Chereads / Echoes of my past self / Chapter 4 - Starting over

Chapter 4 - Starting over

Third-person POV:

"It's okay, the news was bound to make its appearance sooner or later." Samantha forced a smile on her face. Shane said nothing, he just looks away and change the channel. Instead of the depressing news of Samantha's death, there's a comedy show on TV.

"It must be hard to lose everything on one day, your family, your friends, everything you've worked for." Shane was deep in thought while Samantha did her best to stay positive. "It's tough, but I believe that everything happens for a reason." She smiles, and this time it's a genuine smile. "I see..." A smile crept on Shane's face, he looks at the time and stands up.

"I wish I could spend more time with you but, I need to get back to work." He was about to walk away when Samantha stopped him. "Wait!" She grabbed his sleeve, and just for a second, he looked surprised. "What's the matter?" He turns towards her. "I was judging for a while now but, Shouldn't I be in school?" for a second his expression turned a little grim but he quickly smiles. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot that you were still in school. But, Are you sure that you want to go to school? I mean, you can become the best violinist in the entire continent if you wanted to."

Samantha shook her head. "I may become the best violinist, but that doesn't mean that I can just skip school!" Shane sighs in defeat. "Okay, so where do you want to go to school?" Samantha thought about it for a second, and then she faced Shane.

"Well..., There is only one school nearby, isn't there?" She had a bitter smile on her face, Shane immediately knew what she meant. "It doesn't matter, you don't have to go to that school if you don't want to." Samantha was wondering why Shane was so nice to her, well, it wasn't like she was complaining or anything. "Although I am no longer the Samantha I once was thanks to my new appearance, I would be glad if I could at least be close to the people who were once close to me."

She looked away from Shane. "I know what I'm asking is crazy, but even though I'm not the same Samantha, that doesn't mean I can't be around my friends and family." Shane gave it a deep thought before speaking again.

"Well, who am I to stop you?" He chuckles before turning serious again. "I worry that people will become suspicious of you because you act very similar to "Samantha". You don't know what will happen if people become suspicious of you. But I will at least try to protect you if anything goes wrong." He smiles gently after saying that. "Why are you so nice to me? I have nothing to offer..." Samantha couldn't help but ask the same question again.

And just for a moment there was sadness in his eyes. "I don't know..." That's all he said before leaving. "Did I hurt him? I didn't mean to..." But no one heard what Samantha said, only silence accompanied her in the living room.

- The next day

The alarm went off. "5 more minutes..." Samantha tries to turn off the alarm, but she stops midway "Wait, I don't remember setting any alarms, there's an event today that I haven't heard about yet?". As she pounder over this someone knocks on the door. "Wake up sleeping beauty. It's time for you to get ready for school." All the sleepiness that Samantha had a moment ago left. "Did I just heard him right?" She though before Shane knocks on the door again. "Samantha, are you awake? Don't tell me that you are still sleeping..." She gets out of bed.

"No, I'm awake now." She gets out of bed and Shane chuckles. "Can I open the door?" "Sure." He opens the door, he is holding some school uniforms. "Wait, are those what I think they are?" Shane casually places the uniforms on Samantha's bed. "Yep, you can choose the one you want to use for today. Besides, why do you look so surprised?"

"I didn't expect you to sign me up for school so quickly." Samantha mumbles while looking away, and Shane messes with her hair. "Hey!" Shane chuckles again. "Now get ready for school, I will be waiting for you at the dinning table." He left the room leaving Samantha alone with her thoughts. "Shane never ceases to amaze me..." she mumbles as she gets ready for school.

Shane drives Samantha to school. They were quiet in the car, but it was not an uncomfortable silence, but a peaceful one. Finally Shane reaches the school, it's been only 2 days since Samantha stopped going to school, and yet, she felt nostalgic. "It feels nostalgic to be back here." She looks at the school, there was sadness in her eyes. "Are you gonna be okay?" Shane asks worried. "Don't worry, I will be fine." "Oh yeah, before I leave, your name is going to be Lilith. I hope that that's okay with you..." Samantha remembers the first time Shane called her like that:

Samantha was deep in thought. Zero finally notices her.

"Oh! Who are you miss?" he asks. "Stay away from Lilith, Zero!" Shane's tone turns a little aggressive, he grabs Samantha by the wrist and drags her away. Despite him being irritated, he gently drags Samantha away from Zero.

"It's fine, you actually saved me the effort of choosing a new name actually." Shane leaned close to Samantha but he backed away before Samantha notices. "See ya later." He smiles. Shane drives away and Samantha walked inside the school. The air on the school was in between lively and gloomy, after all, one of their students was killed, and how was she killed? It remains a mystery.

As she walks the long hallways she notices that the other students were staring at her. They looked at her from top to bottom, it felt like they were wolves and she was their prey. Samantha felt both irritated and uncomfortable. "What's wrong with people! They look as if they have never seen a new student before!" Samantha tried her best to ignore them and picks up the pace. She went to her classroom and sat down on the furthest desk possible as she didn't want to be the center of attention. As she waited for class to begin, her ex-boyfriend entered the classroom. She tensed, and watched him out of the corner of her eye. He was surrounded by gloom, and he had dark circles under his eyes.

Samantha didn't knew how to feel about him after what happened 2 days ago. Well, whether she forgave him or not didn't actually mattered, it's not like they would talk during the school year. As soon as she looks away from the pitiful scene, the ball rang. As soon as the teacher walks in, the classroom goes quiet. "Good morning students, I have an important announcement to make. There is a new student, please stand up and introduce yourself to your classmates." Samantha stood up, and all eyes were on her. She stood in front of the class and smiled. "My previous self was all shy, and she wasn't the most positive person in the classroom, this new self needs to be the opposite." This is what she told herself before speaking. "My name is Lilith, I hope me all get along!" "Awwww" that's all the student said. This made her feel a little uncomfortable, but she decided to go along with it.

"Please sit down on your desk." The teacher turns to the other students "And I hope that the male students aren't thinking of flirting with our new student." She said this with a stern expression on her face, making every single male student to suddenly gulp. "So this is the type of teacher that my ex has... Wait, why am I thinking about this?" She shook her head and sat on her desk. During the lesson Samantha felt that the teacher was watching her. Almost every time she looked at him he looked away. Samantha asked the teacher to go to the bathroom, and the teacher gave her permission. She rushed out of the bathroom and picked up her phone to dial Shane's number. As soon as she was about to call Shane someone else enters the classroom, she turns around and her phone is taken away. "!" Samantha was about to scream but her mouth is covered.