1 Start

It has been a year since Evy last visited her hometown. She would be lying if she said she hadn't missed it. Her parents lived here, and every corner of this place held fragments of her childhood. So yes, she missed it. Deeply. This town carried too many memories, lovely yet painful.

One thing that Evy did not miss was her school. 

The Woodstock High School. 

It was a private school. And like most of them, it had its own unspoken hierarchy.

If you belonged to the IT crowd, you’d love it here. But if you didn’t? You’d dread every single minute. Especially if you were associated with the popular kids but were constantly reminded that you weren’t ‘good enough to talk to them.’ Still, if you were lucky, if you somehow managed to stay invisible to the jocks and Barbies, you could survive in relative peace.

Well, you might guess who exactly Evy is?

Evy was short for Evelyn Brook, a regular seventeen-year-old girl. The only daughter of her parents. Like most daughters, she was a complete daddy’s girl and shared an unbreakable bond with her mother. They weren’t extravagantly rich, nor were they struggling. They had enough—enough to meet her needs, enough to give her a decent life.

‘It feels good to be back here after a year.’ She thought when she entered her hometown.

Everything here pretty much looked the same. Streets unchanged. Houses familiar. Time, it seemed, had paused here, and Evy wasn’t complaining. She liked it this way. Woodstock was beautiful.

Unlike all those years, she was pretty excited about starting her senior year here. It was going to be filled with surprises. This time, her return wouldn’t go unnoticed. 

People would be shocked. No one had imagined she would ever come back after everything they had put her through.

Now you might wonder, ‘Why return to a place where she had been despised?’

She didn’t want to, but she only stepped into this place because of her parents. They missed her, and she couldn’t say no to them. She couldn't be selfish. And to be honest, those losers didn't scare her anymore.

The past year had changed her. Taught her lessons no classroom ever could. And in time, everyone here would see that.

If anyone dared to mess with her now, they would regret it. Evy wasn’t the kind of girl who enjoyed making others miserable. She wasn’t cruel. But she had learned something important.

Silence wasn’t strength.

If someone crossed the line, she wouldn’t stand still and let their words cut her open. She would fight back. For herself.

She knew she wasn’t labeled ‘hot’ or ‘sexy.’ But she also knew she wasn’t as unattractive as her classmates had made her believe. Those labels were all bullshit. Lies people clung to so they could feel superior.

 

And the truth? 

She was pretty enough. Pretty enough that boys had asked her out at her previous school. A school she loved. A place where she felt safe. Where she laughed freely. Unlike this one, where every day had once felt like survival.

Now, she stood in front of Woodstock High School. 

There was a time she hated even stepping into this building. But not anymore. A lot had changed in a year.

She was still Evelyn Brook—still kind, still thoughtful. But she carried confidence now. She had lost weight, built stamina, and found her voice. She no longer shrank herself to fit into someone else’s comfort zone.

She still remembered the day she left. The ache in her chest. The humiliation. The tears. But no! That innocent, fragile Evelyn? She was gone.

This was the new Evelyn Brook—stronger, fearless. Someone no one could easily break. She wouldn’t let the jocks and Barbies bully innocent kids anymore. She couldn’t change the entire world, she knew that, but she could try. And sometimes, trying was enough.

Her return would shock many. But one person would be beyond shocked.

His actions were the reason she had left. Because of him, she had been forced to rebuild herself from the ground up. In a strange way, she was grateful. He had shown her his true colors. But he had no idea what was coming.

Evy knew he believed she was still the same girl, the one who forgave him every single time. All he had to do was say the word.

Sorry.

One word. Five letters. 

The simple word sorry. She had heard it so many times that it had lost all meaning. No one ever meant it. But not this time.

She wasn’t plotting revenge. She wasn’t planning to destroy his reputation. He was her ex–best friend, after all. 

She would simply go with the flow.      

She has no clue what is ahead waiting for her, but one thing she knows is that Karma is a bitch. Karma gets you back. You just need to believe in it and move on. Try not to take matters into your own hands if unnecessary. Just leave it to Karma. It has its way of dealing with things.

Taking a deep breath, Evy stepped into Woodstock High School.

It had been a year since Eddy last saw her. He still regrets everything he has done to her. 

He remembered every laugh. Every secret. Every moment. He had thought about calling her countless times. He had even dialed her number more than once, his thumb hovering over the screen. But he never pressed the call.

He didn’t have the courage.

One thing he was sure of, though. If he ever got the chance to meet her again, she would forgive him instantly. That’s who she was.

His best friend. At least… she used to be.

Today marked the first day of senior year at Woodstock High, and while Eddy should have been excited, something felt missing. Without her, it wasn’t the same.

Eddy, short for Edward Loraine, was seventeen, the quarterback of the Woodstock High football team. Popular. Handsome. Known as a ‘player’ simply because he flirted too much. Girls adored him. Boys wanted to be him. His grades were good, which only added to his charm.

He knew he was arrogant, but popularity had a way of feeding ego.

Unlike most students, Eddy loved school. Attention followed him everywhere. Being the jock had perks. But it also came at a cost. Because of it, he had lost his real friends.

Now, most of the people around him were fake. The only one who truly mattered was Carson, his loyal friend. Carson had changed a lot this past year, mostly because of his girlfriend, Kayla.

Everyone buzzed with excitement today. 

New year. New hopes. New faces. 

Even two new students were joining their batch—a boy and a girl.

Eddy told himself he didn’t care. Yet, deep down, he wished the new girl would be her. He didn’t know what he would say if she stood in front of him. Didn’t know how he would react.

People feared Karma. Called it a bitch. He didn’t believe in it.

You make a mistake, you apologize, you fix it, and that should be enough. So how could Karma come back to haunt you?

He didn’t know. But something about this year felt… different. Like surprises were waiting. Good or bad, he couldn’t tell.

‘Expect the unexpected,’ he thought.

Taking a deep breath, he picked up his new schedule. Let senior year begin.