Chapter 5
It took us three months to build Secondhand Hub.
I handled the frontend and product design, while Stella took care of the backend and database.
By the end of my first semester, Secondhand Hub was finally live.
A few months later, a big new app with almost the same name launched, and Stella spent a few days banging on the table, ranting that they'd totally ripped us off. But that was a story for another time.
Within the first week, we had 200 people sign up for Secondhand Hub.
Stella and I literally knocked on doors in every dorm, spreading the word one room at a time.
By the second week, we hit 500 users.
By the third week, we hit 1,200 users.
Someone listed a nearly new iPad on Secondhand Hub for 100 dollars less than the price on a popular secondhand site.
A screenshot of the listing was posted on the campus forum, with the title: [What kind of magic app is this? Saved over 100 dollars on textbooks.]
By the fourth week, we hit 3,000 users.
Techbridge University has more than 20,000 students, and after one month, almost 15% of the campus was using our app.
Julian listened to my project update at the group meeting, then pushed up his glasses. "Any plans to monetize it?"
I replied, "Not yet. I want to make sure the app feels great for users first."
"Not bad. You've really got a product mindset. Have you thought about entering the Internet Plus Innovation Competition next semester?"
"Yeah, I've considered it."
"I could be your advisor for that."
"Thank you, Mr. Shaw."
After the meeting, Victor walked over and stood next to me.
He lingered for a couple of seconds, then finally asked, "How did you handle user growth for your app?"
I said, "It's mostly word of mouth and running student groups. I didn't spend a single dollar on it."
Victor lingered for a couple more seconds. "If you ever want to work on the recommendation algorithm, you can hit me up."
I looked at him. "Thanks."
He gave a quick nod and headed off.
Stella poked her head in from the doorway, her jaw practically on the floor. "Victor actually talked to you? Last semester, he wouldn't give the new grad students the time of day."
I said, "Maybe he's interested in the project."
"He's interested in you."
"Oh, stop it."
*****
That night, I was in the lab, tweaking code until eleven.
When I stepped outside, the campus was dead quiet, and the streetlights stretched my shadow way out across the pavement.
My phone buzzed with a message.
It wasn't from some random number; it was from Tina Jardine.
Tina was my best friend from high school. She transferred out in her senior year, but we stayed close.
Tina: [Sophie, I've been torn for a long time about whether to tell you something.]
[Go ahead,] I replied.
[It's about Olivia,] Tina texted.
I stopped in my tracks.
In my previous life, I didn't find out the truth until three years later.
This time, I already knew.
But I didn't interrupt Tina.
[Go ahead,] I replied.
Tina: [The day before the graduation dinner, Olivia and Jack were talking on the school rooftop. A freshman recorded the whole thing from the stairwell.]
[What did they say?]
[Olivia told Jack that you called him a simp behind his back, that he'd been chasing you for three years, and that you never looked his way. She also said his mom was a mistress. She made all of it up.]
The streetlight cast a glow over my phone screen as I stared at the message.
In my previous life, reading these words made me cry all night.
This time, I felt nothing at all.
[Do you have the recording?] I asked.
[Yeah, he sent it to me,] Tina replied.
[Send it to me,] I texted.
Thirty seconds later, an audio file popped up on my screen.
I tapped to play it.
Olivia's voice came through, every word crystal clear with all the background noise, like in my memory. "Jack, I need to tell you something.
"Sophie's been telling people you're a simp, that you've been chasing her for three years, and that she never looked your way. She's also been spreading rumors that your mom was a mistress. She's been telling every girl at school."
"When did she start saying that?" Jack asked.
Olivia replied, "Since our first year of high school. If you don't believe me, ask Luna or Henry. They've all heard it."
The recording cut off.
I saved the file to my encrypted folder.
I texted Tina back: [Thanks for telling me.]
Tina texted, [So, what are you going to do? Are you going to clear things up with Jack? He totally got played.]
[No.]
[But—]
[Tina, even if he got played, so what? We have been friends for sixteen years, and he believed Olivia right away without asking me once. That kind of trust is worthless.]
Tina didn't say anything else.
I played the recording one last time, then put my phone away and made my way back to the dorm.
As I walked past a tree, two leaves landed on my shoulders.
Autumn in Riverstone always came a little earlier than in the south.
I brushed the leaves off and kept walking.
Back then, when I finally learned the truth in my previous life, I must've asked myself a thousand times whether he would come to me and ask if it was real, wondering if things would have turned out differently.
But he never did.
He chose to believe Olivia.
This time, I was done with all the ifs.
Now, all I had to do was keep moving.