Chapter 2

Chloe clapped her hands together, her eyes sparkling with a manufactured excitement that always set my teeth on edge.

"Okay, enough doom and gloom about the internship! We need a plan for senior year! Epic memories, people!"

Liam immediately perked up, his attention snapping to Chloe like a magnet to steel. "You got it, C. Whatever you want."

Noah echoed him, a softer, "Yeah, Chloe. What are you thinking?"

Their devotion was sickeningly obvious, a constant, blatant display that they thought I was too naive or too smitten with them to notice.

In my first life, I had been.

Now, it was just...data.

Liam threw an arm around my shoulder, pulling me into their huddle. "Don't worry, Ava. We'll make sure you have the best senior year ever to make up for that internship nonsense."

His breath smelled faintly of the mints he always chewed.

The gesture, meant to be comforting, felt like a brand.

I offered a small, tight smile. "Thanks, Liam. That's... nice of you."

The irony was a bitter taste in my mouth.

He thought he was comforting me for a disappointment he and Noah had helped orchestrate through their parents, all for Chloe.

The whole scenario was a perfectly staged play, and I was the unwilling audience member who already knew the ending.

A few weeks later, the charade continued.

Liam and Noah, in a grand, sweeping gesture that was a nauseating repeat of an event from my first life, decided to stage a dual "confession of love" to me.

The setting was Baker Beach, the Golden Gate Bridge a dramatic backdrop against the setting sun.

They'd even remembered the ridiculously oversized bouquets of lilies – my supposed favorite, a detail Chloe had no doubt supplied them.

"Ava," Liam began, his voice earnest, his eyes fixed on mine with a look of profound adoration that I knew was utterly false. "We've been friends for so long, but... for me, it's become so much more."

Noah stepped forward, clutching a worn copy of Neruda's poetry – another Chloe-approved prop. "What Liam is trying to say, Ava, is that... we both love you. We know it's unconventional, but we can't deny our feelings anymore."

They stood there, expectant, like two actors waiting for their cue.

I felt a weary sense of déjà vu.

Right on schedule, just as they were building to their crescendo of feigned passion, Liam's phone buzzed.

Then Noah's.

They exchanged a quick, almost imperceptible glance.

Liam pulled out his phone. His brow furrowed.

"Oh, man," he said, his "romantic" persona vanishing instantly. "It's Chloe. She says her car broke down. She's stuck in the Bayview district."

Noah's head snapped up. "Bayview? At this hour? That's not safe."

Chloe's dramatic S.O.S. text. Check.

Liam was already turning, his gaze sweeping the parking lot. "We gotta go. She sounds really scared."

Noah didn't even hesitate. "Yeah, let's go. Ava, we are so, so sorry about this."

He looked genuinely apologetic, but not for abandoning me mid-confession. He was sorry Chloe was in "danger."

They were already halfway to Liam's SUV, the forgotten lilies and poetry book lying at my feet.

"We'll call you!" Liam shouted over his shoulder.

I watched them peel out of the parking lot, dust rising behind them.

The setting sun cast long shadows, painting the beach in hues of orange and purple.

It was almost beautiful.

I calmly picked up the bouquets and the book.

I walked to the nearest trash can and dropped them in.

The thud was surprisingly satisfying.

Then, I pulled out my phone.

I didn't call them. I didn't wait for their excuses.

I booked a month-long solo backpacking trip through Yosemite, Yellowstone, and Zion.

Post-graduation.

A clean break.

I forwarded the confirmation email to my mom.

Then I blocked Liam, Noah, and Chloe on my phone and all social media.

It was time to start living my own life, not the one they had scripted for me.

I returned from my backpacking trip tanned, tired, and with a sense of peace I hadn't felt in years – either in this life or the last.

The silence of the mountains, the vastness of the landscapes, had been a balm to my soul.

I'd climbed peaks, navigated trails, and relied on no one but myself.

It was liberating.

As the taxi pulled up to my house, I saw them.

Liam's sleek black SUV and Noah's vintage convertible parked haphazardly by the curb.

They were sitting on my porch steps, looking disheveled and anxious.

Liam jumped up the moment he saw me. "Ava! Oh my god, Ava, where have you been?"

Noah was right behind him, his face etched with worry. "We were so scared. You just disappeared!"

They rushed towards me, a torrent of questions and frantic explanations about how they'd been calling, texting, driving by my house for weeks.

It was a twisted echo of a childhood memory.

I was ten. My parents had just announced their divorce, a bitter, ugly affair.

I'd run off, hiding in our old treehouse, crying my eyes out.

Liam and Noah had found me there, hours later, their faces streaked with dirt and worry.

They'd sat with me, not saying much, just being there, two small boys promising their best friend they'd always have her back.

That memory, once a comfort, now felt like another betrayal.

Their current "worry" was a performance, just like everything else.

They hadn't been worried about me. They'd been worried about losing their pawn.

"I was backpacking," I said, my voice devoid of the emotion they clearly expected. "I sent my mom my itinerary."

Liam ran a hand through his already messy hair. "Backpacking? Alone? Ava, what were you thinking?"

"I was thinking I needed some space," I replied, meeting his gaze evenly.

The unspoken "from you" hung in the air.