“Jojo clearly never went abroad. Why did you say she did?” Under everyone’s questioning gaze, Olivia stammered, her face flushed red, “I… I was just trying to avoid drama… Jojo didn’t get along with everyone back then, I was worried if you added her, you’d just start fighting again…”
The girl from before delivered the final blow: “Was it Jojo who didn’t get along, or was it you constantly starting drama and making Jojo fight your battles? Jojo was really popular, and she was always so loyal to you! And you? You just used her as your attack dog!”
“I did not!”
I looked at Olivia with “heartbreak.” “Olivia, why would you do this? Wasn’t I good enough to you?”
Olivia just cried and shook her head.
One of the guys felt sorry for her and spoke up: “Hey, come on, she’s crying. Let’s drop it, probably just a misunderstanding.”
I looked at him coldly. “Olivia’s gotten really good at crying over the years. She practiced a lot in high school, right?”
Someone else couldn’t help but chuckle. “Yeah, she thinks we’re all idiots.”
After that scene, Olivia was too humiliated to stay. She ran out of the room sobbing. Evan glared at me one last time and chased after her.
Leaving me with my old classmates. The girl who’d spoken up earlier sneered once Olivia was gone. “I couldn’t stand that绿茶 (green tea b*tch) back then! And you, Jojo, always thought she was so sweet. Let me tell you, most of the rumors about you in school were started by Olivia.”
The floodgates opened, and I learned about a high school experience completely different from my own memories.
Turns out, the reason I thought no one liked me, that I had no close friends besides Olivia, that I spent my teenage years wondering if my personality was just unlikeable… it was all because of Olivia’s behind-the-scenes manipulation!
Not only did she use me, she spread rumors about me, sabotaged any guy who showed interest, and twisted my words to make me seem arrogant and mean to our classmates.
I thought she only started forwarding our chats to Evan later. She’d been perfecting this skill since high school!
I sighed, making a self-deprecating joke. “I was blind. Just bad judge of character, I guess.”
After the dinner, Ryan offered to drive me home.
“Jojo, you haven’t changed much since high school,” Ryan said.
I looked at him, surprised. “You mean I’m still just as naive?”
Ryan’s face flushed, and he hurried to explain. “No, no! I mean… you’re still just as beautiful.” His face turned even redder.
We exchanged numbers, and he added me to the class group chat.
“So… are you… single now?” Ryan asked, trying to sound casual, but a hint of nervousness in his eyes.
“Married? What?” I laughed. “Let me guess, Olivia said that too? Well, you owe me a wedding gift.”
Ryan scratched his head, looking a bit like his teenage self again. “Don’t tease me. I always wanted to ask for your number back then, but Olivia said you were really annoyed by me. I was too scared to approach you.”
I sighed helplessly, feeling more than ever that my past self was a complete fool. Olivia was with me every day back then. She knew I had a crush on Ryan!
My past self… I really did die from my own stupidity.
Leave a Reply