Bad Boy

Junior year, my childhood sweetheart, Sarah, fell for the school's bad boy, Jake. He got her skipping class, smoking, drinking, and her grades plummeted. I couldn't stand to see her self-destruct, so when her parents asked, I told them everything. They grounded her. The night she and Jake planned to run away, her parents stopped her. Jake died in a car accident that same night. Later, under our parents' pressure, Sarah and I got married and had a daughter. Then, in another car wreck, I pushed Sarah and our daughter out of the way of an oncoming truck. As I faded out, Sarah leaned in and whispered, "Our daughter isn't yours. I never loved you. I married you to get back at you." I died, staring into her hateful eyes. Then, I woke up. Back in junior year. The day Jake asked her out.

"Ethan," Sarah's pretty face swam into focus. "Jake asked me to hang out tonight. Think I should go?"

I stared, stunned. I was reborn. Back in junior year.

Sarah waved a hand in front of my face. "Earth to Ethan? Hello?"

Sarah was my childhood friend. A dancer, she was going the arts route for college. Slim, graceful, and talented, her only weakness was academics. I was in the advanced placement classes, headed for a top-tier university. At her parents' request, I tutored Sarah three nights a week, helping her prep for the entrance exams for her dream dance school in New York. I used to think it was perfect. We'd both go to New York, I'd confess my feelings, and we’d get married, just like our parents wanted. Our future was laid out, just waiting for us. Then Jake showed up.

Like Sarah, Jake was a big name on campus. Handsome, with a mysterious family background, tons of girls crushed on him, but from afar. Jake had a reputation – short temper, rebellious, didn’t care about anyone or anything. Rumor was he'd driven another English teacher to quit that week. Even the principal couldn't control him. And this was the guy Sarah had fallen for.

“I know he has a bad reputation, everyone’s scared of him," she said, her cheeks flushed. "But he saved me when some guys were hassling me the other day. He’s not like people say, he’s actually really nice, just… misunderstood." Her eyes lit up whenever she talked about him. Not like when she looked at me.

I remembered our wedding day. Even her best friend had cried, begging me to take care of her. But Sarah? A polite, distant smile, nothing more. I realized later it was because she didn't love me. She was detached, like an observer. When she really loved someone, it poured out of her, even if she tried to hide it.

“Ethan! Why are you so quiet? You can’t just judge a book by its cover. I’m not making excuses for Jake, I’m just saying…”

She’d already made up her mind. Asking my permission was just a way to rope me in. If her parents found out, she could blame me, say I encouraged her. She’d always done that. I was older, always the responsible one, cleaning up her messes. She took my help for granted. Not this time.

"Fine, fine," she co...