Chapter 2

My fists clenched and unclenched. In the end, my eyes red, I just shook my head. "No."

Selena let out a cold laugh and dragged the heel of her shoe across my bedsheet, tearing it open. "You'll regret this!"

From that day on, my college life was completely ruined.

Selena put on crybaby makeup and went on her livestream, embellishing the story every way she could. She claimed I wasn't just after her money, but that I'd also been stealing her makeup and clothes right out of our dorm room.

Her rabid fans pounced on me like mad dogs. People often followed me and took photos of me on the street. Then they turned those photos into black-and-white memorial portraits and spread them all over the internet.

Every day, strangers sent me friend requests. Once I accepted, the first message was always the same: [Why aren't you dead yet?]

Then came the flood of gory pictures and funeral memes.

I no longer dared to look at my phone. At night, I couldn't sleep, and when I did, I kept jolting awake.

When I finally managed to fall asleep, Selena waited until the middle of the night and blasted a funeral dirge at full volume right next to my ear. It scared me so badly my heart almost gave out.

She pointed a finger painted with bright red nail polish at my haggard face and laughed so hard she shook. "Aww, look at you, scared stiff like a little wimp. Weren't you so high and mighty before?

"You wouldn't even sell plasma to buy me a purse. So paying some other price is only fair, right?"

I bit my pale lip and didn't make a sound. Her face darkened, and she dumped her milkshake over my head.

The sticky liquid ran down my hair. Chunks of cookie dough and sprinkles clung to my collar, cold and disgusting.

Selena pouted. "Ugh, you stink. As punishment, you're scrubbing the dorm bathroom tonight."

Our other two roommates gave me a look of disgust and chose to stay silent.

Selena jabbed me into the bathroom with her sharp nails. "Use your toothbrush and do it on your knees. If it's not clean, you're sleeping in there. Don't come out and gross me out."

That night, I knelt on the bathroom tiles and scraped at the yellow stains around the rim of the toilet with my toothbrush, bit by bit. Selena and the other two roommates, who had become her sidekicks, stood at the door chatting with sheet masks on their faces.

Every so often, one of them kicked my bucket and splashed dirty water into my face.

My knees were red, swollen, and scraped raw. I had been bent over so long that I could barely straighten my back. But the moment I paused, even for a second, Selena kicked me in the back.

"Quit dawdling! Don't think playing the victim will make anyone feel sorry for you. What, are you counting on that pushover best friend of yours?

"I saw her today. She didn't buy the athletics rep a milkshake, so he slapped her right onto the ground. She can't even take care of herself. How's she supposed to take care of you?"

She was right.

With Sports Week coming up, the department had piled countless chores on Natalie, and she was run off her feet every day. Our classmates kept picking on her too, sending her running all over the place.

And I didn't dare tell her, because I knew just how much madness lay at the core of who she was.

I was afraid that once she found out, the fury I knew so well and dreaded so much would ignite in those eyes she had kept in check for over ten years.

I didn't dare imagine what would happen then.

Selena's bullying grew more and more shameless.

She started dumping garbage on my comforter, everything she couldn't be bothered to take out of the room: the dregs of her leftover clam chowder, bloodstained sanitary pads, and all kinds of other trash.

My closet was pried open. My clothes were cut to shreds, and my shoes were stuffed with thumbtacks. The moment I slid my feet in, they were pierced and covered in blood.

I went to our student advisor and told him I wasn't getting along with my roommates and wanted to switch rooms.

He answered in a strictly by-the-book tone, "For something like this, you need to go through your class president first and fill out a form. Once you've filled it out and submitted solid evidence, I can process it for you."

I froze. I remembered the ruthless look on Natalie's face back then, when she yanked out that boy's oxygen tube and clamped both hands around his throat. I fell completely silent.

How could I ever let Natalie find out about any of this?

Selena treated me like a toy to humiliate and tormented me every way she could think of. I was terrified that if Natalie found out, someone would end up dead.

With the advisor a dead end, I had no choice but to give up. I went back to the dorm to catch up on sleep.

But I woke up thirsty partway through. When I groggily picked up the cup on my desk and took a sip, what hit my tongue was the harsh sting of bleach.

My throat burned. I rushed into the bathroom and threw up violently.

Back in the room, Selena and the other two roommates giggled.

"Oops, I was going to soak my clothes in that. Why'd you go drinking other people's stuff?"

"Spoken like a true thief. Always tattling, and always the first to cry foul."

I couldn't take it anymore. I wanted to run out of the dorm, ask for sick leave, and never come back.

But the three of them blocked my way. Selena slapped me across the face so hard my cheek burned.

"Your class president got in my way today. I've been sick of looking at you lately, so I slapped her just like this. And you know what? She actually smiled at me.

"You two cowards are a perfect match. I was just about to throw a dorm party, so I invited her over too. Let's all hang out."

The blood drained from my face. "No! You can't invite her here!"