Chapter 2

The group chat instantly blew up with messages.

"Theodore is so disgusting. I heard his bed is covered in moldy takeout."

"Jasper has my full support. Having a roommate like Theodore is the unluckiest thing ever."

"Mr. Caldwell needs to move Theodore out! Don't let one rotten apple spoil the whole barrel!"

I stared at the screen full of accusations, my hands going cold.

"The trash isn't mine, and I paid the cleaning fee too."

But the moment my message was sent, it was instantly drowned out by the barrage of condemnation.

No one wanted to hear my side of the story. All they did was attack me.

I bit my lip until it bled.

Fighting back the nausea, I cleaned up the bed with a dark look on my face.

The next morning, brimming with grievance and anger, I knocked on Mr. Caldwell's office door.

"Mr. Caldwell, I want to report Jasper and the others for ganging up on me and cheating me out of my money."

The second I opened the door, I froze.

Jasper was sitting across from Mr. Caldwell, and two gift boxes were laid out on the desk between them.

Seeing me walk in, Jasper immediately stood up and put on a look of helpless dismay.

"Mr. Caldwell, you see? Theodore's here to cause trouble again. We didn't even hold yesterday's demerit against him, yet here he is now throwing false accusations at me."

Mr. Caldwell nudged the gift boxes toward the corner of his desk, then turned to me with an icy expression.

"Theodore, what is this all about?"

I took a deep breath to keep my voice from shaking.

"Mr. Caldwell, they dumped the trash found during yesterday's inspection on my bed on purpose, and Jasper swindled me out of 200 dollars under the pretense of hiring a cleaner."

Mr. Caldwell's brow furrowed instantly.

"Nonsense! Jasper is the student body president—think of everything he does for this class. You really think he needs your measly 200 dollars?"

I frantically took out my phone and pulled up the transfer record.

"Here's the transfer record. He admitted himself the cleaner never showed up, so they pocketed the money!"

Without even sparing a glance at the screen, Mr. Caldwell cut me off impatiently. "What's the big deal about everyone chipping in for a group activity? Theodore, your biggest problem is that you're antisocial and narrow-minded."

"I'm narrow-minded?" I looked at Mr. Caldwell in disbelief. "Mr. Caldwell, they're the ones who're bullying me."

"That's enough. I don't want to hear another word out of you." Mr. Caldwell pointed at me sternly. "Because of your lack of hygiene, the class has had its ethics score deducted, which has seriously affected our bid for Outstanding Class this semester.

"You will submit a three-thousand-word letter of apology tomorrow and read it aloud during the class meeting."

I stared back at him defiantly and said, "No, I'm not writing it! I didn't do anything wrong!"

"No?" Mr. Caldwell let out a cold laugh. "Then you can forget about getting Outstanding Graduate this year. I'll also put a serious warning on your permanent record."

I stood rooted to the spot, feeling the blood in my veins run cold.

Behind Mr. Caldwell, Jasper smirked and mouthed, "Serves you right."

I walked out of the office, and Jasper followed me out. He leaned in close and said smugly, "That's what you get for trying to go against me. Did you really think Mr. Caldwell would take the word of some broke loser who can't even qualify for financial aid?"

Gritting my teeth, I turned on my heel and ran straight to the library.

That afternoon, the list of candidates for this year's Outstanding Graduate award was posted in the class group chat.

I clicked the link and found Jasper's name right at the top of the list.

However, when I opened the attachment with Jasper's application materials, my mind went blank with a deafening roar.

The paper he published in the regional journal and the innovation project that won the national award were both mine!