Chapter 1

The night before the SATs felt heavy, a thick blanket over everything. I sat at my desk, staring at the review books, but my mind wasn't on them.

It was on Kevin Johnson, my childhood friend, my ex-boyfriend.

He was downstairs, his voice loud and excited, booming through the floorboards. He was talking to my dad, bragging about some huge party.

Tiff Rodriguez's party. His new girlfriend.

The name sent a shiver down my spine, cold and sharp.

A memory, not quite a memory, more like a nightmare that clung to me, flashed in my head.

In that other life, I' d been in the school bathroom. I heard Tiff, laughing with her friends.

"He thinks he's so smart, aiming for Ivy League," Tiff had sneered, her voice dripping with something ugly. "He's not leaving me for some stuffy college. I'll make sure of it."

Her plan was simple, vicious. Get Kevin so drunk, or maybe even drug him, that he' d sleep right through the SATs.

No scores, no Ivy League, no leaving Tiff.

In that life, I tried to stop it. I was frantic. I told Kevin, begged him not to go. He laughed it off.

I called his parents, Bill and Karen Johnson. They were obsessed with his success, his Ivy League dream.

They dragged him to the SATs, furious and confused. He aced it, got into his dream school.

Tiff, her plan ruined, had a meltdown. A public, screaming fit. There were rumors of drugs. Then, an accident. She died.

Kevin, shattered, turned all his grief and rage on me.

He said I' d ruined Tiff, driven her to it. Then he did something worse. He framed me for sexual assault.

The police came. I was arrested.

The shame, the online mobs, it was too much for my parents. They couldn't bear it. They took their own lives.

And me? I died in juvenile detention. A stress-induced heart problem, the doctor said.

Kevin had come to visit, just once. He showed me a video on his phone. My parents, their last, broken moments. He smiled while I watched.

I gasped, my hand flying to my chest. The memory was so real, so vivid.

I was back. Back in my room, the night before the SATs. The same sounds from downstairs.

Kevin, Tiff, the party.

A second chance.

This time, a small, cold smile touched my lips.

I went downstairs. Kevin was by the door, his athletic bag slung over his shoulder. Mark, his oafish best friend, was with him, grinning.

"Hey, Sarah," Kevin said, a little awkwardly. "Just telling your dad about Tiff's party. It's gonna be epic."

"Jealous much, Miller?" Mark smirked.

I remembered Tiff' s voice in the bathroom: "My man isn't ditching me for some stuffy college."

I looked at Kevin. "Go," I said, my voice even. "Have fun with Tiff. I'm sure you'll be fine for the SATs tomorrow."

Kevin looked surprised, then pleased. "Yeah? Cool."

He and Mark headed out, laughing.

My parents looked at me, a little confused by my calm.

I just smiled. This time, things would be different.