Chapter 2

The moment the money hit her account, Brenda put on her signature victim face.

Right on cue, the other two roommates swarmed her like vultures smelling blood, comforting her while throwing jabs at me.

"Brenda already has it so rough, why do you have to be so stingy? Typical rich girl acting all petty."

"Don't worry, Brenda, I'll send you five dollars. Carrying two bags all the way up must’ve been so exhausting."

With memories of my past life, I knew exactly what Brenda was.

Give her an inch, and she’d drain your bank account dry.

I just hoped they’d keep that same energy later tonight.

Their little pity party didn't last long. Right around midnight, Brenda and Taylor were both doubled over, violently vomiting and running to the bathroom with explosive diarrhea. Ashley sat on her bed, frozen in fear, too terrified to speak.

History was repeating itself. But this time, I wasn’t going to be Brenda’s financial sponge, nor would I indulge her insane math.

I lay in bed, listening to the groans outside.

Brenda, of course, wasn’t going to leave me alone. She yanked my bed curtain open, standing there pale and sweaty.

"Chloe, can you drive us to Urgent Care? Our stomachs are killing us."

I frowned. "What does your bad stomach have to do with me? And ripping open someone's privacy curtain is disgusting."

Before I could even finish, Brenda burst into tears, wailing like a siren.

"We’re roommates! How can you be so heartless? Helping someone in an emergency won't kill you!"

If I hadn't lived through this once, I might have felt bad.

But now I knew that driving her to the clinic was just the first step down her financial rabbit hole.

This time, I was happily handing that golden opportunity over to my "generous" roommates.

Faced with my icy wall of silence, the three of them had no choice but to call an Uber themselves.

Before leaving, Ashley glared at me with pure venom. I held her gaze unflinchingly until she looked away first.

The next morning, they still weren't back. Instead, our dorm was greeted by a furious Dean Miller.

"Chloe, your roommates fell sick in the middle of the night. How could you just lie there and watch without lifting a finger?"

"You just started college. Your character is still forming. You can't be this self-centered, do you understand?"

I almost laughed at the sheer audacity.

In my previous life, the only reason Brenda got away with pushing me down the stairs was because our academic advisor, Mr. Miller, helped cover it up alongside my roommates.

It wasn't until later that I found out they were actually distant relatives, and Brenda’s financial aid slot had been illegally funneled to her by Miller himself.

I felt sick looking at him, but I forced an innocent, frightened expression onto my face.

"Mr. Miller, I didn't think it was that serious. I was just so exhausted, I couldn't keep my eyes open."

Seeing my submissive attitude, Miller nodded in smug satisfaction.

"Admitting your mistake is the first step. I’m taking you to the hospital now. You need to apologize to Brenda properly. Your family is well-off, so it’s your responsibility to look out for underprivileged students."

He might as well have just jammed his hand into my purse and taken my wallet.

I kept a polite smile on my face, discreetly ensuring the voice recorder on my phone was still running.

When we reached the clinic, Brenda and Taylor were both hooked up to IV drips. Ashley was sitting nearby, glued to her phone.

The second Brenda saw me, she rolled her eyes so hard they nearly fell out of her head.

"Thought my business had nothing to do with you? What are you doing here crawling back?"

Before I could reply, she shoved a crumpled bill into my hands.

"The doctor said it’s acute gastroenteritis from spoiled food.

I thought about it, and it must have been that coffee I drank from your desk. You have to cover part of this bill."

"Of course, I’m not unreasonable. I'll split it with you.

I usually just buy a two-dollar pack of stomach pills from Walmart. So I'll split that two dollars with you. I wouldn't want to take advantage of you."