Chapter 1You Wanted Muscles I Wanted Peace

Lola and I had been at each other’s throats for as long as I could remember.

She said I was too pale, too soft—a pretty boy who didn't belong in a fistfight.

I told her she was a menace, a loudmouthed tomboy who didn't know how to shut up.

We traded insults for over a decade.

Until senior year, when the new transfer kid confessed to her.

She threw a sideways glance at me, smirked, and said, "Sorry, but you're just not my type."

The crowd of classmates started chanting, "Oh, come on! Let me guess—you only have eyes for guys like Dan?"

Lola let out a soft, lazy laugh, leaning back. "Yeah, actually. I like them with a bit of muscle, a bit of an edge. What of it?"

Later, we went to college together, got married, and spent a lifetime bickering. Just before she passed away in that sterile hospital bed, she held my hand, laughing like a little girl. "Look at you. Still so scrawny, and your cooking is still terrible. Next time around, I’m definitely finding myself a handsome, built guy."

With tears burning my eyes, I gave her shoulder a gentle nudge. "Fine. Go find your muscle man. I'll find someone who actually lets me live in peace."

Then I opened my eyes. And I was right back to the day the transfer kid confessed to her.

"Lola, I... I really like you. Would you give me a chance?"

Lola raised her eyes, spared me a brief, unreadable glance, and looked away.

A slow smile curved her lips. "Sure. Let's give it a shot."

* * *

Zack’s eyes went wide, instantly shiny with disbelief. "Really... seriously?"

Lola gave a careless shrug. "Yeah. You've got great abs, you're handsome. Definitely my type."

I clenched my fists in my pockets, my fingers trembling. The crowd around us erupted.

"Whoa, Lola! You actually like guys like Zack? We all thought you and Dan were a thing."

Lola lazily raised her eyelids, her lips twitching with amusement. "Who’d want him? He’s like a pretty boy. Too soft, too fragile."

The classroom exploded into laughter.

"Dan’s good-looking, sure, but there’s nothing to him. No meat on those bones."

"Exactly. Girls want a real man. Someone strong."

I stood there frozen, the air turning to ice in my lungs.

In my last life, at this exact moment, Lola had turned Zack down. Right in front of everyone, she had declared her feelings for me.

My teenage heart had pounded so hard I thought it would burst out of my chest. That night, I tossed and turned under my covers, unable to sleep a single wink. The next morning, when I dragged my feet downstairs with dark circles under my eyes, Lola was already waiting by the porch. She had looked me up and down, clicking her tongue. "Did you spend all night robbing banks, Dan?" I had snapped at her, and she had just laughed.

After graduation, she was the one who asked me out properly. "You might be scrawny, but I guess you'll do. Want to be my boyfriend?" I playfully punched her arm. "Who'd want to be your boyfriend?" She had clutched her shoulder, laughing, calling me a stubborn idiot who could never just admit what he wanted.

Then college. Walking through autumn rain, kissing under the streetlights. Marriage right after graduation. A son, a daughter. Decades of beautiful, noisy, chaotic bickering. Once, we had a cold war that lasted a whole month. Everyone thought we were done. But Lola would just snap at them, "What do you know? This is foreplay." And then she'd turn to me, grinning, "Right, honey?"

Even on her deathbed, she was still teasing me, telling me she'd find a strong, handsome man in her next life. I thought she was just trying to get a rise out of me one last time.

I didn't realize she actually meant it.

I pulled myself out of the wreckage of my memories. Looking at Lola, I forced my voice to remain steady. "...As if anyone would want to date you anyway. Loudmouthed tomboy."

Then I turned on the rest of them. "And you guys? Half of you look like bloated pigs and the other half like starved monkeys. You’ve got a lot of nerve talking about anyone else's body. Go look in a mirror before you open your mouths."

Without waiting for a response, I turned and walked out of the classroom.