Chapter 1

The screech of tires was the last thing I heard.

Then, a crushing weight, a flash of white, and a final, searing thought: Chloe.

I woke up with a gasp, my heart hammering against my ribs. I was in my dorm room, the morning sun slanting through the blinds. My phone buzzed on the nightstand. The date was March 15th. The day it all began.

The day I died.

I was reborn.

The door creaked open. Chloe, my gymnastics teammate, poked her head in, her smile a mask of sweet innocence. "Ava, you up? Big news!"

I didn't say anything. I just stared at her, the memory of her shoving me into traffic burning behind my eyes. In my first life, I saw her as a struggling friend. Now, I saw a predator.

She bounced into the room, her cheap perfume filling the air. "So, for Spring Break, I'm treating the whole team! A VIP shopping spree on Rodeo Drive. I got a huge inheritance, can you believe it?"

The lie was as familiar as the scar I didn't have yet on my knee. This was the start of her plan. The plan that used my identity, my future, to fund her fantasy and destroy my life.

"To get the VIP access, they need everyone's ID for the list," she said, her voice dripping with fake excitement. "Can I just get a quick pic of your driver's license?"

In my first life, I handed it over without a second thought. I was a people-pleaser, desperate for my team's approval.

This time, my voice was ice.

"No."

Chloe's smile faltered. "What? Why not? It's just for the rewards program."

"I said no."

Just then, Liam, my boyfriend and the university's star quarterback, walked in. He wrapped his arms around Chloe's shoulders in a friendly hug. "What's going on, ladies?"

Chloe's eyes welled up instantly. "Liam, I'm trying to do something nice for everyone, and Ava's being so... weird about it. She won't even let me see her ID."

Liam looked at me, his handsome face clouded with disappointment. "Ava, come on. Don't be selfish. Chloe's trying to be generous. What's the big deal?"

"The big deal is that I don't want to," I said, my voice flat.

In my first life, this was the moment I caved. His disappointment was a physical blow. I hated it.

Now, it was nothing.

He sighed, running a hand through his perfect hair. It was a move that always made me melt. Now it just looked rehearsed. "You're being spoiled, Ava. Your parents pay for everything. You don't get what it's like for people like Chloe."

I remembered the car. I remembered Liam standing on the sidewalk with the rest of the team, his face a mask of horror and guilt as Chloe screamed, "She was jealous! She ran out into the road!"

He didn't defend me. He chose her.

"You have no idea what you're talking about, Liam," I said, my voice dangerously quiet.

His savior complex flared. He saw a damsel in distress in Chloe, and a spoiled princess in me. "Just give her the damn license, Ava."

I turned my back on them. "Get out of my room."

Chloe started sobbing. "I just wanted to do something nice! Now everyone's going to think I'm a liar!"

The other teammates, drawn by the noise, were gathering at the door. They shot me dirty looks. "What's your problem, Ava?" one of them, Jessica, snapped. "Chloe's being amazing, and you're ruining it."

"Yeah, just because your dad's an architect doesn't mean you can look down on us," another added.

They saw Chloe's feigned poverty and my comfortable background, and they drew their own simple, cruel conclusions.

Liam's voice was a low command. "Ava. Apologize to Chloe. And give her the license."

I laughed. It was a cold, empty sound. "No."

Chloe made one last attempt, her voice thick with fake sincerity. "Ava, please. Let's not fight. This is for the team. For us."

"There is no us," I said, looking from her to Liam. "Now get out."

The dam of their patience broke. They left, slamming the door behind them, a chorus of angry whispers following them down the hall. I was alone. Just like I was when I died.

I went to my desk to grab my bag for practice. My wallet was gone.

I knew, with chilling certainty, that Liam had taken it.