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The Buffet Was a Red Flag

The Buffet Was a Red Flag

Maikling Kwento · Emotional Realism
By:  Grumpy SauryKumpleto
Language: English
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11Mga Kabanata
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Synopsis

Feel-Good Story

Bias

Campus

Face Slapping

Plot Twists

Ada, my cheap-as-hell roommate and student rep for our accounting cohort, suddenly started acting weird. "Yo, listen up! Seafood buffet tomorrow night. Bosfa. My treat!" The class went wild. I just stared at her. Whenever we got a buy-one-get-one-half-off deal, Ada always made sure she got the cheaper drink. And now she wanted to pay for dinner for the entire class? Yeah. Something was seriously off. That night, I grabbed my ID and valuables and checked into a hotel near campus, telling everyone I needed quiet to study for exams. The next morning, my phone started buzzing nonstop. I opened the class group chat. It was exploding. Over ninety-nine unread messages. Then Lily called me, sobbing. "Simone, where are you? Help us... Ada's a monster! She sold us all out!"

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Kabanata 1

Chapter 1

After the review session, our accounting cohort rep, Ada Duffy, walked to the front.

"Yo, listen up!"

The room went quiet.

"Seafood buffet tomorrow night. Bosfa. My treat!"

She flipped her phone around.

There it was.

A $3,600 Bosfa order.

Paid in full.

For one second, nobody said a word.

Then the room exploded.

"Holy crap, Ada. You rich now?"

"That place is like $120 a person! What, did you win the lottery? Find out you're secretly loaded?"

Everyone crowded around her.

Ada soaked it up, flipping her hair with a huge grin.

"Oh, it's nothing.

"I found this high-paying side gig. Dinner's no big deal."

I sat in the back, watching it all like I wasn't even part of the class.

I knew Ada way too well.

She never paid for laundry. She just tossed hers in with mine.

If we split shampoo for the dorm, she'd sneak half the bottle for herself.

To Ada, classmates were basically free clicks for her shopping referral links.

And now she was treating everyone?

To a $120 seafood buffet?

Yeah, right.

My brain started spinning.

'What could we possibly have that was worth this much to her?'

Before I could land on an answer, Lily Tayler, my roommate, rushed over and grabbed my shoulders.

"Simone! Ada's taking everyone to a seafood buffet! I've never eaten anywhere that expensive!"

"Mm-hmm."

Lily took the hint and ran back to the others.

I couldn't shake the weird feeling in my gut.

If I had to explain it...

Ada made me feel like a lamb walking straight to slaughter.

After all the hype, everyone headed back to the dorms in groups.

The halls were buzzing about how much they'd have to eat tomorrow to "get their money's worth."

I hurried back to my room.

Driver's license. Bank cards. Passport. Anything valuable.

Straight into my bag.

Then I headed for Assistant Dean Michael Elmore's office.

"Mr. Elmore, can I stay off campus for a few days? I signed up for an off-campus language test-prep course, and housing's included."

Mr. Elmore looked surprised.

"Simone, your grades are already great. You really need to push yourself this hard?"

"My family expects a lot. I want to pass on my first try and know I gave it everything."

I sounded sincere enough.

"All right. Just notify your RA and be careful."

I sent my RA a quick message and got out of there fast.

I left campus and booked a cheap motel about a mile away.

The second I got inside, I locked the door and dropped onto the bed.

Finally, I could breathe.

I checked my phone.

The class group chat was still blowing up.

Everyone was hyping Ada up and counting down to tomorrow's seafood feast.

Maybe I was being paranoid.

But my gut wouldn't let it go.

That $3,600 dinner was not free.

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Walang Komento
11 Kabanata
Chapter 1
After the review session, our accounting cohort rep, Ada Duffy, walked to the front."Yo, listen up!"The room went quiet."Seafood buffet tomorrow night. Bosfa. My treat!"She flipped her phone around.There it was.A $3,600 Bosfa order.Paid in full.For one second, nobody said a word.Then the room exploded."Holy crap, Ada. You rich now?""That place is like $120 a person! What, did you win the lottery? Find out you're secretly loaded?"Everyone crowded around her.Ada soaked it up, flipping her hair with a huge grin."Oh, it's nothing."I found this high-paying side gig. Dinner's no big deal."I sat in the back, watching it all like I wasn't even part of the class.I knew Ada way too well.She never paid for laundry. She just tossed hers in with mine.If we split shampoo for the dorm, she'd sneak half the bottle for herself.To Ada, classmates were basically free clicks for her shopping referral links.And now she was treating everyone?To a $120 seafood buff
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Chapter 2
The motel room was dead quiet.My phone wasn't.The class chat kept lighting up.The sign-up list had hit twenty-nine.There were thirty people in our class.I was the only one missing.Then Ada tagged me.[Simone, you're literally the only one left. Hurry up and add your name!][I booked all thirty spots! It's already paid for!]A few girls close to Ada jumped in right away.[Simone, Ada's finally spending money for once. You can't bail!][Seriously! You never miss class dinners. You have to come!]I watched the messages pile up.Then I took a breath and typed.[Sorry, guys. I signed up for a test-prep course.][I've got off-campus sessions for the next few days, so I can't make it back in time.][Have fun. Thanks for treating everyone, Ada.]Then I muted the chat.Less than a minute later, Lily DM'd me.[Simone, you're seriously not going? Did you and Ada fight or something?]Lily was sweet, trusting, and probably the person I was closest to in the dorm.[No. I r
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Chapter 3
Even after I got in the car, my heart was still pounding.I knew it.Tonight was gonna be bad.Back at the motel, I sat at the desk and forced myself to chill.Then I took a breath and shut off my phone.Outside, the sky slowly went dark.That night, I buried myself in language practice until late.***The desk lamp had burned all night.I woke with my face on the hard desk, my neck so stiff I could barely move it.I checked the clock.10:38.Already morning.The room was dead quiet except for my breathing.I stared at my dark phone, my heart pounding.'Last night... it should be over by now, right?'As I'd barely dodged a disaster, I reached for my phone and turned it on with shaky fingers.The screen lit up. The logo flashed.Then the home screen loaded.No flood of messages.Nothing.For a few seconds, everything stayed quiet.I laughed at myself. 'Was I seriously just being paranoid?'Did I really miss the one epic seafood feast our class would ever have?'T
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Chapter 4
"This morning... the side-gig group just vanished."Then everyone who downloaded the app got a text saying we owe $1,340 a month for twelve months!"And Ada's phone is off. Nobody can find her!"I did the math fast.$1,340 a month for a year.Over $16,000.Borrow $2,500. Pay back more than $16,000?That wasn't a loan.That was a trap.My hands went ice-cold. My stomach twisted.Now I knew why Ada had been so desperate to get me there."Simone, everyone's freaking out. If our families find out we're $16,000 in debt, they're gonna kill us..."Please. You're way smarter than us. Help us..."I looked at Lily's wrecked face.I didn't feel lucky for getting out.Just scared.And pissed.Ada wasn't just cheap.She was trying to wreck our entire class's future.One seafood dinner in exchange for twenty-nine families' hard-earned money.How could she?"Lily, listen to me. Call the cops right now. Don't wait, and don't worry about your parents finding out."I clenched my fi
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Chapter 5
"Someone in the group chat said a few students really thought it was interest-free, so they borrowed way more than $2,500."One guy borrowed $10,000... His parents already got the collection texts. They're coming to campus!"My heart jumped.Once parents got involved, this could turn into a complete mess.The school might even try to bury it to protect its image, leaving the students screwed.I had to get ahead of this before the parents and the school went to war.Lily and I rushed to the administration building.The second we reached Mr. Elmore's office, I heard someone crying."My son is only a sophomore! How does he owe $16,000? What are we supposed to do...?"A mother was sobbing while Mr. Elmore tried to calm her down.I took a breath and cleared my head.'I have to expose Ada and whoever's behind her and get them out of this school for good.'Then I pushed open the door and walked in.***The AC was blasting, but the office still felt suffocating.The student's mo
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Chapter 6
In the recording, Ada sounded wired, almost hypnotic."Trust me, guys. Mike said there are only thirty spots at our school."The $2,500 is just the entry fee. Next month, you'll all be buying the newest iPhone. Who's gonna care about a little money then?"'Mike?'That name jumped out at me.I dug through Ada's social media from the past two weeks.Ada loved showing off. Even when she was doing something shady, she couldn't help herself.Then I found it.A week-old photo of an iced coffee.Behind it was an office-building lobby, with a faint logo on the glass doors.Venture Tower.Barely a mile from campus.Even better, one classmate sent me a screenshot from Ada's transaction history. It showed she'd transferred a huge chunk of everyone's 'deposits' almost immediately.Part of the payment note was still visible:[Mike—Deposits for 3 recruits]There it was.Ada was Mike's campus recruiter.I was about to organize everything for Mr. Elmore when the office door flew open.
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Chapter 7
At the bottom was a flash drive with the recording from last night.The more Officer Keen looked through everything, the more serious he got.Finally, he looked up at me."Simone Hart, right? This is a solid evidence trail. More organized than some case files I've seen."Then he turned to the other officers."We've been tracking Mike's crew for almost two months. Most victims were too scared to talk, or they didn't have enough proof for us to build a case."With this, we can move now."The second he said "move," Ada started shaking hard.Officer Keen stepped toward her."Ada, right now, you could be charged as an accomplice to fraud."But you were coerced. If you cooperate and give us your handler's exact location, we can ask the court to take that into account."We may also be able to recover the $16,000 you lost."That was her only way out."Really?"Ada looked up at him, tears streaking her face."Only if you tell us the truth. Besides Venture Tower, does Mike's crew
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Chapter 8
Ada finally cracked.She sank to the floor, voice hoarse."Brighton Tower... twelfth floor, Suite 1208."It's an office they rent through a shell company. Usually five people are there. Mike's full name is Mike Leach. He normally shows up around three to meet new recruits..."Officer Keen's expression sharpened.He stood and headed for the door, barking orders into his radio."Teams One and Two, cover every exit at Brighton Tower! Target is Suite 1208. Move!"The office door slammed behind him, sending a cold draft through the room.The next two hours were brutal.Mr. Elmore paced nonstop, taking calls and trying to calm panicked parents.Lily and several other victims showed up. We all sat there in heavy silence.I stayed in the corner.I'd saved myself.But now my twenty-nine classmates' futures depended on what happened in Suite 1208.Ada sat curled against the wall like a discarded doll, every bit of her old arrogance gone.At 3:30, Mr. Elmore's phone rang.Officer
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Chapter 9
"Thanks to the bank's fraud alerts and how fast we moved." Officer Keen sat down and took a drink of water. "We froze the overseas transfer just in time. We managed to freeze ninety percent of the stolen money."The other ten percent was already spent, but we seized two cars registered to Mike Leach and some cash deposits. That should cover the rest."He looked at the nervous students."And there's more good news. From what we've found, those contracts involved illegal predatory loans and fraud. They're invalid."We'll issue the legal paperwork, and the loan records will be wiped. You won't owe a cent, and your credit won't take a hit."Lily burst into tears first.Then the whole office exploded with crying, laughing, and cheering.The guy who'd borrowed $10,000—with his parents already headed to campus—shook Officer Keen's hand over and over, thanking him.While everyone celebrated, a few girls who'd trashed me in the group chat awkwardly came over."Simone... we're sorry. We
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Chapter 10
$50,000.Way more than Ada had blown on that dinner.The irony hit hard.Ada had dragged the whole class into a scam for commission money.I'd stayed clearheaded and honest—and somehow ended up with the biggest reward."There's one more thing." Dr. Wronski paused. "We've decided how to handle Ada Duffy."She was also a victim, and the information she gave police helped lead to the arrests. So instead of expelling her, we're placing her on disciplinary probation and issuing a formal reprimand."I hope you understand."I nodded.Honestly, Ada had gotten the best outcome she could've hoped for.The sunlight was almost blinding when I walked out of the administration building.Someone was standing under a tree nearby.Ada.The designer clothes were gone. She wore an old, faded T-shirt instead.She'd lost weight and looked exhausted, but some of that restless edge was gone.The second she saw me, she hurried over."Simone."She looked down, barely speaking above a whisper.
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