Chapter 1Your Destruction Is Not My Problem

It started after school, right when the late afternoon sun hits the lockers and turns the dust motes into gold. The new transfer student cornered Hallie, blocking her path to the tutoring center where we’d spent every Tuesday since seventh grade.

He spun her a story that sounded like it was ripped from a bad sci-fi novel. He told her he was a "Player" in a high-stakes simulation, and she was his "Objective."

If he failed to capture her heart, he said, his existence would be wiped. Deleted.

Hallie believed him.

From that day on, Hallie—the girl who color-coded her notes and dreamed of Stanford—vanished. In her place was someone who orbited him like a moon caught in a decaying gravity well.

SATs, Ivy League dreams, the pact we made in middle school—she threw it all into the bonfire of his vanity.

She didn't know he was lying.

She didn't know that dating her wasn't about destiny or survival. It was just a bet between him and his lacrosse buddies.

They were gambling on a simple question: Which was stronger? The allure of a bright future, or the charm of a bad boy?

* * *

The tips of Hallie’s ears were burning a bright, tell-tale crimson.

Her gaze darted between me and Cole, nervous and electric. It was the exact same look she’d worn in my previous life.

"Hallie, if you're busy, I'm heading out," I said, my voice flat.

I didn't wait for an answer. I turned my back on them and started walking toward the bus loop.

As I passed the metal trash can near the gym doors, I reached into my pocket, wrapped my fingers around the voice recorder I’d been clutching for twenty minutes, and dropped it inside.

Clunk.

Senior year was expensive. Time was currency. And I wasn't going to waste another cent of it on them.

In my last life, I had been on the roof of the science building practicing for AP French when I overheard Cole and his entourage.

"Bagging Hallie Miller? The resident genius?" one of them had laughed. "Good luck, man. That girl breathes textbooks."

"Forget it," another said. "She's gunning for Harvard. She won't look at you."

Cole had laughed then—a low, arrogant sound. "Let's make it interesting. If I get her to wreck her future for me, you guys cover the senior trip to Cabo."

That day, I had taken the recording straight to Hallie.

I expected her to be grateful. I expected her to wake up. Instead, not only did she stay with him, but I became the target of Cole’s wrath.

He cornered me in the locker room showers, dumping buckets of filthy mop water over my head while his friends held the door.

His voice was low, venomous. "Watch your mouth, Archer. Or I’ll make sure you’re eating through a straw during finals."

He made good on his threat. I missed my exams. My GPA tanked.

And Cole? True to his word, he dumped Hallie the day before graduation.

He put on a tragic performance, telling her he couldn't let his "mission" destroy her potential. He claimed his life wasn't worth her future.

Hallie came finding me with eyes rimmed red from crying. She cornered me in the alley behind my house, her grip on my wrist painful and frantic.

"Archer, you are disgusting," she hissed.

"I told you to stay out of it. Why did you go to my parents? Why couldn't you just leave us alone?"

"Now Cole is breaking up with me. Are you happy now?"

I had stood there, stunned. I hadn't told her parents anything. Before I could explain, she shoved me.

Hard.

My head cracked against the concrete. The world went white, then warm as blood soaked my collar.

I grabbed the hem of her jeans, begging her to call 911.

She just looked down at me, her face twisted in revulsion, and kicked my hand away.

"Stop acting, Archer," she spat. "I wouldn't forgive you even if you died."