Chapter 4Your Destruction Is Not My Problem

Cole’s story was ridiculous. He claimed to be a "conquest player."

He said the universe gave him a mission right before school started: Conquer Hallie Miller.

He had to reach 100% "affection rating" by graduation, or he’d be "erased."

Hallie swallowed it whole.

It didn't matter that Cole had dated half the cheer squad at his old school. She believed she was the anomaly, the savior.

In my last life, I had run to her, breathless, playing that recording.

I warned her: "If Cole asks you out, it's a bet. It's a game. Don't say yes."

The result? She dove headfirst into the fire.

When she first threatened to drop the National Chemistry Olympiad to hang out with him, I tried again.

"A mission? A simulation? Hallie, listen to yourself. You're smarter than this."

That was the turning point. I went from friend to obstacle.

I missed the Olympiad myself because Cole locked me in a supply closet. When I found Hallie, bruised and desperate, she looked at me with cold, dead eyes.

"I told you to mind your own business, Archer."

"If it weren't for me asking Cole to go easy on you, you'd have lost a lot more than a chemistry test."

Her tolerance gave Cole permission to escalate. The bullying became a daily ritual.

The final time, when he dumped trash over me in the bathroom, I went to the administration.

They called our parents.

I never mentioned Hallie. I just wanted it to stop.

But Hallie? She went to the principal and my parents. She spun a narrative that I was the aggressor—that I was jealous of Cole stealing my thunder, that I was spreading rumors to smear him.

She paraded a dozen of Cole’s friends as witnesses.

Between the false testimonies and Cole’s father threatening to sue the school district, the principal caved.

I was branded the jealous, vindictive liar. I was isolated.

The bell for the next period rang, snapping me back to the present.

This time, I didn't text Hallie to remind her about the Chemistry Olympiad registration.

My future was supposed to be bright.

And this time, it would be.