Chapter 1

At the freshman welcome dinner, my best friend, Imogen, suddenly looked at me and sighed.

"Sonia's a bit boy-crazy. She used to chase after that dyed-blond guy like a groupie, and her private life was a total mess—a regular at the OB-GYN."

For the next four years, the whole school froze me out.

My classmates shut me out, and neither the student council nor any of the clubs would take me.

I barely made it to graduation, and then a job background check dug up the dirt and knocked me out of the running.

I developed a severe mental disorder, and my hair went white in my early twenties.

Imogen, meanwhile, married Anthony—the upperclassman who'd once had feelings for me—and became a rich man's wife.

We ran into each other at the hospital, and she said, so airily,

"Sonia, I was only joking back then, and I even apologized. Why are you so fragile?"

Back on that day again, Imogen was spreading rumors in front of everyone once more.

I smiled and hooked my arm through hers.

"Didn't you like that blond guy too? You even begged me to let you have him—don't you remember?"

...

The room went silent in an instant.

Everyone turned to stare at Imogen, their shock laced with something subtle.

Imogen's face stiffened, but she forced a smile.

"You've got it wrong. You're the one who liked blondie, not me."

"See? See?"

I shook my head, faking disappointment.

"You really have forgotten everything."

"Back then you took a part-time hostess gig at a bar to buy that blond guy a birthday present, and you nearly got hauled in by the patrol."

"And you were scared your mom and dad would yell at you, so you didn't go home that night—you went and stayed at his rented place with him..."

"Sonia."

Imogen shook my arm, her voice dropped so low only the two of us could hear.

"I was just joking a second ago. Why are you taking it so seriously?"

"I apologize. Can we just drop it, please?"

Joking?

I sneered on the inside.

The speaker may mean nothing by it, but the listener takes it to heart!

And besides, she'd said it on purpose.

In my past life she said she was joking, so I really did let it go.

And the result was that the rumor that I was a bar hostess spread across the whole campus network that very night.

I became the pariah everyone at school looked down on.

We'd been deskmates for three years in high school, and bunkmates in the dorm.

I'd always thought of her as my best friend.

But in my past life, one rumor from her ruined my whole life.

Why should I stop just because she now tosses out a breezy little apology?

I curled up the corners of my mouth, casual.

"Oh well, these things can't stay hidden forever anyway, so we might as well just say them out loud."

Imogen froze, and her eyes reddened in an instant.

"Sonia, I'm really getting angry now."

She had fair skin and looked all quiet and gentle.

Warning me so pitifully like that made me look like the aggressive one.

A few of the guys couldn't take it anymore.

"Sonia Fox, you've gone too far. Can't you see Imogen's about to cry?"

"Yeah, there's a limit to how far you take a joke."

"Huh?"

I looked at Imogen, taken aback.

"You're going to cry? Fine, then I won't say any more."

Imogen visibly relaxed, and she picked up the bottle to fill my glass.

"I said things I shouldn't have just now. Let this drink be my apology."

Things she shouldn't have said?

So it really did happen—it just shouldn't be said out loud?

She was still hoping to make it look worse and dig a pit for me?

I lifted the glass and downed it in one gulp.

"It's fine. We were all young back then, we didn't know any better."

"We're all classmates. Even if people find out, they won't look down on us."

She nodded eagerly, a flash of smug satisfaction in her eyes.

"Right, you were just young back then. Bound to make a few mistakes."

"Mm-hm."

I turned to the crowd with a bright smile.

"So guess how things ended up between Imogen and that blond guy?"