No Way Back to Summer

Ten years after I missed my shot at college, I was selling burgers from a street cart when I ran into Marisa Doyle. Her eyes fell on the empty pant leg where my left leg should have been, and she froze. I calmly bagged up her order and held it out. "That'll be ten dollars." She did not take it. Instead, she scanned the QR code taped to my cart, and my phone chimed with a notification. She had sent me a million dollars. "I never thought you'd end up like this. Back then... What I did to you was wrong. I gave your Wexley University acceptance letter to Tobias." Scalding grease spattered off the griddle and turned my arm red, but I did not feel a thing. Ten years earlier, Tobias Kerr had been brought home as the family's real son, and I had become the fake heir nobody needed anymore. Even my engagement to Marisa was handed over to him. Anger stung my eyes as I stared at the diamond ring on her finger, and my voice broke. "So now that it's all out, you get to feel better. What about me?" After losing my place at college, I was thrown out of the house. I scraped through community college and hit dead ends everywhere I turned. When I finally found a job that kept food on the table, a car accident took one of my legs. Just then, a runaway truck came barreling straight at me. Marisa lunged forward and shoved me out of the way. A second later, the truck slammed into her and sent her flying. In her final moments, she apologized to me. "I've paid back everything I owed you. Please don't hate me. If there's another life, don't love me again." Her blood splashed across my face. The moment her hand went limp, everything went black. When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day everything changed. Chapter 1 Ezra's POV The glaring red numbers on my printed SAT score report were proof enough. This was not a dream. I had really been reborn. My parents' ecstatic cheers rang in my ears. "That's our Tobias! I knew our boy was as good as anyone!" "Exactly! His grades might be bad most of the time, but when it counted, he beat his brother!" Marisa Doyle's smile was so doting it was practically spilling over. "He's my man. Of course he takes after me." I stood quietly in a corner where no one paid me any attention, and my heart grew colder by the second. In my past life, when I found out I had scored 790 on the SAT, I refused to believe it. I cried and made a scene, demanding that my test be rescored. I had been at the top of my class since I was a child and, in all three years of high school, I had never once dropped below second in my grade. There was no way I had failed to break 1,100. However, the moment my parents heard the word "rescore," they turned on me and slammed their hands on the table. "Rescore? Ezra, do you want all of Halverton to see how you've made a joke of yourself for 18 years, all because you can't let go of your pride?" When I learned Tobias Kerr had scored 1,520, I lost my mind and accused him of tampering with the results. That outburst was the last straw. My parents showed me no mercy, shipped me off to community college, and washed their hands of me for three years. Thinking of Marisa's confession before I died, I clenched my fists until they shook. "Mom, Dad, please don't be like this. Ezra didn't do well this time, so let's just skip my send-off party, okay?" Tobias gave me a look of feigned sympathy. "Ridiculous!" Dad barked. "I haven't even blamed him for cheating and embarrassing the Kerr family, yet he has the nerve to be upset?" Mom furrowed her brow as well. "You're too kind for your own good. Your brother would sell you out, and you'd thank him for it!" Marisa fixed her cold eyes on me in warning. "Ezra, this is the SAT. Are you really going to claim it was faked?" My fingers dug hard into my palms, but my expression did not change as I nodded. "I'll go to community college. I don't need your money." The three of them froze. Marisa frowned slightly. "Tobias got into Wexley University on his own merit. What's the point of sulking?" I scoffed inwardly. He was a slob who skipped class to sleep and spent every day partying. Some merit that was. Ignoring their suspicious looks, I turned and headed for my bedroom to pack. I had barely taken a step when Tobias rushed over and grabbed my hand, looking anxious. "Ezra! Don't be mad. I'll cancel the party, okay?" I frowned and was about to shake him off when someone pinched my arm hard, and Tobias fell straight backward with a cry. In the next instant, Marisa shoved me into the wooden cabinet. Liquor bottles shattered across the floor, and my palm came down hard on the broken glass. I sucked in a sharp breath because of the pain. Marisa's expression turned icy. "Ezra! How dare you push him! Admit it, you're just jealous of Tobias!" My parents rounded on me, red-faced with fury. "If you have a problem with us, take it out on us! What kind of person hits his own brother?" "Tobias has always been frail. If anything happens to him, you'll pay for it!" Tobias was so frantic that tears spilled down his face. "Mom, Dad, Mari, I fell by accident! Don't blame Ezra! He's hurt!" As if none of them had even seen my hand, the three of them rushed out and drove to the hospital. Chapter 2 I stared at their retreating backs, lowered my head, and laughed until the laughter turned into tears. They slid down and dripped onto the floor with my blood, and my heart throbbed with a sharp, stabbing ache. In my past life, once Tobias had been revealed as the real heir, Mom and Dad were so heartbroken over him that they would have given their own lives to make it up to him. Even when I was burning with a 104-degree fever and close to dying, they did not hesitate to take him to the Solmera Islands for a night of fun. It was Marisa who booked a red-eye flight home from a business meeting overseas and took me to the hospital. After that, even when I went to community college, she never left my side. Every week, she made time to work part-time jobs with me to help pay my tuition. The year I turned 20, she lit up the entire Halverton sky with fireworks and proposed to me. "Ezra Kerr! You're the one I've chosen for the rest of my life." I had not even come down from the joy of that proposal when a massive truck plowed into me as I was walking along the road and crushed my leg. After that, it had to be amputated. The news shattered my world and left me on the edge of despair. The gap between Marisa and me was already enormous, and my insecurity drove me to break up with her. She fought desperately to keep me for a whole year and, after that, she came to hate me completely. After the amputation, every day was a living hell. I often dragged my ruined leg all the way to her office in secret, just to catch a glimpse of her. It was only at the very end that I learned everything she had done for me came down to one thing, and that was guilt. Now, I numbly bandaged my wound and took a cab to a coffee shop nearby. Sitting across from me was an admissions officer from Wexley University, Paul Whitcombe. "Ezra, we'd be thrilled to welcome a talent like you to Wexley!" I nodded politely. "Mr. Whitcombe, before I accept, I'd like the university to keep my admission confidential." He agreed without hesitation. Afterward, I made a trip to a DNA testing center and submitted the materials for a paternity comparison. "The results will be ready in three days," the staff member told me. "We'll send you a notification." Whether Tobias was truly a Kerr or not, we would find out soon enough. When I got home, Tobias smirked and tossed a document at me. "This is Grandpa's inheritance transfer agreement. Hurry up and sign it for me, Ezra! "Oh, right. Mom says you have to give me Grandpa's pair of heirloom pocket watches too!" I glared at his smug, arrogant face, and my heart ached for the person I had been in my past life. Back then, after Tobias came home, guilt ate at me so badly that I bent over backward for him. Whatever he wanted, he got. Everyone else saw him as the poor kid from the farm, but only I knew how low I had groveled before him. When he asked for Grandpa's inheritance and heirlooms, I agonized over it before finally handing them over. In less than a month, he had blown through the entire inheritance by partying. With that in mind, I looked him dead in the eye. "I'm not signing." His eyes went wide. "Who do you think you are to tell me no? Don't push it, Ezra!" However, the moment Marisa walked over, his whole demeanor changed. "Mari, Mom wants Ezra to sign over Grandpa's inheritance, but he doesn't seem to want to..." Marisa frowned. "What are you making a fuss about now? The inheritance was always meant for your grandpa's real grandson. Ez, do you even understand where you stand anymore?" I could not be bothered to argue with her, so I turned and went to the kitchen to cook myself a meal. Marisa's lips twitched with suspicion. "Since when did you know how to cook? Copying Tobias is one thing, but there's a limit. He had to chop firewood to cook back in the countryside. Who are you putting on a show for, rich boy?" Anger spread through my entire body. In my past life, when I worked part-time washing dishes and waiting tables, Marisa would always rub lotion into my hands with such tenderness. However, she had only done it to make up for what Tobias had done. The thought turned my stomach. After I finished eating and washing the dishes, I went to put Grandpa's heirlooms away somewhere safe. Tobias's scream drilled into my ears. Then Marisa carried over a box of smashed pocket watches and threw it down in front of me. "Ezra! You'd rather break the heirlooms and frame Tobias than give them to him?" I froze. Then my head snapped up, my eyes bloodshot, and I slapped Tobias. "Tobias, I told you. Grandpa is off-limits!" His eyes went red, and he dropped to his knees, begging me. "Ezra, I'm sorry, please don't hit me..." I was about to keep arguing with him when Mom grabbed my arm and slapped me. "Ezra! Those were your grandfather's heirlooms! He treated you like the apple of his eye, yet you just smashed them?" Dad roared at me in fury. "It's bad enough that you broke them, but you have the nerve to frame your brother! What more do you want from this family?" Every word from Mom and Dad chilled me to the bone. I had not said a single thing, yet they had already decided it was me. Marisa looked down at me with disdain. "Mr. Kerr, doesn't this family have rules for people who do things like this?" A wave of unease hit me, and I struggled to back away. Dad let out a disappointed sigh. "Stanley, bring me my belt!" Chapter 3 When the belt was held out in front of me, I still had not recovered from the shock. Before, if I so much as tripped, Dad would blame himself for a month. Mom had always treated me like the light of her life. If anyone in Halverton said a single word against me, Marisa always had my back. Now the three of them were going to punish me for the sake of someone who had been part of this family for less than a year? "Mom, Dad! If he has to be punished, let me do it! I don't want Ezra to hate you!" Tobias sounded sincere, but the look he gave me was smug. I dug my fingers into my palms and forced the words out through gritted teeth. "If you don't believe me, check the security footage in Grandpa's room!" Marisa let out a cold laugh. "Even now, you're still trying to frame Tobias? Tobias, get up. I'll do it myself." Before she could move, Tobias raised his hand and brought the belt down across my back. It cracked through the air with a sharp snap, and the pain made me double over instantly. "Hang in there, Ezra. If Mari were the one doing this, you'd be dead!" His words were gentle, but every blow was brutal enough to nearly kill me. I clenched my jaw and swallowed the metallic taste of blood again and again. By the time all 99 lashes were over, my face had gone deathly pale, and I collapsed onto the floor. Mom and Dad looked conflicted, and Marisa was the first to soften her voice. "Does it really hurt that much? Tobias went easy on you in front of everyone. What more do you want? I'll take you to the hospital." Suddenly, Tobias whined, "Mari, my hand hurts so much from hitting him." She had been walking toward me, but she turned away at once. Once again, the three of them fussed over Tobias as they left. I lay curled up on the floor, my back covered in a horrifying crisscross of bloody welts. The butler, Stanley Rusk, inhaled slowly and spoke, "Mr. Ezra, if you had just apologized like you used to, none of this would've happened." A bitter smile tugged at my lips. I slowly lifted my head and looked at the family portrait on the wall. I was the only one missing from it. In my past life, I had endured every step of the way. I endured until I lost my leg. I endured three years of bullying and ridicule at community college. I endured until the boy genius I had once been was reduced to selling burgers from a street cart. Had they given me a chance back then? Stanley took me to the hospital. When the doctor saw the wounds covering my back, he could hardly bear to look. "How did your back end up like this? Where's your family? Didn't anyone call the police?" I shook my head in silence. Family? I had lost mine the day Tobias came home. On my way back to my room, I passed Tobias' door and suddenly heard a familiar voice. "Mari, so what you're saying is, if Ezra doesn't call off the engagement, you'll have someone break his leg while he's working his part-time job in college? "Knowing Ezra, he'll decide he's not good enough for you. Mari, you're brilliant!" I froze on the spot as a cold, dead hatred swept through me. So in my past life, the drunk driver who crushed my leg had been Marisa's doing. Tears welled in my eyes. I pressed a hand to my chest and laughed until my vision blurred. To think I had believed Marisa truly did not mind what I had become. We had been childhood friends for ten years, and none of it had meant a thing to her. I returned to my room in a daze. Not long after, Marisa came in carrying a bowl of soup. "It's your favorite. You've been through a lot today." I did not touch it. I only stared at her, my eyes red. "Marisa, let's break up." The bowl slipped from her hands and shattered on the floor. She looked up, stunned. "What did you say?" I repeated it calmly. "We're breaking up. Do you not understand?" Her eyes suddenly reddened, and she gripped my wrist hard, biting out every word. "Ezra, say that one more time. I dare you." I was about to, but a young nurse hurried over with a frown. "Your boyfriend needs his IV put back in. What are you doing in here?" Marisa gave me a conflicted look, then left without a moment's hesitation. There it was. Even something as big as a breakup meant nothing next to Tobias. Over the next few days, news of Tobias scoring 1,520 on the SAT spread all over Halverton. Rich kids from the city's elite circles came and went from the Kerr estate every day, while I stayed in the hospital to recover. Every now and then, Marisa sent me a text, the way someone might try to coax a stubborn dog back to heel. I ignored her and blocked her number. It was not until Tobias's send-off party that he came over with his arm around Marisa. At the time, I was helping a woman fit her prosthetic leg. Seeing how practiced my movements were, Marisa let out an angry laugh. "It’s no wonder you've been ignoring me. You already found my replacement." With no regard for my reputation, she sneered at the woman. "Ezra gave me his first time a long time ago. You're just the nice girl picking up my leftovers." I raised my eyes and calmly set down the tools in my hand. "Marisa, when your mind is in the gutter, everything looks dirty to you." "Excuses." Marisa scoffed, but her eyes stayed locked on me. "The reporters are going to interview Tobias in a bit. When they ask you questions, you'd better answer the way you're supposed to. Otherwise, I really will think about breaking up with you." Tobias stuck his tongue out at me smugly. As I watched him get carried away with himself, I remembered that Marisa had threatened me the same way in my past life. I had been so afraid she would really leave me that I agreed to cover for Tobias in front of the reporters. That same day, I had worked out a second solution to one of the world's hardest math problems, yet all the credit went to Tobias. He became famous overnight, while I was branded a cheater for the rest of my life. This time, that would not happen. Chapter 4 I sat off to the side and waited patiently. When Tobias had finally finished bragging, a reporter eagerly pulled out a math problem. "Tobias, we heard you got a perfect score on the SAT math section and solved the hardest problem with a method that goes beyond calculus. Could you show us how you'd solve this similar problem right here?" Tobias glanced at me and nodded confidently. "Of course." He picked up a pen and started scribbling aimlessly. At first, everyone waited with curiosity, but the longer he dragged it out, the stranger it became. His palms were drenched in sweat, and he kept shooting me vicious looks. I leisurely sipped my juice. Half an hour passed, and Tobias still could not come up with a single line. The reporter awkwardly tried to smooth it over, but the guests had already started pointing and whispering. "Some boy genius! He probably paid his way to that score." "His brother's the real genius. For all we know, he stole his brother's scores!" Tobias could not take it anymore and stormed out in a rage. The moment he was gone, the reporters swarmed me. I glanced at the problem just once and answered offhandedly. "36%." The reporter checked it against the answer key again and again, then clapped in shock. "That's exactly right!" The professors and scholars attending the party began humbly asking me how I had solved it. I walked them through it step by step, leaving everyone speechless. I was in the middle of explaining when Marisa stormed over, scowling, and dragged me away. "Ezra! You just love being the center of attention, don't you? Do you have any idea that Tobias ran off to the countryside because of you? A group of thugs almost hurt him on the way there!" I wrenched myself free of her grip. "What are you so worked up about? If he really knew his stuff, he would've answered it by now. Unless the two of you..." Before I could finish, Mom charged up, eyes blazing, and hurled her handbag at me. "You heartless animal! Nobody knows if your brother is dead or alive, yet you're still here showing off your stupid math!" The sharp metal clasp of the bag slashed my cheek, and the pain brought tears to my eyes. Everything I had been holding back finally came pouring out. "Mom, what about me? I'm your son too!" Mom froze, but she still snapped at me harshly. "Get to the hospital and apologize to your brother!" At that moment, the DNA results came through on my phone. [Tobias Kerr and the Kerr family share a 0% genetic relationship.] My hands shook violently. I was about to rush forward and tell Mom the truth, but I had barely taken a step when a sharp pain struck the back of my head, and I blacked out. When I came to, I was surrounded by Marisa's friends. They teased me as they gripped my throat, grinning with amusement. "Mari, are you really going to let us make your little boyfriend drink?" Marisa sat in the shadows, her voice as cold as ice. "He put Tobias in a coma. Does he really think an apology is enough? Make him drink. It's just an alcohol allergy. It won't kill him." Terrified, I tried to scream for help, but they no longer held back. They grabbed every kind of liquor they could find and poured it down my throat. After 50 glasses of burning alcohol, my stomach felt like it was on fire. Before I lost consciousness, I called Mom and Dad for help. A cold voice pierced my ears. "Ezra! Where the hell are you? We told you to apologize to Tobias. Get over here now!" "Mom, I'm dying..." She scoffed. "You're still putting on an act!" The line went dead. Then a voice message from Tobias came through, taunting me. "Ezra, I bet you didn't know. Getting you drunk was Mom and Dad's idea!" Hatred pushed me to my breaking point. I held up the DNA results and screamed at Marisa. "Marisa! Look at this! I'm the real Kerr heir!" In the next second, she stomped on my phone and smashed it to pieces. "Ezra, you've been lying for so long that you actually believe it yourself!" I looked at her, let out a loud laugh, and passed out. When I woke up again, two months had gone by. In those two months, I had been forgotten in the ICU while Marisa and my parents took Tobias traveling all over the country. On the first day of the semester, they dropped me off at the community college admissions office. Marisa said impatiently, "Tobias was worried you'd wear yourself out, so he found some people to help you." Mom and Dad lectured me coldly. "From now on, you're on your own. We're done taking care of you." A lump rose in my throat, and I turned away without a word. The moment they left, the upperclassmen led me around a few corners until we reached a small patch of woods. I suddenly realized something was wrong. I was about to run when someone grabbed me by the back of the neck. The guys grinned and rubbed their hands together. "Where do you think you're going, freshman? Your brother already handed you over to us." I let out a desperate scream, but they clamped a hand over my mouth and nose and dragged me deep into the trees. … Third Person's POV At the Wexley University admissions office, Richard Kerr and Susan Ellery wiped away tears as they said goodbye to their son, Tobias. The admissions officer looked at the photo on Tobias's ID, and his expression suddenly turned serious. "Halverton's top scorer already registered a long time ago. Why are you pretending to be him?"