The Reputation Rehabilitation

The problem with transmigrating into the body of a high school villainess was the inertia of hatred.

The next morning, Maya walked into the Oakridge High cafeteria carrying a Tupperware container. The cafeteria fell silent. It was like a scene from a nature documentary where the predator enters the watering hole.

According to the book, Bella usually spent lunch terrorizing the scholarship students or complaining about the carb content of the pizza.

Maya marched straight to the table occupied by the Varsity Hockey team.

The boys stopped eating. They looked at her with wariness bordering on fear.

Liam, however, lit up. He stood immediately, knocking his chair back.

"Bella!" He looked around at his teammates as if daring them to not stand up too. "Hey. Sit here."

"Hi," Maya said. She set the Tupperware down on the table. "I made cookies."

Silence. Absolute, terrified silence.

Davey, the backup goalie, poked the container with a plastic fork. "Are they... like... a prank?"

"They're chocolate chip," Maya said. "With sea salt. I was stressed last night, so I baked. Eat them before they get stale."

She popped the lid. The smell of brown sugar and butter wafted out.

Liam reached in immediately. "Thanks, Bell." He took a bite and moaned. "Guys, these are legit."

Slowly, like wild animals accepting food from a human, the team descended. Within seconds, the cookies were gone.

"So," Maya said, pulling a notebook out of her designer bag. "I was looking at the bracket for the regionals. If we win Friday, we play North Shore, right?"

"Yeah," Liam said, wiping crumbs from his chin, looking at her with total adoration. "You checked the bracket?"

"I'm invested," Maya shrugged.

Just then, a girl walked by. She had frizzy brown hair, glasses, and was carrying a stack of library books.

Sarah. The Original Heroine. The girl who was supposed to comfort Liam after Bella broke his heart.

In the book, Bella tripped Sarah in this exact scene, spilling soup all over her.

Maya stood up. Sarah flinched, clutching her books to her chest, bracing for impact.

"Sarah!" Maya called out.

Sarah squeezed her eyes shut. "I didn't mean to walk by your table, Bella. I'm sorry."

"I just wanted to say I liked your essay in English yesterday," Maya said loud enough for the table to hear. "The point about *Gatsby* being a cautionary tale about capitalism? brilliance."

Sarah opened one eye. "You... you were listening?"

"I listen," Maya said. "Nice sweater, by the way. Yellow is your color."

Maya sat back down.

The entire cafeteria was staring.

"What?" Maya asked Liam, who was looking at her like she had just sprouted wings.

"Nothing," Liam smiled, reaching under the table to squeeze her hand. His palm was warm and rough. "You're just... different today."

"Good different?"

"The best different," Liam said.

Maya squeezed his hand back. Being a teenage girl was exhausting, but having a six-foot-two Golden Retriever of a boyfriend looking at her like she hung the moon? It beat a quarterly performance review any day.

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