Chapter 1
The valedictorian and the school’s bad boy were an item. Our entire senior year was buzzing with this gossip, everyone’s faces alight with barely contained excitement. I sat at my desk, quietly working on practice problems, completely oblivious to the chatter in the hallway. It wasn’t a surprise to me. Yesterday, Jax wrote Briar’s name on the blackboard, confessing his feelings to her in front of everyone. The whole class saw that cheesy, copy-pasted love confession from the internet. Briar, far from being angry, completely fell for it. Her face flushed crimson, but her eyes and brows, though, sparkled with an irrepressible delight. She pretty much gave him her silent approval. Just like that, they became the main characters of some high school romance drama. It had only been one night, and their social media profiles already sported matching couple avatars, openly declaring their relationship on SnapChat. They couldn’t wait to scream their love to the world. The old Briar would never have done something like that. But she’d changed. Ever since she met Jax, she wasn’t the Briar I knew anymore.
“Ugh, how could a straight-A student like her fall for that punk? He’s always getting into trouble outside of school. Who knows if he’ll even get into college.” Leo, my best friend, sighed behind me, poking my arm with his pen. “If you ask me, Jax is miles below you.” “Should’ve known Briar liked wild types. You shouldn’t have been such a doormat for her.” I stopped writing, saying seriously, “I haven’t liked her for a long time.” Yeah, I liked her in my last life. Not this one. I still remembered her face at my hospital bed, eyes filled with such visceral hatred. She cursed me over and over, her gaze practically spat daggers at me. “Asher, you deserve this! You’re going straight to hell when you die!” “Do you know how much Jax meant to me? How dare you make decisions for me back then?!” “Karma’s a real b*tch, Asher. You don’t deserve to live.” As she ranted, tears streamed down her face, her voice choked. “Do you know he was the one I loved most…?” When she saw my life slipping away, watching the heart monitor flatline, She didn’t show an ounce of pity. She even deliberately didn’t inform my family. Leaving me to die alone. Her last words before I faded away were: “Asher, now you know what regret feels like, don’t you?” Yeah, I do. Given a second chance, I’ll be a silent shadow. I won’t get in your way and Jax’s ever again.
The bell for class rang, pulling my memories back to reality. Jax swaggered in, his rebellious face practically oozing pride and arrogance. Briar followed close behind him, clutching her sleeve tightly. Her lips, redder than the ripest cherries, looked like they’d just been thoroughly kissed. I watched them calmly. It reminded me of Briar and my marriage, a long time ago. That was the first time I ever saw that kind of shy, maidenly expression on her face.