Chapter 2

I raised an eyebrow, tapped "like" on the comment, and backed out to check my notifications.

Two red badges sat on my chat list. Logan had texted saying he’d be waiting downstairs in a bit.

I shot him a quick "sounds good" before checking the second thread. The counter read 99+. I didn't bother scrolling up; my eyes just drifted over his latest text:

[You really are a stuck-up btch. I took you out and you still reject me? Who do you think you are?]

It wasn't the first time Chase had texted me like this. Every single time I turned down his invitations, he’d unleash a stream of verbal abuse, only to follow up hours later acting like a caring, devoted guy.

It was repulsive. I closed the tab and hid the conversation.

Ashley was already lounging at her desk. Seeing that nobody was reacting to her, she chimed in again:

"Aw, nobody bought you guys coffee today? Seriously, you girls need to get boyfriends. Being single looks so tragic."

Her tone dripped with pity, as if being single made us homeless strays.

"Babe, let's FaceTime. We just said bye, but I miss you already."

Ashley whined into her speaker. A wave of goosebumps broke out on my arms.

A guy's voice boomed through the dorm room. It sounded clean enough, but right now, it was grating on every last nerve.

Up on her loft bed, Sienna finally had enough. She yanked back her bed curtain.

"Ashley, can you put on some damn headphones? Do you seriously think anyone wants to hear you guys baby-talking all day?"

Ashley shot Sienna a dirty look and sneered.

"You're just bitter because nobody wants you. If you're so mad, go get your own man. I don't feel like wearing headphones, deal with it."

This wasn't our first fight. Sienna’s chest heaved with fury, completely at a loss for words against someone so shameless.

I caught Sienna’s eye. Her face was flushed with anger, helpless and suffocated.

Seeing Sienna back down, Ashley smirked and went right back to cooing at her boyfriend, Tyler. "They're just jealous of us, babe. You're the best~"

I watched Sienna roll her eyes, grab a pair of foam earplugs, and shove them into her ears.

It wasn't like we hadn't talked to our Resident Advisor. But room swaps weren't granted over "minor squabbles." To make matters worse, whenever we brought it up, Ashley put on a tearful act, pretending she was the victim, and our RA simply told us to handle our personal drama like adults.

"You're all college students now. You really need faculty to hold your hands over dorm noise?" the RA had snapped, visibly annoyed.

Yet minutes later, he was sharing private jokes with Ashley in the lobby. That was when we found out Tyler was the RA's younger brother.

From that day on, any respect we had for the dorm staff evaporated. Just looking at his face made us sick.

With the RA in her corner, Ashley grew bolder. She regularly stayed up past midnight, cackling on speakerphone with Tyler.

Whenever we told her to keep it down, Ashley just scoffed: "What's the point of college if you don't stay up late? You guys are literally wasting your youth."

Sienna already had chronic health issues and severe insomnia. Ashley’s late-night calls kept her awake night after night, leaving her an exhausted wreck by morning.

Sienna was from out of state, and renting an off-campus apartment was way out of her budget. Many nights, she broke down in tears behind her bed curtain, muffling her sobs so nobody would hear.

Ashley couldn't care less. She kept blasting TikToks and running loud FaceTimes on speaker, desperate for the whole floor to hear.

Harper had bought heavy-duty ear protection, basically wearing her headset around the clock unless Ashley was out.

Ashley had also seen the viral post on the campus feed by now. She sneered into her screen. "Ugh, this girl is so disgusting. Trying to steal her roommate's man? Where is her self-respect?"

"If I were that guy, I’d be throwing up. Having some desperate pick-me obsess over you is honestly vile."

Tyler’s voice echoed back through the speaker, agreeing eagerly: "Right? A girl like that? I wouldn't touch her if she paid me."

Listening to them, my stomach churned with nausea.

I checked the time. Logan should be downstairs by now.

Ashley was still FaceTiming away. I pushed my chair back and grabbed my keys.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ashley subtly tilt her phone screen again—angling the camera so my full body was framed right in the shot.