Chapter 2

"Don't blame me for being harsh," Meryl said. "I'm doing this for your own good. I can't just watch you go down the wrong path and become someone who bullies the weak by any means necessary."

She continued, "If you realize your mistake, apologize to Jackson. We'll give you a chance to change and start over. We also won't report what you did to the administration."

I had known Meryl for years. We were so close that there was nothing left we didn't know about each other. Yet now, looking at her, I felt like I was staring at a stranger. Her cold expression felt so foreign to me.

In my previous life, for Jackson's sake, she personally locked me inside an empty classroom and forced me to reflect on my actions.

I was trapped there for three days—hungry, thirsty, and close to the edge of death. Not once did she come to check on me.

I looked up and met her gaze. "How can you be so sure that I pushed him?"

Without even thinking, Meryl answered, "Who else could it be? Jackson is a younger member of the student council. I know his situation better than anyone. His father died when he was young, and his mother has been bedridden ever since.

"He can only survive because of the scholarship and his part-time jobs. Under these circumstances, you still tried to take his scholarship from him. Isn't that just blatantly targeting him?"

I argued back. "But the scholarship is based on grades. Whoever ranks first gets it. What did I do wrong, really? Just because he's poor, everyone has to give way to him?"

Meryl froze for a moment, then knitted her brows. "You're always fooling around and never bothered to study. How could you possibly rank first? You must have cheated somehow.

"Besides, you don't even need the money. Why are you fighting over that scholarship?"

A bitter laugh escaped me. I did it for her, of course.

Meryl had always had eyes on a certain piano, but it was far too expensive for her to afford. Whenever we went shopping together, I noticed how she would stand in front of it at the store, touching it for a long time and refusing to leave.

So, I swore to myself that I would win the scholarship and buy it for her as a birthday gift.

For that goal, I sacrificed countless hours of sleep, forcing myself to study those dull textbooks and complicated theories.

Now, just because Jackson had accused me of something I never did, the scholarship I earned through my hard work was questioned without any proof. For the first time, I felt my heart grow cold.

Meryl mistook my silence for a refusal to admit my mistake. She continued trying to persuade me in a serious tone.

"Jackson has been shaking in the infirmary this whole time. The doctor said he was traumatized and won't recover anytime soon. He may even need long-term psychological treatment, and all of this happened because of you.

"So how can you stand here pretending nothing happened, constantly changing the subject and refusing to take responsibility? Where did your conscience go?"

I tried reasoning with her one more time. "Meryl, we've known each other for years. You should know what kind of person I am. Do you honestly think I'd do something like this?"

Instead of softening, her gaze hardened. "So what if we've known each other for years? You can know someone well, but not their darkest side. I see now that you're nothing but a hypocrite."

I laughed. No matter how hard I tried, Meryl would never believe me again. So, I gave up explaining, nodded, and went along with her. "Fine. I'll apologize to him."

I knew that if I refused again, she would do exactly what she did in my previous life—lock me inside that doomed classroom. So, I gave in.

After all, the most important thing for me now was to leave this place and stay as far away from Jackson as possible.

A long-overdue look of satisfaction finally appeared on Meryl's face. "That's more like it. Once this is over, we can still be friends—"

I cut her off. "I don't think so."

She froze in place and snapped her head at me.