Chapter 3

3: 3

Those two lines settled it. She knew.

From the first day she moved into the dorm, she'd known I was the anonymous donor.

The donor's identity was kept strictly confidential. If she'd gotten hold of it, her family had to be tangled up with the village council. Odds were they'd worked it out ahead of time, swapped the scholarship slot, and reeled in my money.

I typed back with a cold little smile:

"Miss Pruitt, always going on about how rich your family is. If you're so capable, then go sponsor her yourself."

"It's only a few cups of bubble tea. Pocket change for someone like you."

The message sent. Nothing came back for a long while.

I opened my banking app, found the supplementary card, and hit report lost and freeze without a second's hesitation.

Then I flipped my phone face-down on the desk. Let's see how she talks her way out of this one.

Back at the bubble tea shop, the clerk ran the card a fourth time, and the machine beeped again with the same failed transaction.

The clerk slapped the card back onto the counter, done with her.

"Your card won't go through."

Hester's face flushed scarlet in an instant.

"That's impossible! Run it again!"

The clerk had no patience left.

"I could run it a hundred times and there's still no money. All thousand cups are made. Are you paying today or not?"

The owner came out from the back, took one look at the counter buried in cups, and his expression soured.

"Miss, a thousand cups isn't cheap. We prepped the whole order for you. If you can't pay, who covers our loss?"

Hester's lips wouldn't stop trembling, every ounce of nerve gone. "My family's transferring me the money any second. Just wait a little longer."

The clerk wasn't about to burn the day on her. He stepped forward and yanked the shutter down.

The dozen or so students who'd come along to help Hester carry the drinks all panicked, frozen where they stood, afraid to move.

One of them muttered, "What's going on? Why'd they just lock up?"

The clerk planted himself at the door, arms crossed, blocking the way.

"The bill isn't settled. Nobody leaves."

The students traded looks. Someone pulled out a phone, snapped a photo of the shuttered door, and posted it straight to the freshman group chat.

"We're being held at the bubble tea shop. They've locked the door and won't let us out!"

The chat blew up instantly, messages flooding in one after another.

"What happened? Weren't you all just picking up drinks?"

"Don't tell me Hester can't cover the bill?"

"Yesterday she was bragging her family's the richest in the village, and today she can't scrape together fifteen grand in bubble tea money?"

"So the three grand in cash gifts and the thousand cups were all just talk?"

The uglier the guesses got, the faster they spread. The moment the counselor saw the messages, she @'d our whole dorm in the class group chat:

"Everyone in your dorm, get to the bubble tea shop right now and see what's going on."

I pocketed my phone and stood up.

Lottie Finch, Alberta Lambert, and my other two roommates stood up too.

I pulled the dorm door open and headed out, the four of them trailing silently behind me.