he smell of bleach and medicine like she expected from a hospital room.

irping. Not machines bee

rd

es fle

ht danced across the walls, across the bookshelf stuffed with textbooks and romance paperbac

ew thi

y, flatline way. But in the "oh my

room. From colle

bones, something. But there was nothing. Her heart pounded like a drum, way too f

rug she used to complain about vacuuming. Her legs w

h

rsion of herself stared back. No dark circles under her eyes. N

was

her. Not tire

her bef

ng back. Not just the hospital. Not ju

front of her. Every party she cried at afterward. Every time she told herself he'd

omehow, sh

iv

in

and she sat on the edge of

k. Really,

e this was heaven. Maybe this was some weird punishment

asn't going t

the clock on h

r 12th,

"accidentally" ran into Dante by the fountain. The day her old self had spe

this

short dress, curled her hair for over an hour, even sprayed a perf

y hoodie and some old jeans. She pulled her hair into a

t being pretty

bout bei

. Last time, she skipped breakfast just so she'd get to ca

to

d in a few things, and headed ou

dents laughed and walked by in big groups, talking about homework and concerts and other stuff that didn

ag. She walked faster. Not toward the founta

Because she was hungry.

She hadn't been in here in years - not really. Not without her eyes scanni

ked for

armor: pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs, a big cup of coffee.

she s

nt

. His laugh still fake. His hair still perfect. He hadn't changed ye

ip. It didn't melt.

ed calm

urned

. Her tray clattered as she set it down, but she didn'

took felt like

tion. It was about healing. She hadn't felt full in years - not

. She opened her college app and searched for the academic advisor's contact info. H

m

r somewhere new. Somewhere better. Maybe she'd even study abroad. Mayb

her sip of coffee. It was still too h

asn't glowing. She wasn't laughing. She wasn't crying. She

d. A message fr

skipping your l

ed and t

ancakes more than

one over and look

. The girl who died. The girl who gave everything to someone who gave nothing back

she felt power. Like l

she got to do

chase anyon

er own heart trying

n't ruin

The

her eyes, f

Time. Kindness. Love. And she gave all her energy to som

soon. Not yet - not

rything. That he was her real anchor, her real friend. Ma

give herself the

stood. A new thought for

eg

Not "redo." N

...

t revenge. Or regret. Or

ing someone who didn

she would s