Outside the exam center, she broke down crying, pointing at me and screaming: “It was him! Alex drugged me and took me to a hotel!” “I only rejected his confession—he destroyed my entire future!” Her parents rushed at me on the spot, fists flying: “You animal! We worked ourselves to death to get her into college— and you ruined everything with one sick obsession?!” “People like you deserve to rot in prison forever!” The parents waiting nearby exploded with rage: “Right before the SATs and he does something like this? Disgusting!” “Expose him online! Let his whole family pay for what he did!” But when the police pulled up the surveillance footage and played that video— The entire crowd outside the exam center fell into a dead, terrifying silence. “Alex, what’s your problem?! Can you stop being so sensitive every time a guy shows up around me?!” The familiar voice snapped me back to reality. I looked down at my hands, free of handcuffs, And at Sophia in front of me, angrily gesturing… I really had been reborn! In my previous life, I had tried to stop Sophia from going out with Chad to celebrate her birthday on this day. Sophia had gotten into her dream school as planned, But Chad had ended up in prison for killing someone while drunk. After hearing the news, Sophia had invited me over to her house and set me up, Taking off her clothes and filming a video before calling the police. I was sent to prison. My parents, devastated by the online attacks, committed suicide. When my parents were dying, Sophia was right outside the door, Coldly filming their final moments before leaving with a smile. The next day she visited me in prison, And showed me that video in its entirety, Screaming at me hysterically: “Alex, if you hadn’t stopped me, how could Chad have ended up in prison?! I’ve always had top grades, even if I had gone out with Chad the night before exams I still would have gotten into my dream school! You’re just selfish! Chad died for nothing, so I’m going to make your whole family pay!” I had a congenital heart condition, which Sophia knew about. So when I had a heart attack after seeing the video, I saw the smile lingering on Sophia’s lips… This chilling memory made my expression darken further. “Oh come on, Soph, you have to understand our valedictorian Alex here. He’s too scared to take you out partying, so of course he’s a bit jealous that Chad gets to hang out with you…” Sophia’s friend’s words pulled me back to the present. Sophia looked at me with disdain and laughed. Then she linked arms with her friend and said coyly: “Chad said he has a big surprise planned for my birthday celebration tonight. I’m so excited! Getting to celebrate turning 18 with such a hot guy, I’m sure I’ll do even better on the SATs tomorrow…” I laughed coldly to myself. Earlier that morning, I had overheard Chad talking to his friend in the bathroom: “Tonight I’m going to show that little girl a real good time, don’t any of you dare interrupt us!” “But she has the SATs tomorrow, don’t go too crazy!” “The SATs? My girl doesn’t need to worry about the SATs. Once she’s in college, she won’t have anything to do with me anymore…” It was because I had overheard this conversation that I had desperately tried to stop Sophia in my previous life. This wasn’t a birthday celebration at all, It was a plot to ruin Sophia’s entire future… But Sophia was too naive to see it. Thinking of this, I looked up at Sophia’s flushed face and smiled. “Go ahead, Sophia. I’m sure with that hot Chad by your side tonight, you’ll do great on the SATs tomorrow.”
Sophia was stunned for a moment by my response, But quickly smiled again at the thought of her upcoming date. Realizing I needed to get home to prepare for tomorrow’s exam, I picked up my backpack to leave. But as soon as I stood up, Sophia’s friend pushed me back into my chair. Sophia glared at me coldly and quickly snatched my phone and test admission ticket. “Trying to leave? I bet you just want to go home and tattle to my parents! I’ll keep these safe for you and give them back at the test site tomorrow. If you dare tell my parents, you can forget about taking the SATs!” I looked at Sophia helplessly. “Sophia, you know how important these tests are to me. I promise I won’t tell your parents, but please don’t mess with my future, okay?” Whether Sophia would even make it to the test site tomorrow was questionable. There was no way I could leave my admission ticket with her. Seeing that Sophia had no intention of returning it, I quickly stood up and rushed over to her, Grabbing the ticket that was still in her hand. My tone was icier than ever before: “Sophia, give it back.” “Oh ho, looks like our valedictorian is angry! See Soph, you guessed right, judging by his reaction he was definitely planning to go tattle to your parents! We can’t give this back to him!” Sophia’s hand, which had started to loosen slightly, Tightened its grip on the ticket again after her friend’s goading. Sophia was a girl after all, so her strength couldn’t compare to mine. I squeezed her wrist hard, and her grip started to weaken from the pain. “Soph! Think about your date with Chad, we can’t let it get ruined!” Sophia’s expression suddenly changed. She quickly used all her strength and yanked backwards! “Riiiiip…” My admission ticket tore in half… The friends who had been egging Sophia on suddenly went pale. Tears that had been welling up in my eyes for a long time finally fell. An overwhelming sense of despair and helplessness washed over me. Even in this new life, I had lost my future… Sophia’s face cycled through various shades of green and white. After a long moment, She threw the torn ticket at me. “Alex, this is your own fault for trying to stop me from going out with Chad! You brought this on yourself!” With that, she grabbed her friend and ran out like mad. As soon as the classroom door closed, I heard laughter from outside. “Soph, that Alex really is your lapdog, huh? You ripped up his admission ticket and he didn’t even dare say anything!” “Ugh, he’s always been that weak. How could he compare to Chad’s confidence and charm…” Sophia’s words pierced my heart like a needle. My tolerance for her had been mistaken for weakness… Sophia and I had studied together every day since middle school, Getting into our dream college together was the future we had promised each other. But ever since Sophia met Chad outside of school, everything had changed. Today’s Sophia clearly no longer wanted a shared future with me. Thinking of this, I threw the torn ticket in the trash. I knocked on the door of our guidance counselor’s office. “Mrs. Davis, I’ve made up my mind about that full scholarship to State University. I think it’s a better fit for me than Ivy College…” Mrs. Davis looked at me with delight. “Good, you shouldn’t have given it up in the first place. State U’s physics lab will be perfect for you to shine.” When I got home and told my parents I wouldn’t be taking the SATs, they breathed a sigh of relief. They had been worried when I gave up the sure thing at State U for Sophia’s sake. Now things had worked out the way they wanted after all…
We had just finished dinner when there was urgent knocking at the door. I opened it to find Sophia’s parents, looking extremely anxious. “Alex, do you know where Sophia went? She just sent us a message and now won’t answer her phone. The SATs are tomorrow, where could that child have run off to?” My mom chimed in, looking at me expectantly. “Alex, you’re always with Sophia…” “I don’t know,” I cut my mom off and looked up at Mrs. Rodriguez to answer her. “Alex, do you at least know where she usually likes to go?” I gave an awkward smile. “I really don’t know, Mrs. Rodriguez…” Mrs. Rodriguez shook her head helplessly and left, having gotten no leads. As soon as the door closed, my dad poked his head out from inside. “Did you and Sophia have a fight? How could you not know where she went?” I just smiled at my dad and went back to my room. Of course I wasn’t going to say anything. Let her enjoy her wonderful night with her dear Chad! My mom was on the PTA, So early the next morning she dragged me and my dad to volunteer at the test center. As soon as we got to the entrance, I saw Mr. and Mrs. Rodriguez looking frantic. When they spotted me, they rushed over. Mrs. Davis hurried over as well. “Alex, Sophia didn’t come home all night. Weren’t you two together at school yesterday? Did she tell you where she was going?!” Mrs. Davis asked me too: “Alex, you know how important these tests are for Sophia. They’re about to start and there’s still no sign of her. Please think hard, where could she have gone?” I looked at Mr. and Mrs. Rodriguez’s panicked faces and felt a pang in my heart. But the image of my parents’ tragic deaths in my previous life flashed through my mind. I gritted my teeth and looked up at them. “I really don’t know…” Seeing my expression, Mrs. Davis sighed and patted Mrs. Rodriguez’s shoulder. “Alex’s an honest kid. Maybe he really doesn’t know. Let’s think of other ways to find her…” But I knew they wouldn’t find her… Chad never intended to let Sophia take the test. She was probably passed out in some hotel bed right now… Sure enough, the exams started and Sophia still hadn’t shown up… Mr. and Mrs. Rodriguez were ordinary working class people. To let Sophia focus on her studies, Mrs. Rodriguez had quit her job to take care of Sophia full-time. Mr. Rodriguez worked three jobs, sleeping only 3 hours a day. They had worked so hard for over a decade to give Sophia this opportunity, But their usually obedient and sensible daughter had disappeared before the most important test… The moment they closed the test center gates, Mrs. Rodriguez completely broke down. She collapsed to the ground, wailing hysterically… “Mom…” Finally, just as the first exam was about to end, Sophia appeared at the entrance, disheveled and stumbling. Mrs. Rodriguez sprang up from the ground and rushed over to Sophia. She slapped Sophia hard across the face. “You ungrateful child! Where on earth did you run off to…?!” I was sitting with my parents in the shade nearby, about to stand up, when Sophia spoke: “Mom, it was Alex! Yesterday at school he confessed his feelings for me but I rejected him. He was angry and drugged me, taking me to a hotel. I only just woke up. Alex has ruined my life…”
I froze in shock. Before I could react, Mr. and Mrs. Rodriguez were charging in my direction. Sophia clearly hadn’t expected me to be there. When she saw me, she quickly lowered her head. Remembering my parents’ tragic fate in my previous life, I quickly stepped in front of my parents to shield them. Then Mr. Rodriguez’s fist slammed into my face. “You beast! Just because Sophia rejected you, you had to ruin her?! Do you know how much our family sacrificed for today?!” I wanted to explain, but Mr. Rodriguez was too enraged. Before I could speak, he kicked me to the ground. That punch seemed to have used all of Mr. Rodriguez’s strength. I felt my nose break, Blood immediately gushing out, Covering my eyes, nose and mouth. My dad saw me get hurt and rushed over like a madman, But just as he reached me, Mr. Rodriguez knocked him down with one kick. Mr. Rodriguez had worked manual labor jobs for years and was incredibly strong. “Like father, like son! I’ll kill you both right here! You’ve ruined Sophia’s future! You don’t deserve to live!” More and more parents gathered around, Many of whom knew about Sophia’s excellent grades. When they heard I had ruined her chances at the exams out of revenge, they were furious too. They all rushed forward, Raining blows down on me and my father. “The father is to blame for not teaching his son well. We’ll teach you both a lesson today! Young punks like you are a plague on society!” “Mr. Rodriguez, beat them hard! If you kill them, we’ll all be witnesses for you!” Fighting through the pain, I looked at Sophia in the crowd. Her tearful face from moments ago now bore a hint of a smug smile. The last shred of feeling I had for Sophia completely died. I finally woke up. The Sophia of today was no longer the girl who used to follow me around asking for help with math problems. Since that was the case, there was no need to preserve her dignity anymore! Summoning my last bit of strength, I pulled out my phone, Found the video Chad had sent me last night, and pressed play, Turning the volume up to maximum…
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