Chapter 1

On the day of freshman registration at Columbia University, Julian dragged me to the campus gates. He slapped his official enrollment envelope into my hands.

"You've been ignoring me the whole summer. I'm giving you a way out of the doghouse now. Go sign me in!"

I couldn't help but laugh out loud. "What kind of delusional dream are you living in, Julian? You got into a local community college. How do you have the nerve to show up at Columbia?"

Julian froze. Under the mocking stares of the surrounding students, he ripped open the dusty envelope. He broke down on the spot.

"Why?! Why didn't you log in and change it back for me?!"

I rolled my eyes. "Didn't you tell me to mind my own business?"

When I first found out that Julian’s college acceptance had been declined and swapped for a low-tier community college, my heart nearly stopped.

I touched my legs, then my head. Whole. Unharmed. I almost cried right then and there.

I had been reborn. I was back on the exact day Julian’s enrollment was messed with.

In my past life, the class beauty, Serena Vance, had secretly logged into his portal and messed up his future.

When I found out, I tried my best to stop her and called her out for being incredibly irresponsible.

Serena felt humiliated. She ran out of the building crying, took a wrong step on the stairs, fell, and ended up paralyzed from the waist down.

She couldn't handle the tragedy and eventually took her own life. Julian blamed the entire thing on me, saying I was a meddling busybody.

The day before we were supposed to head off to college, he lured me to the rooftop of our building and pushed me off.

This time, I chose to play dumb.

As I walked into the computer lab, Serena jumped, quickly shutting the laptop screen. She looked at me guiltily.

"Elena, how long have you been standing there? What did you see?"

"I saw you changing Julian's portal options."

Hearing this, a cold sneer crossed her face. "Don't even think about snitching! I'm going to the same college as him, no matter what."

"Whatever. None of my business."

Just then, Julian walked in. Seeing Serena and me together, his guard immediately went up. "Elena, aren't you sick of this? Stop following me around like a lost puppy!"

I bent down, packed my textbooks from my desk, and finally spoke. "Do you own this school? If you can be here, so can I."

He stunned. He didn't expect this attitude from me. In the past, I would always speak softly to him, or follow him around trying to make peace.

Whenever I saw him hanging out with Serena, I would desperately try to advise him to focus on his studies.

But now? Why should I care?

I zipped up my backpack and turned to leave. Serena quickly called out, "Wait!"

"I just played around with Julian's enrollment portal. Why don't you take a look and give us some advice?"

She proudly turned the screen around. Julian glanced at it, then smirked at me. "Yeah, speak up. Weren't you always the smart one?"

I shrugged. "I'm not really interested."

He grabbed my arm. "What do you mean? Didn't you say we were going to Columbia together? How can you have zero reaction to this?"

"I respect people's personal choices. Do whatever you want."

I shook him off and walked away.

Behind me, Julian kicked a desk in sheer frustration. I didn't even look back.

I hadn't gone far when our group Snapchat blew up.

"Group Chat:"

"Maya:" "Julian, Serena just declined your Columbia offer on your portal and registered you for a community college! Are you seriously letting her ruin your life?"

"Chloe:" "Your SAT scores were literally perfect for Columbia!"

"Julian:" "What's the big deal? Elena will log in and fix it for me before the deadline anyway."

"Maya:" "I just heard you guys arguing. Aren't you afraid she'll actually leave you to rot? You need to take your own life seriously!"

"Julian:" "She's basically my second mom. She would never actually let anything happen to me."

"Julian:" "We're just having a little fight. Once I buy her some food, she'll come crawling back."

I sneered and typed: "Do your own chores. I'm not your mother."

Julian must have been furious. The next second, I was kicked out of the group chat.

This was his favorite little power play. Every time we argued, he would kick me out, wait for me to beg for forgiveness, and then drag me back in.

This time, I didn't give him the chance. I blocked him instantly, left all mutual chats, and only kept my close friends on Snapchat.

High school was over. It was time to cut the dead weight. In this life, I would not interfere in anyone else’s destiny. I would only focus on myself.

Julian, I really can't wait to see your face when you get your final registration papers.