The excruciating pain of a blade ripping through my flesh finally faded. I gasped, opening my eyes to find myself back in the spring of my senior year of high school. I had been reborn. Before I could even process the shock, I heard my roommate, Tyler, complaining about his online girlfriend. “We’ve been e-dating for three months, and she won’t even send me a revealing photo,” Tyler grumbled, his face twisted in frustration. “All she does is nag me to study and prepare for the SATs. It’s freaking ridiculous!” Noticing I was awake, he grabbed my shoulder, his eyes lighting up with an idea. “Hey, Ethan, aren’t you e-dating someone too? Why don’t we swap accounts?” My eyes were calm, but my heart was screaming with the brutal lessons of my past life. In my previous life, I had stupidly rejected his proposal. My online girlfriend, Bella, was never the rich heiress she claimed to be. She was a rebellious, drop-out high school girl who hated the world. She seduced me into skipping classes, wasting my potential, and eventually, I only got into a mediocre community college. Later, she ran up identity fraud on my name, leaving me with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. I ended up dead on a rainy street, stabbed by her loan sharks. Meanwhile, Tyler’s e-girlfriend, Chloe, was the school’s resident genius. She had pushed Tyler to study night and day. She got into Caltech and dragged Tyler into a top-tier university with her. They built a tech startup together, got married, and went public. But years later, Tyler’s scandals of cheating and embezzling company funds leaked. He was eventually stabbed to death by his mistress. Having seen the two completely different paths of destiny, I looked Tyler dead in the eye and said, “Sure. Let’s swap.”
The moment I got Chloe’s Snapchat account, the first thing I did was link it to my phone number. Watching me, Tyler let out a mocking laugh. “Seriously? I’m not going to back out of the deal.” I ignored him. In my past life, he didn’t back out. But in this life, I wasn’t taking any chances. I logged in. The last message in the chat history was Chloe asking Tyler if he wanted to hit the library this weekend. Tyler had replied with a rolling-eyes emoji. I scrolled up. They had been talking for three months, but their total message count was less than what Bella and I would send each other in a single week. It was always Chloe initiating. She would ask how his prep was going, if he needed help with AP Calculus, or if he wanted her study guides. Tyler either left her on read or replied with a lazy “K.” During those three months, Tyler thought she was too boring and never even met her in person. She kept asking him to study together, and he kept making up excuses to skip. That was probably why Tyler assumed she was just a boring, nerdy chick. His loss, my gain. Their last conversation was three days ago, and Tyler had left her hanging. I tapped the text box, typed a few words, deleted them, and finally sent: 【Do you think our first meet-up is a bit rushed?】 She replied almost instantly: 【Then what do you propose?】 I thought about it and typed: 【Let’s go for a run tonight. Whoever loses has to make the study guide for the next exam.】 This time, she paused for a few seconds. I stared at the screen, my palms sweating. Then, a notification popped up: 【Deal.】 I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. Even though I had been reborn, my academic knowledge hadn’t vanished. In this life, I actually had a shot at flipping the script. I jumped out of bed and started packing my bag for the library. Tyler was chatting with Lucas, laughing loudly. “I’m meeting Bella tonight to play Valorant. She just loaded five hundred bucks into my account so I can carry her in ranked.” He shot me a boastful look. “Bella is so generous. She always buys me dinner and gifts me those expensive weapon skins.” I didn’t say a word. I just threw my backpack over my shoulder and walked out. After dinner, I waited for Chloe by the school track. My heart was racing—not out of romantic nervousness, but because I knew this girl held the key to my destiny. In my past life, the first time I met Bella, she dragged me to an internet cafe, bought me some cheap game currency, and made me play all night. In the end, I had to pay for her Starbucks, and she still complained that I didn’t buy her the venti size. I wondered if Tyler would actually manage to get any real money out of her this time. Footsteps sounded behind me. I turned around and saw a girl walking toward me. She was tall, with a cool, sharp beauty, holding a water bottle in her hand. Her name was Chloe. In my past life, I had only seen her face on the news. Feeling a bit intimidated, I avoided her gaze. She looked at me, handing over the water. “Warm up first, or you’ll get cramps.” I took the bottle and followed her onto the track, starting with a slow jog. Neither of us spoke. The only sounds were our footsteps and breathing in the quiet evening. After the run, I bent over, hands on my knees, panting for air. Chloe stood beside me, checking her smartwatch. “Four minutes and two seconds. You lost.” “You’re making the study guide,” she said. “Starting tomorrow.” I looked up at her. Under the moonlight, her face was incredibly serious, marked by a determined, no-nonsense look. “Okay,” I said, my heart fluttering, my cheeks flushed from the run. She nodded, turned, and walked away. I stood there, watching her figure disappear into the shadows, then looked down at the water bottle in my hand. My heart rate slowly returned to normal. Ethan, I told myself, you don’t need a girlfriend right now. You need an Ivy League acceptance letter. It was almost 10 PM when I got back to the dorm. My legs were sore, but my mind was incredibly sharp. In my last life, this was the exact day I started going down the wrong path. But not this time. I looked at Tyler’s bed. It was empty. Lucas poked his head out from his bunk. “Tyler said he’s not coming back tonight. He went to a motel with Bella after their gaming session.” I didn’t reply. I just lay down on my bed and closed my eyes.
From that day on, my life revolved around studying with Chloe. During class, I stayed in my room, but the second the bell rang, I met her in our usual corner of the library. We worked quietly, occasionally exchanging notes. She didn’t talk much when explaining concepts, but every word she said was precise. Once, I got stuck on an advanced calculus problem. She glanced at it for two seconds, then tapped a number on the sheet with her pen. “You missed this constraint.” I reread the prompt. She was right. “How did you spot that so fast?” I asked, a bit self-conscious. “Because I’ve already done all these practice sets,” she said simply. “Your issue isn’t that you don’t know the math. You’re just careless with the details.” I froze. She’s done all of them? I buried my head in my notebook, pretending to study hard, hoping she couldn’t hear how fast my heart was beating. On the other hand, Tyler was skipping classes constantly. He stopped turning in essays. Any free time he had was spent running off to see Bella. In the dorm, he would look at me with pure disdain, always finding ways to brag. “Bella just bought me a new mechanical keyboard. Look at this. Can your ‘study buddy’ do that?” I tried to warn him. “You should really study, Tyler. The SATs are coming up.” Tyler rolled his eyes. “You’ve been hanging out with Chloe too much. You’re becoming just as dry as she is.” “What’s the point of studying all day? Chloe tells you to run, you run. She tells you to study, you study. Are you her boyfriend or her puppy?” He looked at my practice sheet and sneered. “In a real relationship, your girl should either be spending money on you or letting you into her bed. You? You’re just letting a girl boss you around.” I didn’t argue. Some paths can only be understood once you fall into the ditch yourself. I had already fallen once; I wasn’t going back. When the results of the next SAT prep test came out, my score had jumped significantly. I snapped a picture of my report card and Snapchat-ed it to Chloe: 【Thanks to you.】 She sent back a photo of her own scorecard. Still a perfect 1600, sitting comfortably at the top of the district. I couldn’t help but smile at my screen. Tyler, who was sitting nearby, leaned over to peek. His face instantly darkened. “You just got lucky,” he said loudly. “Everyone knows your real level, Ethan. Don’t act like you’re some genius now.” I slid my phone into my pocket and ignored him. The bell rang, and Bella was waiting for Tyler at the classroom door. He went out for a bit and returned holding a brand-new iPhone 15 Pro Max. He intentionally waved it in front of my face. “Pretty nice, right? Bella bought it for me. The latest model.” I stared at the phone. I had the exact same one in my past life. Back then, I thought Bella had saved up her allowance to buy it for me. I had cherished it like a treasure. Only later did I find out she had used my social security number to open a high-interest online credit line. I was the one paying for it all along. Seeing me quiet, Tyler assumed I was jealous. He proudly shoved the phone into his pocket. “What’s the point of being smart? You don’t marry rich by getting good grades. You do it by knowing how to make a girl spend her money on you.” I remembered the cold, indifferent look on Bella’s face when I was dying in my past life. “You’re right,” I said quietly. “It’s all about having a good eye.”
Seeing my progress, I trusted Chloe’s guidance even more. I studied like a man possessed. Meanwhile, Tyler’s grades plummeted. He couldn’t even keep up with the basic curriculum anymore. The way he looked at me grew increasingly hostile. And then, the rumors started. Lucas pulled me aside one afternoon, looking worried. “Ethan, Tyler’s been telling everyone that Chloe is using you like a dog.” “He says you do whatever she wants, like a total simp. And…” “And what?” “And he said Chloe is just playing with you for fun. Once she gets bored of her ‘nerdy pet,’ she’ll dump you. He says you’re a fool doing free labor for her without even getting laid.” Lucas looked at me cautiously. “He said you’re embarrassing all the guys in school.” My grip on my pen tightened. “Ethan, maybe you should keep some distance from Chloe?” Lucas suggested. “Just until the rumors blow over.” “We’re not dating,” I said. “We’re just studying.” Lucas opened his mouth to reply, but our academic advisor, Mr. Davis, suddenly appeared at the door. “Ethan, my office. Now.” In the office, Tyler was standing in the corner, a smug, vindictive grin plastered on his face. Chloe was there too, along with her advisor, Mr. Miller. I felt a surge of anxiety, but I kept my face blank. Mr. Davis cleared his throat. “Ethan, what is the nature of your relationship with Chloe?” “We’re study partners,” I said, keeping my voice steady. “We both have subjects we struggle with, so we help each other out.” Tyler cut in eagerly. “Study partners? Do study partners need to be glued to each other’s sides? “ “You guys hang out after school, study together every weekend, and you do whatever she tells you to do! He’s like a trained poodle, Mr. Davis!” I ignored him, wanting to explain further, but Chloe spoke up first. “I like him. Is there a problem with that?” The office fell into a dead, stunned silence. Tyler’s eyes went wide, his smug grin melting into pure, ugly jealousy. He probably thought the school was going to suspend us for some inappropriate conduct. Mr. Davis blinked, trying to find his words, but Mr. Miller raised a hand to stop him. “And what are your intentions, Chloe?” Mr. Miller asked gently. Chloe glanced at Tyler. “Can he leave?” Tyler looked outraged, but Mr. Davis gave him a stern look, gesturing for him to get out. Tyler dragged his feet, shutting the door reluctantly. Once the door was closed, Chloe looked at the advisors. “What Ethan said is true. What I said is also true. Though, I haven’t officially asked him out yet. He didn’t know.” I stood there, completely dumbfounded. Chloe continued, “You’ve seen our latest academic reports. Both of our scores have gone up. I enjoy studying with him. He gives me motivation and a sense of partnership.” “He is the most resilient person I have ever met. I developed feelings for him, and I wanted us to get into our dream colleges before making it official.” She looked at Mr. Davis and Mr. Miller, her expression so calm and mature it didn’t belong to a high schooler. “But you’ve disrupted my plan, and I am not pleased.” She sounded as if they were the ones who had made a mistake. My heart was pounding, and my eyelids fluttered. I couldn’t help but think: Being a genius is truly a cheat code. She just turned the tables on the advisors. The funny thing was, Mr. Davis and Mr. Miller didn’t even look angry. They looked at each other, probably having never met a student who defended her “romance” so logically and righteously. I couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle. Chloe shot me a quick look. I quickly suppressed my smile and looked at the teachers seriously. “We will keep our focus on our studies, sir. Chloe wants to pursue aerospace engineering at Caltech. I want to change my life and make something of myself in tech.” “Whatever our relationship is, it will only push us to work harder for our future.” Chloe looked at me, her eyes shining brighter than I had ever seen. The two advisors exchanged glances. Finally, Mr. Miller sighed. “We will monitor your mock exams. If there is even a slight drop in your grades, this joint study arrangement ends.” “Understood.” Walking out of the office, I turned to Chloe. “What you said in there… did you mean it?” She looked at me. “What if I did?” My heart skipped a beat, my palms grew sweaty, and my mind went totally blank. “Let’s just focus on the next SAT prep test,” I muttered, trying to keep my cool. “It’s in a week.”
When the results of the second prep test came out, Mr. Davis and Mr. Miller were ecstatic. I had jumped another fifteen ranks, and Chloe had secured the number three spot in the entire district. Meanwhile, Tyler’s scorecard was slammed onto the principal’s desk. He got a 300 on his math section. His overall score was in the bottom tier of the school. When his mother was called into the office that afternoon, I realized how bad Tyler’s situation had gotten. Skipping school, failing classes, staying out all night—his academic performance had completely collapsed. His mother sobbed in Mr. Davis’s office, promising she would hire a private tutor to fix this. When Tyler came out of the office, his face was pale and tense. Seeing Chloe and me sitting together in the hallway, reviewing a chemistry sheet, he lost it and marched over. “Chloe, you’re going to tutor me.” Chloe didn’t even look up. “I don’t have time.” “I’ll pay you!” Tyler pulled a stack of hundred-dollar bills from his pocket and slammed them onto our study table. “Name your price.” Chloe finally raised her head, her gaze cool and detached. “I don’t need your money.” Tyler’s face flushed a deep, angry red. His voice cracked. “Who are you pretending to be? You wear cheap clothes from Target. You eat the cheapest salads in the cafeteria. Don’t play the rich girl with me!” He pointed a finger at my nose. “Is it because Ethan is your little dog that you tutor him?” “If you help me get my score up for an Ivy League school, I’ll do whatever you want—” “That is enough!” Mr. Davis’s voice boomed from the doorway. Tyler froze, his mouth shutting instantly. His father, who had arrived late, walked down the hallway and stopped dead when he saw Chloe. “Chloe?” Tyler’s father gasped. Tyler was confused. “Dad, you know her?” Tyler’s father quickly stepped forward, offering his hand to Chloe with immense respect. “This is Mr. Wood’s youngest daughter. I just saw her at her father’s private charity gala last month.” The hallway went dead silent. Tyler’s face turned white as sheet. The puzzle pieces finally clicked in his head. “Chloe!” Tyler lunged forward, grabbing her arm. “I’m your actual e-boyfriend!” “Ethan is a fraud! He thought Bella was annoying, so he forced me to swap accounts with him!” I took a deep breath. “You were the one who begged me to swap, Tyler.” “Shut up!” Tyler screamed at me. “You knew Chloe was a rich genius all along! You pretended to know nothing just so she would tutor you!” “You’ve been targeting her family’s wealth from the start!” He turned back to Chloe, his eyes bloodshot. “I’m your boyfriend! I’m your first love!” “We talked for three months! You cared so much about my studies. You can’t tell me you felt nothing for me!” Tyler’s parents stood by, silent but with a desperate spark of hope in their eyes. If Chloe really was Tyler’s girlfriend, his grades would be saved, and their family would secure a tie with the wealthy Wood family. Chloe pulled her arm out of his grip and took a step back. “Did you honestly think I didn’t know you cheated me?” Tyler froze. Chloe said, “The very first day I met Ethan, I knew he wasn’t the guy I had been texting.” Her voice was ice-cold. “Your business with Bella wasn’t a secret. Everyone knew you guys were skipping school to hang out at motels and internet cafes.” “And I know you bragged to Bella about swapping your ‘boring nerd’ e-girlfriend for her.” Tyler’s face drained of all color. “I never liked you,” Chloe added. “My roommate was the one using my account to text you back then because she thought your profile picture was hot.” “The day I agreed to meet Ethan was the first day I actually used that account myself. From the very beginning, the only person I liked was Ethan.” Both Tyler and I stared at her, utterly stunned.
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