesterday," I replied.

The lady's mouth dropped open in shock.

I bought two cases of water and a pack of trash bags, then took a cab back home.

That evening, I started tidying up my room.

I pulled out every single thing connected to Jack.

There were photos, stuffed animals, that ugly rabbit keychain he gave me, three years' worth of sticky notes, and all those little slips he tucked into my textbooks.

In my previous life, I kept all this stuff for ten years. Every time I moved, I packed them up with care, and they followed me through four different cities. I had been so dramatic at that time.

I grabbed a plastic bag, stuffed everything in, and tossed it straight into the trash.

I didn't burn it. It was not worth my time.