Chapter 1

On the first day of college, my new roommate, Yvette Moon, offers me a delicate crystal bracelet as an icebreaker. If only I'd known. But I am desperate to make a friend, so I eagerly slip the cursed thing onto my wrist, sealing my fate.

In my last life, Yvette was on a mission to date one hundred guys before graduation.

But no matter how much she messes around, she never gets knocked up.

Instead, it is me, a girl who's been single since birth, who find herself pregnant again and again, forced to undergo one agonizing abortion after another.

The entire campus whispers about me. I am branded a "town pump" and a "slut" before I have even had my first real kiss. My reputation is in tatters.

My life ends on the operating table during my sixty-sixth procedure. I bleed out, alone and ashamed.

It is only then, in the darkness after death, that I learn the truth. The crystal bracelet has bound me to some freaky system that dumps all her female problems onto me.

Now, as I open my eyes, I am back on the first day of freshman year all over again.

*****

"We're roommates! This is for you," Yvette Moon said, her voice bubbling with an enthusiasm that felt predatory. She pressed the cool, heavy bracelet into my hand. "It's for good luck."

The familiar weight of it in my palm was a sickening confirmation. I was reborn.

"Thank you, but this looks expensive," I said firmly as I pushed it back toward her. "We just met. I can't accept such a valuable gift."

Yvette and her mother, Grace Moon, who stood beside her, were dressed in simple clothes. They weren't wealthy. And out of the four of us in the dorm, she had singled me out. It was a trap.

"Come on, Yvette's giving it to you," a familiar voice chimed in. It was Ryan Cole. He held my hand in place. "Just take it. You're all going to be living together for four years. It's just basic manners."

"Yeah," Yvette added, her smile tightening. "If you don't take it, it's like you're disrespecting me."

I forced a smile. Ryan was my childhood friend, and I followed him to this school.

Before classes had even started, Ryan had found Yvette in the freshman group chat and warned me to keep my distance from him. Now I knew why.

"You know, I think this would look great on you, Ryan," I said, grabbing his hand and trying to slip the bracelet onto his wrist.

He recoiled as if he had been burned, stumbling backward. "What are you doing? Yvette gave that to you! You can't just give it to me! That would be so rude!" he snapped.

Ryan totally knew what this bracelet could do.

I pocketed the bracelet without another word.

A moment later, as Yvette and Ryan turned their backs, I moved. In one swift, fluid motion, I clasped the bracelet around the wrist of Grace.

A sickly green light pulsed from the crystals. The system had found its new host.

"Oh, you're a sensible girl," Grace said, admiring the bracelet on her own wrist with a satisfied smile. "My daughter insisted on giving you this, but honestly, it's much too nice to part with.

"You're all dolled up, aren't you? Planning on being a whore? Just make sure you don't drag my daughter down with you. So, I'll be taking this back. And you won't say a word. I have enough of her little tantrums to deal with as it is."

I smiled, "Don't worry, Mrs. Moon. Your secret's safe with me."

In my last life, the crystal bracelet bound me to some freaky system that dumps all Yvette's female problems onto me.

She was on a mission to be the It-Girl, a conquest for every frat boy with a pulse.

She spent her nights collecting new lovers, treating her sex life like a video game where every guy was a new level to unlock.

But no matter how many players she cycled through, she never got pregnant. Instead, it was me, a girl who had been single since birth, who found herself pregnant again and again, forced to undergo one agonizing abortion after another.

Before long, the story of my constant abortions had poisoned the very air around me. I couldn't go anywhere without the stares and the hushed conversations. The insults, like "shameless" and "slutty," were often spat right in my direction.

My classmates even talked about me openly. I was branded a "town pump" and a "slut."

My explanations were just desperate lies to them. Even the clinic doctors started greeting me with judgmental sighs.

I could still hear one of them muttering to a nurse, "Doesn't she ever learn? No protection. She's treating her own body like a disposable toy."

My life finally ended on the operating table during my sixty-sixth procedure. I bled out, alone and ashamed.

This time, Yvette's recklessness wouldn't be my cross to bear. Her mother would be the one to reap what her daughter had sown.