I am dead.

Only before my death do I realize that I am the sidekick in a tragic coming-of-age story, while my best friend Tinsley Wood is the female lead.

I am destined to be disgraced and meet a miserable end, all to highlight her innocence, kindness, and endless good luck.

When I open my eyes again, I am reborn on the very first day Tinsley asks me to take the blame for her.

It was a sticky summer day. I woke up drenched in cold sweat, sitting in class.

The dark green chalkboard blurred before my eyes as our elderly math teacher shot me an annoyed look. The bell rang, and he gathered his books and left.

A hand with long, clean fingers reached over from my side, holding a couple of pieces of tissue. A calm, pleasant male voice sounded above my head.

"Hey, are you okay?"

That voice snapped me fully awake. I looked around and realized that I was in my familiar high school classroom!

I was reborn!

…

I was a random sidekick in a tragic teen novel and the best friend of the female lead, Tinsley Wood.

When she learned to smoke, I saved up my allowance just to buy her cigarettes, only to get yelled at by Asher Kane, the male lead, who was all entangled with her. He pointed in my face and screamed that I'd led her astray.

When Tinsley's grades tanked, I stopped studying just to keep her company, so I ended up at a vocational school when my average grades would have earned me a better choice.

When she contracted an STD after sleeping with a local thug, I took the blame for her and endured judgmental whispers and looks from people around us.

When the star-crossed leads finally had their happy ending and moved abroad, I stayed behind to raise the child she'd had with the thug.

I did all of that until the thug was released from prison. When he couldn't find her, he took his rage out on me by driving one stab straight into my stomach and plunging the knife deep.

…

Gasping for air, I took the tissues. Before I could even say thank you, a loud, jeering voice boomed from the back of the class.

A group of teenagers started whistling crudely. "Hey, Tinsley! Why is there blood on your butt?"

I whipped my head around, while Tinsley, with her neat short hair, instinctively looked at me. She clenched her hands around the blood-stained school jacket tied around her waist.

"N-No, it wasn't me! This jacket is Gia's; she's bleeding!"

Tinsley was undeniably beautiful. She had soft, short hair brushing past her ears, a perfectly oval face, and smooth skin. Her figure was so well-developed that she made the teenage boys, who were in the middle of their puberty, swallow hard.

Her eyes were expressive, almost like they could speak. And right now, those big, pretty eyes were locked onto mine pleadingly, as if she was saying, "Help me like you always do, Gia Fletcher. Claim the blood stains and take on these cruel jokes."

Under the collective gaze of the class, I stood up, pulled my jacket out from under my desk, and put it on. Then, I turned to my seatmate, Henry Summers, and said, "Close the window. I'm going to take a nap."

After I lay back down, the room went silent for a beat before a louder explosion of laughter broke out.

"Look! Gia's wearing her own jacket!"

"What are you embarrassed about, Tinsley?"

Asher was the one leading the teasing. "Didn't your hostess mom give you money for tampons? Ask me nicely, and I'll buy some for you."

The teenagers laughed like a flock of geese, and their taunts mixed with Tinsley's soft, embarrassed protests.

I stayed face-down in my arms and felt completely unmoved. There wasn't even a spark of justice or sympathy because now, I knew that Tinsley was enjoying every second of it.

In my past life, I'd hidden my jacket, walked over to her, and put on that damp, blood-stained piece, while the teenagers laughed and the ladies whispered in hushed voices.

I stood there in the blazing summer heat, wrapped in a cheap, suffocating uniform. I'd carried all her shame and secrets of adolescence with my head held high, thinking I was some kind of hero.

That evening after school, I ran into Tinsley, whom I'd just shielded. She was in the woods behind the school buildings, passionately kissing Asher, who'd led the teasing against her earlier.

Her voice was soft and breathy as she called his name over and over again.

As I listened to them, I realized that my act of justice earlier that day had been nothing more than a bet to them. Tinsley had bet that I'd be stupid enough to put on that stained jacket.

I tossed my trash into the can with a loud clang, right as her hand was slipping into Asher's pants. They scrambled like startled birds, but they couldn't see me through the dense trees as I turned to leave.

The next day, I went to the restroom with her and saw her pull out a beautifully packaged tampon from her pocket. I said, "The brand my mom buys for me is good too. It's clean."

Tinsley waved the tampon in my face, and a faint fragrance wafted into my nose,

"But those are cheap," she said with a smug smile. "This one's different, see? It even smells nice."

I thought I was a hero, but it turned out that I'd just been playing the clown this whole time.

"Screw you, Tinsley," I muttered under my breath.

…

That evening after school, Tinsley came to me again. She needed a favor, so she acted as if she'd completely forgotten what happened earlier in the afternoon.

"Please, Gia. I'm begging you," she cooed, tugging on my arm and blinking her eyes at me. Then, she shoved a broom into my arms and skipped out the door.

Someone was waiting for her in the hallway, wearing a pair of limited-edition black-and-white sneakers that cost 2,000 dollars a pair. Mom would have to sell fish for a month to make that much.

Only Asher, the son of the local fishery tycoon, could afford shoes like that.

The wind caught the white curtains in class. I looked around, let out a cold laugh, and dropped the broom. After slinging my backpack over my shoulder, I was ready to head home when I ran straight into Henry, who'd just returned from washing the mop.

Tall and lean, he froze for a second, then quickly snapped out of it and said, "You can't leave, Gia. You have to stay for cleaning duty."

I looked up at his eyes under his messy bangs, which were slightly upturned in the corners. In my mind, I searched my memories of him, but couldn't find a single connection between him and Tinsley.

That was rare. He was good-looking, yet managed to stay invisible around her, while focusing only on his books and studies.

"It's Tinsley's turn today. From now on, I'm not covering for her anymore, so you can find her yourself," I said, pointing to the duty roster on the wall.

He suddenly grabbed my wrist, and there was a strange touch from his slightly calloused palm.

While I was dumbstruck, he stuffed the mop into my hands, like he hadn't heard a word I'd just said. "I'll sweep first, and you'll mop after I'm done, or I won't make it in time."

"In time for what?" I asked.

He glanced at me and hesitated before finally answering, "I have a tutoring gig to get to."

My memories of him were so sparse that I'd forgotten he had decent grades and that his family was struggling, even poorer than mine.

As we talked, he finished sweeping, grabbed his bag, and left.

I was left alone in the huge class, getting more annoyed as I mopped. Finally, I turned around and headed downstairs to the security office and told the guard, who was casually snacking on popcorn.

"Sir, I'd like to report a guy harassing a female student in the woods behind the building right now.

"What? Seriously? I'll check it out right now!"

A balding, middle-aged man at the other end of the desk jumped up in shock. It was the dean of students, Arthur Biggs.

Well, that was an unexpected bonus.

The portly security guard and his equally portly nephew, Arthur, followed me as I led them on a zigzag path behind the school buildings toward the woods.

We fanned out and crept into the dense trees with Arthur moving surprisingly lightly like a wild cat.

"He must've done this before." I thought.

Without my interference, things between Tinsley and Asher had clearly escalated.

Soon, he appeared in front of us with his pants off and impatiently rubbed his hands over Tinsley's gorgeous lace lingerie, while she was facing us. Her eyes went wide, and her entire body stiffened.

This was fun.

As the security guard roared and covered my eyes, a wicked smile spread across my face. The star-crossed lovers were about to have their day under interrogation.

Tinsley was best at crying. Right on cue, tears streamed down her beautiful eyes like a summer downpour.

As she cried, so did I.

She pointed at me and yelled, "Gia, explain! Why are you doing this to harm me?"

"Oh, Tinsley," I said. "Why would I ever harm you? I'm your best friend!

"You always told me Asher's just a rich idiot and that you didn't like him at all. You've always said that you hated him for bringing up the fact that your mom's a bar hostess…"

"...Stop talking!" She tried to stop me.

Asher's and Arthur's expressions grew darker with every word we said.

Finally, Asher snapped, "I didn't harass Tinsley, and she came with me of her own free will! This is just a school crush at most, so why am I the only one taking the fall!"

I wiped my tears and bit my lip to keep myself from laughing out loud.

"Oh, look at your male lead, Tinsley. Look at all that manly responsibility," I thought ironically.

When Arthur looked over at me, I asked, "If you didn't force her, why would she go to the woods with you when she hates you so much?"

Asher sneered. "Mind your own business, Gia. When have I ever forced her?"

I pointed at Tinsley and replied, "You bought her expensive lingerie and forced her to make out with you. Doesn't that count?"

Tinsley didn't have a dad. Her mom was a bar hostess, one before she was born, and she still was now. They lived in a cycle of mutual shame.

Every bra she'd ever worn through puberty had been a gift from me. But one day, she flicked the clasp on my bra and laughed at how old-fashioned mine was.

I never asked how Asher knew her size.

He arrogantly lifted his chin and snapped back, "Who said I bought those? Do you have proof?

"She's a slut, so maybe she begged some other guy to buy them.

"She's just as cheap as her bar hostess mom and comes crawling to me with a single snap of my fingers. Why would I even need to force her?"

Arthur had heard enough. He slapped Asher's face and told him to shut up, while Tinsley lowered her head and stared at her shoes, twisting her fingers in silence.

There it was again, the same old act.

Whenever things got messy, she went mute and acted as if I were her designated spokesperson. She probably had no idea how much trouble I could stir with my mouth.

"In that case, why is your backpack full of the same tampons Tinsley just used?"

Asher went pale. Something seemed to cross his mind, but he quickly spread his hands and scoffed. "What backpack? What are you talking about?"

"Excuse me."

A teenager suddenly appeared at the door, leaning against the frame and bent slightly over as he gasped for air. His pale face was flushed from intense running.

"Mr. Biggs, I found two backpacks near the woods," Henry said.