"Sweetie, can you take me in? This time, I'm done with him for good," Clark said.
My heart skipped a beat as I stared at my best friend's pitiful expression. I froze, realizing I had been reborn.
Clark, seeing no response, pushed past me, dragging her suitcase into my apartment.
"Sabrina, you can't be that heartless. Remember when those bullies ganged up on you at school? I was the one who stood up for you," Clark said.
"Say something! Look at these bruises he left on me. I can't go back. If you don't help me, I might as well die," Clark added.
Her glare seemed to tear me apart, just like in my past life when my skin cracked under scorching heat.
"Fine, you can stay here," I said.
"You're the best! I love you so much," Clark replied.
A shadow darkened my eyes.
In my past life, Clark had guilt-tripped me the same way.
Every time Clark needed help, she brought up how she had chased off my bullies.
I had been genuinely grateful, never refusing Clark's requests.
But when Clark's abusive boyfriend stormed into my home and attacked me, Clark clung to him and said, "Vance, she's the one who told me to break up with you. You know I love you the most. Beat her good to let off some steam. Just don't hit me today," Clark had urged.
"You filthy tramp, trying to ruin us! I'll kill you," Vance had snarled.
His face twisted with rage as he kicked me over and over.
In the end, I lay bloodied and was thrown into the bathroom.
I swallowed my pride, kneeling and begging them to take me to the hospital.
They ignored me, making out in the living room instead.
Worse, when the weather bureau announced a blistering 52-degree heatwave, they kicked me out of my apartment.
"It's so hot out there. She'll die, won't she?" Clark said.
"That's the point. If she survives this heat and reports me to the cops, what then? You want me in jail?" Vance snapped, glaring at Clark.
Fear flashed in Clark's eyes as she fawned, "No, no, you're the most important person to me. Let her die."
With those casual words, Clark had sealed my fate.
Eight years of friendship, and it ended like this, all because I had tried to help her.
Clark had treated me like an insect, disposable and insignificant.
Thankfully, fate had given me a second chance.
This time, I would make them pay in blood.
"Just because I had lunch with a male coworker, he hit me. He smashed a chair on me. Is he even human?" Clark rambled, sprawled on my couch.
I handed her a glass of water. "Rest for now. I'll go get you some food," I said.
Clark's eyes lit up. She sprang to her feet. "Great! It's too hot to go out, and I'm in so much pain."
"I want durians, cherries, and salmon. He always said they were too expensive and wouldn't buy them. I'm dying for them," Clark added.
Her entitled attitude made me want to throw her off my balcony.
But that would be too easy. I wanted Clark to feel my pain first. That would be true justice.
I went to the market. Besides Clark's requests, I bought heaps of fresh vegetables and short-shelf-life foods.
In my past life, to prepare for the apocalypse, I had stocked up on long-lasting supplies, enough for one person to survive two months.
Instead, I had unwittingly provided for Clark and Vance.
This time, when the food rotted, I wondered how the two of them would turn on each other.