Chapter 3

3

While they were canoodling on the street, I slipped away.

The SATs were tomorrow, and I needed to review. I didn't have time for their lovey-dovey display.

Luckily, I still had the memories of this body and could easily recall the high school material. Otherwise, with my twenty-something-year-old brain from my previous life, I might not even get into college.

Unexpectedly, when I opened the door to my house, I saw Ethan's mom, Susan.

She was showing off to my mom.

"Should he choose Harvard or Yale? If he scores too high, what if Harvard and Yale come fighting over him? They're both top universities, rejecting either would be a shame."

My mom chuckled awkwardly.

"Ethan is indeed accomplished. Unlike my daughter, she's always been a bit of a slacker, barely getting into Harvard or Yale."

My mom was just agreeing.

But Susan wasn't happy.

"Ethan loves to play too, he's always running around after school, but he's just naturally smart, always getting the top score."

She meant Ethan didn't study hard, his top scores were due to his natural intelligence.

My mom didn't say anything, just smiled faintly.

She was used to Susan's competitiveness.

Susan and my mom were friends, yet they'd been competing their whole lives.

They competed over clothes as kids, grades as teenagers, and husbands as adults.

But my mom almost always won. It wasn't until she had Ethan, her genius son, that she finally got the upper hand.

Especially after her husband passed away, she poured all her energy into Ethan, bragging about him to everyone she met.

She particularly loved comparing Ethan to me, because my grades were always lower than his.

But her reign of glory was over today.

Susan saw me, and though she smiled, her eyes weren't friendly.

"Lily, you're back! Nervous about the SATs tomorrow?"

I smiled politely.

"Not really."

A hint of sarcasm flickered in Susan's eyes.

"Oh, that's good. Try your best and aim for second place, maybe you can go to the same school as Ethan."

Ha, I could try, but the same school as Ethan was out of the question.

I didn't want to do college in jail.

I made some casual excuses and went to my room to study.

On my way, I heard Susan mutter.

"Lan, don't put too much pressure on Lily. Girls aren't as smart as boys, no matter how hard she tries, she can't catch up to Ethan. Her grades are good enough for a girl already…"