Chapter 1

"Melissa, are you awake?" came Sienna Riggs's annoying voice in the middle of the night.

I couldn't tell if I was dreaming or actually awake. I fumbled around my pillow until I found my phone. When I turned it on and saw the date on the screen, I became certain that I had been reborn.

Outside my bed curtain, Sienna was not giving up when I didn't answer her. Instead, she kept calling my name. However, I simply turned off my phone, put in my earbuds, and closed my eyes.

When Sienna still didn't get a response, she pulled my curtain open.

It was already past 1:00 am, but another roommate was still up playing video games. The glow of her monitor flashed against my eyelids as the keyboard clacked in the background.

"Melissa? Melissa? Are you asleep?" Sienna's voice grew louder.

At that point, it was loud enough to wake anyone up. Still, I kept my eyes tightly shut, determined not to move. I knew I couldn't give in because if I opened my eyes, she would get exactly what she wanted.

I knew Sienna's game. In my previous life, she'd loved pulling these little "obedience tests." If I so much as opened my eyes and asked what she wanted, she would just grin and say, "Oh, nothing. I just wanted to see if you were sleeping."

It had driven me crazy and kept me up all night, while she couldn't have been happier. Not to mention, that wasn't the only bizarre thing she did.

When we first moved into the dorm, she'd introduced herself by saying she was from a small rural town and wasn't used to city life, so she might need our help a lot. She was like a clueless newborn who knew absolutely nothing.

Once classes started, the professors had posted all the instructions in the group chat, so anyone who read the announcements knew what to do. Yet, Sienna still came to us with the same questions every single time.

"Melissa, how do I submit this assignment? I have no idea what to do."

I'd told her to check the group chat since all the instructions were there, but she wouldn't even look and just kept asking, "What format do we need? Word or PDF?"

"Either is fine. Just go check the group chat first," I'd said.

It was like Sienna had a built-in filter that blocked out everything I said, and she just kept doing her own thing.

"Melissa, it still won't go through! Can you help me?"

Again, I reminded her to check the announcements. When she finally listened, it was only for her to ask, "Where are the announcements? How do I find them? I have no idea."

I'd nearly lost my mind from frustration, so I started keeping my guard up around her after that. But idiots like Sienna always found a way to catch me off guard, no matter how prepared I was.