Sink or Swim, I'm Done Saving Them

Eleanor's POV

The day we submitted our college applications, Chloe cried a little, and that was all it took. My two childhood best friends were ready to throw away their shot at the Ivy League and follow her to a community college.

Nothing I said got through to them, so I went behind their backs and called their parents.

Their parents rushed over that same night and made them switch their applications back, which put both boys on track again.

But that also meant Chloe lost two walking wallets who came running whenever she called.

Late one night, she posted a goodbye message online and swallowed a whole bottle of pills.

Brody and Wyatt never once considered that maybe Chloe just couldn't handle the pressure. They pinned all of it on me.

They invited me out on a yacht, and while I was standing by the rail, they both shoved me over the side.

"Eleanor, you ruined Chloe's future. Now you can go keep her company!"

The freezing water swallowed me whole. I kicked and fought with everything I had, but all I could do was watch the lights on the boat get farther and farther away.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day the nightmare started.

This time, I wasn't going to care who lived or died.

"Eleanor? Hello? I've been saying your name forever."

A soft, sweet voice spoke right next to me.

I jolted, my chest heaving.

There were no crashing waves, no seawater flooding my lungs. Just the AC overhead, humming along and blowing cold air.

The Common App login page was still glowing on my screen.

I was actually back on the day we submitted our applications. Back when there was still time to change everything.

"Eleanor, can you please talk some sense into them?"

Chloe sat at the computer next to mine, rubbing her red eyes, her voice thick with tears.

"With my grades, community college is the best I can do. But Brody and Wyatt got such amazing SAT scores, and they're saying they want to go with me... How could I hold them back like that?"

She sniffled again. "But if I have to go somewhere new all by myself, I honestly don't think I'll make it..."

She said she didn't want to hold them back, but she was clutching Wyatt's sleeve like she had no intention of ever letting go.

Her eyes were lowered, her shoulders trembling. Any guy who saw her like that would want to step in and protect her.

In my last life, this was the exact moment Wyatt and Brody changed their applications.

I'd panicked and argued with them until I was blue in the face. When no one listened, I ran out into the hallway to call their parents, and in the end I got their applications switched back to the Ivies.

I did everything I could to pull them back, and my reward was dying at the bottom of the ocean.

Sure enough, Wyatt had already taken Chloe's hand in his.

"Don't be silly. No school matters more than what the four of us have. I'm changing mine right now. We'll go together."

Brody jumped in too. "Yeah, who cares about the Ivy League? If you're not there, what's even the point?"

"There's no way I'm leaving you behind."

Watching the three of them act like they were making some tragic sacrifice for love, I almost laughed out loud.

Let them choose their own lives.

If they wanted to bet their futures on this, I wasn't going to stop them this time.

Maybe because I still hadn't said anything, Chloe bit her lip and hesitated for a moment. Then she suddenly grabbed my arm.

"Eleanor, why don't you apply to the same school as us? You're so smart. You'd do great anywhere."

"The four of us have always been inseparable. I really don't want us to split up. Please?"

She claimed she'd miss me, but what she really wanted was to drag everyone down to her level.

She was using other people's futures to prop up her fragile ego.

I pulled my arm out of her grip, my eyes still on the screen.

"What you guys put on your applications is your business. I'm staying out of it."

All three of them froze.

They'd gotten so used to me trailing behind them and cleaning up their messes. They probably never imagined I'd just stand back and watch.

"But I'm not putting a community college on mine."

I stood up and grabbed my bag. "This is a big decision. I need to go home and talk it over with my parents."

The second I turned around, Wyatt and Brody traded a look.

One of them blocked the door. The other planted himself right beside me.