LOGINI turned around and saw Natalie walking toward me with a stack of forms in her arms and a Band-Aid still stuck to her forehead.Really, she only had a scrape on her forehead, and it had healed the same day. But she insisted it was evidence from when she had acted "in self-defense," so she couldn't just get rid of it.I smiled helplessly.She immediately put on that sweet, harmless smile of hers. "Laurie, I got the keys to our new room. It's on the seventh floor, and there's an elevator, plus our own washing machine and bathroom..."I cut her off. "How long were you preparing what's on that flash drive? And the necklace with the recorder. Aren't you going to explain that?"She blinked and didn't say anything.Finally, she lowered her head and scuffed the floor with the toe of her shoe, like a kid who had done something wrong. "Ever since the first time you picked up food for her and she didn't pay you."I was stunned."I knew you didn't want me fighting," Natalie went on quietly
[Holy crap, plot twist! The ugly roommate was the real victim all along. She's not a thief!][Look at all those shredded clothes on the floor! Somebody call the cops. This is a crime. Selena was the bully the whole time!][So pretty, and yet so vicious. I'm officially unfollowing!]Selena slumped on the floor as if every bone had been pulled out of her body. Her carefully done makeup was smeared all over her face in black and white streaks, making her look like a washed-up clown. "It's over. It's all over..."Natalie ignored her and walked over to me. She knelt on one knee and wiped the tears from my face with her sleeve. "I'm sorry. I came too late."I shook my head, crying too hard to speak.I wanted to ask her when she had collected all that evidence, how she knew Selena's secrets, and whether she'd had all of this planned from the start.But when the words reached my lips, all that came out were endless sobs.Hurried footsteps suddenly sounded outside, followed by our advis
Selena finally panicked. She backed away until she bumped into the corner of a desk, and her voice cracked. "My uncle is on the board of trustees! If you dare lay a finger on me, I'll get you expelled and thrown in jail!"We live in a society of laws! You think you can just walk away from this?"Selena stiffened her neck as if she had found something to put her faith in, and defiantly pulled up the emergency number on her phone.Natalie stopped and tilted her head, as if seriously considering what Selena had said."The board of trustees?" she repeated. Then, suddenly, she laughed.The thugs nearby exchanged looks and hurried to back Selena up. "Selena's uncle is a trustee! Who the hell do you think you are, putting your hands on us here?"The two sidekicks clutched their lower backs as they scrambled up, howling like barking dogs. "Selena, hurry up and call someone to have her arrested! Don't let these two bitches get away with this!"Natalie didn't say a word. She bent down a
The viewer count on the livestream was skyrocketing.Selena tapped the floor with the toe of her shoe and smiled as she gave the order. "Kneel."Natalie didn't move."I said kneel!"Selena's expression flipped in an instant, and she raised her hand to slap Natalie across the face.Natalie hesitated for a split second, then stepped back to dodge, shielding me with her body.That was like setting a match to a powder keg. Selena's face twisted. "Hold her down!"The two sidekicks rushed forward and roughly pinned Natalie's shoulders.The blond guy seized the chance to kick the back of her knee from behind, trying to force her down.Natalie stumbled but stood firm. She refused to kneel.She raised her head. Her gaze moved past everyone, over the pile of shredded clothes on the balcony and the shoes stuffed with thumbtacks, and finally returned to my battered face."You taught me," she said suddenly. Her voice was soft, yet somehow it rose above all the shouting in the room. "If s
For a second, I thought Natalie had thrown Selena straight out the window, and my whole body jolted in fear.Luckily, when I looked up, I saw that she had only smashed the balcony glass with her fist. I let out a breath of relief.Then I tried to go stop her.But Selena didn't give me the chance. She quickly shot her sidekicks a look.The two of them caught on immediately and planted themselves on either side of the balcony door, refusing to let me back inside.The blond guy rubbed his wrist and fanned out with the other two guys from off campus. Their tall, hulking bodies loomed in front of Natalie.Selena gave an exaggerated laugh. She tilted her head and sized Natalie up, her eyes as contemptuous as if she were looking at an ant. "Oh, so the pushover can get mad? Too bad even when you lose your temper, the only person you hurt is yourself. How can anyone be this spineless?"But I was the only one who knew that Natalie was just venting. She was still trying hard to hold hersel
If Natalie saw how badly I'd been bullied, she would lose her mind.But Selena just had someone gag me. "Why are you still talking? Let's get the warm-up started!"The dorm door swung open, and only then did I realize she had secretly brought back seven or eight people from off campus.Guys and girls reeking of cigarettes and booze looked me over with leering eyes.Selena suddenly pointed at me and said to a guy with bleached-blond hair, "This is the trash who refused to be my servant. She acts so high and mighty."I read her diary last time. She's never even had a boyfriend. Which one of you wants to do a good deed and teach her a thing or two?"The guys' eyes lit up at once. Whistling, they closed in on me.Terrified, I shrank back until my spine hit the cold wall.The blond guy crouched down and reached out to touch my face. I slapped his hand away.When Selena saw that, she kicked me in the chest.Waves of dull pain spread through my body, and it grew harder and harder to







