Chapter 1

On the eve of our school's Homecoming Gala, I watched Lilah Bennett, the most popular girl in school, sneak Carter Stone's driver's license into a stage confetti cannon.

She smiled with pure smugness.

"Once Carter realizes his ID is missing, I'll pull it out and save the day!"

"He'll be so grateful, he won't be able to resist me!"

In my past life, I panicked, worried the cannon blast would blow his ID to shreds. I sprinted into the auditorium and pulled it out just in time.

Instead of thanking me, Lilah broke down in tears, telling everyone I was jealous and deliberately ruined her romantic surprise.

And Carter believed every word.

He cornered me on the school rooftop, pushed me over the edge with his own hands, and sneered as I fell.

"Why do you always have to ruin everything, Harper?! Lilah just wanted to give me a surprise, and you ruined it!"

"People like you don't deserve to go to college with me! You deserve to die!"

Now, I was back. Standing outside the auditorium doors, I watched through the window as Lilah slipped Carter's driver's license into the confetti cannon.

I didn't stop her.

I quietly turned off my phone, turned around, and walked away.

This time, I was going to save someone. Myself.

Backstage at the gala, Lilah giggled, surrounded by her usual clique of minions.

They showered her with compliments.

"Lilah, that's such a brilliant idea! Carter is going to be completely obsessed with you!"

"Totally! You two are literally made for each other."

"Who cares about Harper? She does nothing but study all day. Boring loser!"

Lilah gave a coy smile, unable to hide the gleam of triumph in her eyes.

She pulled the ID out of Carter's backpack.

After double-checking his name, she stuffed it into the barrel of the stage confetti cannon.

"When Carter panics because he can't take the SAT tomorrow, I'll swoop in and rescue him!"

Her voice grew even more excited.

"He'll be so indebted to me!"

Their giggles echoed through the hall.

Outside the door, I quietly lowered my hand from the doorknob.

The terrifying sensation of freefall from the rooftop in my past life was still fresh in my mind.

I had tried to save Carter's future out of the goodness of my heart, only to be branded the villain standing in the way of their romance.

In this life, I chose to mind my own business.

Just as I was about to walk away, Lilah gasped.

"Wait, isn't this Harper's ID?"

Lilah sounded thrilled. She grabbed my driver's license from the desk and waved it around.

"Harper always acts so high and mighty. I wonder if she'll cry like a baby when she can't find her ID tomorrow?!"

She batted her eyelashes at her friends.

"Carter always calls her a tomboy who never sheds a tear."

"I bet a hundred bucks she breaks down crying tomorrow morning!"

My chest tightened. She had resented me all along and was waiting for a chance to sabotage me.

Her minions clapped and cheered.

"She totally deserves it! I'm bringing my phone tomorrow to record her pathetic face."

"Then we'll blast the video across our SnapChat group! Let's see how smug she looks then!"

One by one, the girls left, leaving Lilah alone in the room.

She stared down at the two IDs in her hands, a vicious smirk curling on her lips.

A second later, she ripped my ID into tiny shreds without hesitation.

She crumpled the scraps into a ball and carelessly tossed them into a cardboard box filled with discarded scrap paper.

Lilah was so drunk on her own petty thrill that she didn't even notice what she had actually destroyed.

She hadn't just torn up my ID.

She had torn up Carter's too.

No wonder Carter always fondly called Lilah a "ditzy cute girl."

Yeah. Plain stupid was more like it.

I slipped away from the backstage area without making a sound, went straight to the school admin office, and requested an immediate duplicate ID.

This time, I wasn't going to clean up Carter's mess.

I backed up the audio recording I had just captured on my phone, and then I went home.

Tomorrow was the SAT, right after the gala.

The school had given us the afternoon off. Students attending the dance could stay, while everyone else was free to head home early.

I had my mom call the school office, collected my study guides from the classroom, and headed straight home.

Soon after, Carter texted me on SnapChat.

Harper, didn't we agree to watch the showcase together? Why the hell did you run home on your own?!

I left him on read.

A few minutes later, another message popped up.

Don't act like a spoiled brat with me.

Lilah's working hard backstage all by herself. I'm staying here with her.

I glanced at the screen coldly, then continued organizing my test prep materials.

Carter and I grew up as next-door neighbors. Everyone always joked that we were high school sweethearts bound to end up together.

To me, he was just a regular childhood friend.

Yet he convinced himself that I was secretly in love with him, acting like the world revolved around his needs.

Whenever I turned down his invitations because I had my own schedule, he would intentionally flirt with another girl right in front of me to make me jealous.

Honestly, it was pathetic.

While I was reviewing my notes, Lilah posted a photo to the senior class SnapChat group.

In the picture, she and Carter were standing backstage, heads leaned close together as they looked over the program schedule.

Lilah was leaning heavily against his shoulder, radiating smug intimacy.

She paired it with a flirty caption:

Setting up the gala with my favorite partner is way more fun than doing it alone~

A bunch of classmates instantly replied with heart emojis, hyping them up.

One drama-seeker even tagged me:

Harper, your boy's getting stolen right out from under you.

Carter replied within seconds:

Cut the crap. Harper and I are just neighbors.

I typed my response right away:

Exactly. Just neighbors.

Congratulations to the happy couple.