Ethan couldn’t take it anymore. He hung up the
phone.
Tiffany shrieked. “How dare you! Who do you
think you are? Touching my phone! Get away from me!” Since Ethan had started rejecting her, she’d stopped pretending altogether.
Ethan glared at her. “I wish I had never met
you.”
:
<
84
Tiffany rolled her eyes and dialed another number. Justin. And again, she put it on speakerphone. Justin was a huge pop star. His
new song was topping the charts, and half the class had it as their ringtone.
Ethan snatched the phone. “I’m warning you. Don’t call him!”
“Get off me! He’s my brother! What’s it to you? He’s way better than some heartless, two- faced…” Tiffany bit Ethan’s wrist hard. He yelped, and she grabbed her phone back.
Justin answered.
“Do you guys even know who I’m calling?” Tiffany bragged, covering the microphone. “You’d be so shocked!”
She climbed onto the teacher’s desk and started talking in a sickly sweet voice. “Justin, my school is having this assembly, and families
10:59
84)
“Justin, I’m sorry. Mom and Dad are busy, and I told my teacher you’d be here. I’ll get in trouble. if you don’t come.”
“It’s the first time I’ve invited you, and I
promised my teacher you’d be here. You’ll
come, right? I’d be so embarrassed if you didn’t…”
Ethan grabbed the phone again, hung up, threw
it back at her, and stormed out of the
classroom.
The class stared in stunned silence.
Tiffany, still on the desk, smirked at us. “Looking down on me, are you? Rather hang out with some orphan than me? Fine. I’ll show you all. Don’t come crawling back to me after this, begging to be my friend. I won’t even let you kiss my feet!”
The class stared at her like she was a joke.
く
The night of the assembly, all the award
recipients and performers were gathered
backstage. Tiffany was putting on makeup.
muttering curses under her breath. Her custom
costume and diamond necklace hadn’t arrived.
Mom, who’d been out of the country for days,
was still MIA.
Someone recognized the brand of Tiffany’s
clothes and jewelry. Not custom–made.
Remembering her boasting, they started
mocking her. “Weren’t you going to show us
all? Where’s your seven–figure necklace? Ha
ha.”
“Yeah, you’re the biggest liar I’ve ever met. Ha
ha.”
Tiffany’s face turned green, then she sneered. “I’ll remember your faces. I hope you can still laugh when you see my brother.”
We took our seats in the audience, watching
the performanoss, Tiffany called Jen agan before going on stage, Effren, String next to me, called Justin first. No ensures
Tiffany performed, Justin didn’t show. No
commotion at the entrance, Ethan visibly relazed.
The top ten students were called on stage. Ethan and I were among them.
Once we were in position, Ethan turned to me with a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, Sia. Justin won’t be coming. I told him not to.”
I didn’t respond. I didn’t care if Justin came or not. The only one who cared was Tiffany, Justin had been busy the whole time I was at their house. I’d barely spoken to him. Even if he had come, he would have only paid attention to
Tiffany. It wouldn’t have affected me.
Just then, a commotion erupted near the
く
84
entrance, followed by screams. Teachers
rushed to restore order. Then, a dazzling figure
appeared, and the entire auditorium went crazy.
Even with sunglasses, everyone recognized him. Justin. He was actually here.
He was breathtaking. His star power was undeniable. He radiated charisma.
Tiffany’s face flushed crimson. She screamed, “Justin! He’s here! He came for me! Move!”
No one heard her. Security and teachers struggled to control the pandemonium.
Tiffany, unable to reach Justin, jumped onto the
stage, grabbed the microphone from the
stunned host, and yelled, “Justin! Over here! Can you see me?!”
Her voice boomed through the auditorium. The chaos subsided, replaced by stunned silence.
Justin as if he hadn’t hoard har walked onto
Justin, as if he hadn’t heard her, walked onto
the stage…and towards me.
In front of everyone, he hugged me. I heard him
choke back a sob.
It was so familiar, just like Dad.
A thought struck me. Were they…reborn, like
me? The more I thought about it, the more it
made sense. Their sudden change of heart,
their outpouring of emotion, their guilt…it was
like they knew about my past life, about how I’d
died. Were they trying to make amends? But
Dad had mentioned a dream…had he not
realized he’d been reborn?
My mind reeled.
Justin took my hand, led me to the front of the
stage, and said, his voice thick with emotion,
“This is Ashley Miller. My sister. My real sister.”
Г
I somehow ended up in a stretch limo, Justin
and Ethan flanking me. Justin fussed over me,
constantly adjusting the temperature. Ethan
offered me drinks from the mini–fridge.
I declined everything. “I need some time alone,”
I said.
They both fell silent, as if afraid to breathe.
At home, another member joined the “walking
on eggshells around Ashley” club. Dad. Because
I hadn’t wanted him at the assembly, he’d
prepared a huge dinner. He’d even tried to
make pork buns himself, for the first time in his
life. They were…misshapen, to say the least.
He proudly presented them to me on a plate.
Before I could take one, Micah, our dog, jumped
up and snatched a bun, swallowing it whole.
Dad, worried since the dog had touched them,
