Chapter 3: Her Little Brother

Sophia had been waiting for a chance to go and find her brother, but she hadn't expected him to turn up here.

"His family suffered a terrible loss. His older sister was burned to death in a fire. It was just him and his sister in the family. Now it's just him, poor boy. And he has to organize his sister's funeral all alone." Mrs. Acheson sighed.

Sophia Green had died two months ago. The funeral should have happened by now. She thought that it was probably because she had died abnormally that her body must have had to go through a series of procedures, like an autopsy, for them to investigate the cause of her death, and that was what had caused the delay.

Director Bull was silent for a while and nodded.

"Well, ask him if he wants to apply for a student loan. He just needs to have certification. He's an orphan now, and it's easy enough to apply."

"He's not technically an orphan. He does have a stepmother. But she was bad for him and his sister, so they had just moved out. The school's student loan quota is limited. I've told him about it before, but he said he doesn't want to be difficult and would never apply for it voluntarily. But I'll ask him later." Mrs. Acheson said.

Director Bull signed the note and gave it back to Mrs. Acheson, saying, "Comfort the kid. Poor boy."

"Don't be too hard on this one." Mrs. Acheson said as she took the note, gesturing towards Sophia.

Director Bull waved his hands, dismissively, "I won't."

Mrs. Acheson turned and left the office.

Sophia Green remembered that she had seen Kevin Green on the morning of her accident and said goodbye to him when he left home. She had never expected that that would be a forever goodbye.

Kevin Green was a very sweet child. He started to take care of Sophia Green when he was very young. Even when he went to high school, he always came home early, just to care for his sister.

Sophia Green loved her brother and wanted to do everything she could to protect him. If Kevin was asking permission to leave, that must mean he was in school now. Sophia stood up. She wanted to go and check on him.

"Where are you going?" Director Bull saw Sophia Green leaving his office and hurriedly called out to her, "You haven't finished your test yet. Don't you want to come back to school?"

"I've done enough to get ninety points," she said. She didn't even look back.

As she strode out the door, she saw that Mrs. Acheson was not far away, and she ran after her.

"Sophia, what are you doing? Didn't Director Bull ask you to do that test?" Mrs. Acheson asked as Sophia caught up to her.

"I want to check on Kevin Green." Sophia said, "Students should take care of each other. After all, we're at the same school, and we'll be classmates soon."

She didn't mention the test, and Mrs. Acheson didn't ask either. College entrance papers were completely beyond Sophia Green's aptitude level. She probably hadn't been able to figure anything out and had just given up. If that was the case, Director Bull probably wouldn't allow her to study in 11th grade but make her stay in sophomore for another year.

Mrs. Acheson smiled. "How considerate of you. Okay. You can try and comfort him. You are about the same age and probably have lots of things to talk about."

She didn't think Sophia Green would be in the same class as Kevin. Colin High School had an advanced class. After midterms, the top students in each year would be assigned to the advanced class. Kevin Green, who was always in the top 30 of his grade, was sure to get in. But Sophia … it would be a miracle if she even passed Director Bull's test.

They soon arrived at Mrs. Acheson's office, and Sophia, with one glance, saw Kevin waiting beside Mrs. Acheson's desk.

Kevin Green had just turned seventeen this year. He was tall and thin. It had been two months since his sister's death, and he seemed calm. After all, it was a reality. Whether he accepted it or not, nothing could change the fact.

Sophia Green looked at him and felt sad. She knew she couldn't tell him the truth that she was still alive, just in a different way. It was so weird, so improbable that no one would believe her. People might just think she was crazy.

And more than that, she wasn't sure how long she could stay in this body. It was all so irrational and unscientific that it made her feel quite uncertain. If she was destined to leave again, she would rather no one had ever known about it at all.

"Your note." Mrs. Acheson handed it to Kevin Green, "If there is anything I can do, please tell me. I will try my best to help you."

"We are classmates. I'll help you out, too." Sophia walked over and patted him on the shoulder.

Kevin looked puzzled at first, looked up and asked in a low voice, "You are…"

"I'm Sophia Green. I was one grade higher than you."

"I…, my sister's name was Sophia Green. What a coincidence." Kevin was shocked and stared at her eyes for a moment.

Somehow, he had an inexplicable sense of intimacy when he looked at this girl.

Sophia Green pretended to be surprised. "Really? That is a coincidence. Well, I'll take care of you from now on. Come to me if you need anything."

"You have a thing for being a boss, don't you, Sophia?" Mrs. Acheson said with a bitter smile.

Her words triggered something in her mind. She searched her alternate memory for her past behavior at school and was shocked at what she found.

As Mrs. Acheson said, the previous Sophia Green was a "boss" -- the leader of a girl gang.

Two years ago, the other Sophia Green had had ahead of strange hair and wore a pimped up, altered school uniform. She led a group of girls to bully her classmates, skip class and chill out in internet cafes. They'd done almost everything that was forbidden by the school.

After her father's death, her mother had indulged her so much that she had run riot. Though Kate had tried to persuade her many times to be good, she wouldn't listen at all.

Her family was not rich, and so usually, Kate couldn't give her much money. In order to get the pocket money she wanted, she often made her friends stop other students on their way back home to get money off them. Many of her friends were rich kids, and they just followed her blindly. Naturally, almost all of the money they got was given to Sophia and became her snack money.

At Colin High School, Sophia Green was seen as a monster.

It seemed that Director Bull didn't want her to return to school for some other reasons than just bad grades.

Sophia Green had lain in bed for two years, and Kate had cut her hair short for convenience. Now it was the hairstyle of a neat pupil. Her old school uniform had been damaged in the car accident, and so before coming into school, she had found a simple white T-shirt in the wardrobe and some black trousers, and she looked neat and tidy. She was ready for a new start.