Chapter 2

I opened the comments.

【All four phones had chat logs. How many guys was she actually seeing?】

【School barely started and we've already got a queen of multitasking.】

【Anyone who knows her, drop a warning so the rest of us can steer clear.】

Below that, someone posted my major and my name.

Another reply came fast:

【Jessica Henson, computer science. The one on the freshman rep list.】

Jemima took her phone back.

「Did you really talk to all four of them?」

「I only added one person. Hugh.」

「Then what's with the four phones?」

I didn't have an answer.

The dorm door pushed open.

The other two roommates came in, dragging their luggage.

One of them recognized me and stopped in her tracks.

「You're the girl from the gossip page?」

She looked at me, then at her own bed.

「The video says you were dating four guys at the same time. Is that true?」

Jemima frowned.

「Nobody's figured it out yet, so don't go asking.」

The girl said nothing more. She just tucked the family photo on her desk into a drawer.

Quick about it.

Like she was guarding against me.

I took my phone downstairs.

Hugh had finally replied.

【Activity room. Come talk.】

When I pushed the door open, all four of them were there.

The screen on the wall showed the video's stats.

The view count had already passed a hundred thousand.

Horace watched the number climb.

「At this rate it'll break two hundred thousand by tonight.」

Bob was cutting the second video.

The frames were all my chat logs.

I rushed over and shut off the screen.

「Delete the video.」

Horace looked annoyed.

「I spent all night editing it, and you just want me to delete it?」

「Who told you to edit anything?」

Bob leaned back in his chair.

「Jessica, you agreed to this yourself.」

He pulled up a screenshot.

Hugh had asked:

【From now on, let's record our couple moments, okay?】

I'd answered:

【Sure, as long as my face doesn't show and no one can recognize me.】

The screenshot kept only the first half of what I'd said.

「Where's the rest of that sentence?」

Bob laughed once.

「You already agreed, didn't you?」

「What I agreed to was not showing my face.」

I pointed at the screen.

「You put up my face, my name, my major, and the recording from when my grandmother had surgery.」

「That part isn't couple content. It's my private life.」

Horace spread his hands.

「It's not like we posted anything shameful.」

「Crying a couple of times counts as private now?」

I turned to look at Hugh.

「Is that what you think too?」

He was quiet for a few seconds, then pulled out a chair.

「Jessica, sit down and talk.」

「I'm not sitting.」

「Delete the video.」

Hugh's face darkened.

「The first one already blew up. If we delete it now, everyone's going to think you've got something to hide.」

「We wait for the second one to go out, explain everything clearly, and it's fine. Right?」

「Explain it how?」

Bob turned the caption toward me.

【The four phones were just for show.】

【Jessica Henson took part in the meet-up challenge willingly.】

【All the chats were planned out by both sides together.】

I finished reading, and my fingers went cold.

「You want me to admit this was all staged?」

Hugh stood up.

「It's just a different way of putting it.」

「The account signed a sponsorship. The videos have to run to the end.」

「You cooperate a little, and everyone gets a way out.」

I stared at him.

「So first you ruin my reputation, and then you hand me a clarification like it's a favor?」

Bernard looked up.

「Why don't we just hide the first one for now.」

Bob shot back at once:

「Hiding it counts as breaking the sponsorship deal. You going to pay them back?」

Bernard shut his mouth.

Hugh stepped up in front of me.

「Don't you like me?」

「Once we finish this series, I'll officially announce that you're my girlfriend.」

I couldn't manage a smile.

「And if I don't film it?」

Horace waved his phone.

「Then the second one gets cut from the footage we already have.」

On the screen, the four phones appeared one after another.

Every one of them had my profile picture and my chat logs.

Then I finally saw it.

It wasn't four accounts.

It was one account, logged into four separate phones.

「You've all been logging into Hugh's account?」

No one answered.

My phone rang.

It was my counselor.

「Jessica, what's going on with this video online?」

「The school had you slated to speak at the freshman assembly, and now people keep filing reports in the comments.」

「Come to my office first thing tomorrow with the chat logs.」

The call ended.

Hugh looked at me.

「See? It's blown up now, hasn't it?」

「We're the only ones who can help you clear it up now.」

I gripped my phone tight.

The gossip page had posted another teaser image.

A chart that started back in summer break.

【Monday: Hugh】

【Tuesday: Bernard】

【Wednesday: Horace】

【Thursday: Bob】

The image had just one line for a title:

【Freshman rep Jessica Henson's duty roster of four boyfriends.】