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The Laptop Trap
The Laptop Trap
Author: Red Starling

Chapter 1

Author: Red Starling
Caleb Reed's tears froze in his eyes as he stared at me in disbelief.

"Noah, how can you be so cold? The computer lab closes at ten, and I have to turn in my first draft tomorrow morning!"

He reached for my sleeve. I stepped aside.

Tyler Cross, who was gaming beside us, looked at me with open disapproval.

"Noah, you're going too far. We're roommates. Would lending him a computer kill you? Caleb's desperate.

"Your Alienware cost more than three grand. It's just sitting there. What's wrong with letting him use it for an emergency? Why are you so selfish?"

I packed my books and water bottle, then pointed at his desk.

"There's a computer on your desk. You lend him yours."

Tyler rolled his eyes.

"Mine's a Mac. Caleb isn't used to the formatting software on it. Besides, I still have shows to watch tonight."

"So your shows matter more than his senior thesis, but you still think you get to demand my laptop?"

Caleb immediately put on a wounded expression.

"Noah, I know you're angry about the graduate recommendation slot, but that was the department's overall evaluation.

"You can't deliberately block me at a critical moment just because you didn't get picked. Are you trying to ruin my future?"

His voice was loud enough that a few students passing in the hallway stopped and leaned in to look.

Owen Pierce from the next room leaned against the doorframe, cracking sunflower seeds and enjoying the drama.

"Noah's really petty. Graduate slots are earned. Why take it out on someone by refusing to lend a laptop?"

Another guy sneered.

"Alienware is expensive. Maybe he just can't bear to part with it. The richer they act, the stingier they are."

I slung my canvas bag over my shoulder and gave a cold laugh.

"You know exactly how you got that recommendation, Caleb. Don't force me to expose it here."

Caleb's face shifted. His fingers twisted tightly in the hem of his shirt, but he quickly straightened and acted righteous again.

"Stop slandering me. I win scholarships every year. Why wouldn't I deserve a graduate slot?"

"Fine. If you deserve it, use your scholarship money to buy your own computer. Stop clinging to me."

I pushed past the boys blocking the doorway and walked out.

Behind me, Caleb stamped his foot and shouted, "Noah, if you walk out today, our three years as roommates are over!"

"Then they're over. You think I care?"

I didn't look back. I shut the dorm room door behind me.

By the time I got downstairs, my phone kept buzzing. The class chat already had hundreds of messages.

Caleb had gone into the chat for help. Every line implied that I was refusing to lend him my computer right before his thesis deadline because I was jealous of his graduate slot.

Tyler sent three angry stickers and tagged the entire class to judge me.

"He always looked so honest. I didn't expect him to be this dark inside, unable to stand anyone else doing well."
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  • The Laptop Trap   Chapter 9

    "No wonder he didn't care about the recommendation slot at all. Caleb was just clowning himself the whole time."Hearing the words Harborview University, Caleb suddenly lifted his head and stared at me.He pointed at me and burst into laughter."Laugh while you can. You'll have plenty to cry about later."I crouched beside Caleb and lowered my voice."You thought that if you smashed my cabinet and stole my laptop, you could naturally push the blame for your delayed thesis onto me. You even thought you could turn the story around and ruin my name, right?"Caleb's laughter stopped. He looked at me in horror."How... how do you know? Were you spying on me?""Sorry. I'm not as bored as you think. I just understand you pretty well."I don't just know what you would do today. I know what you did in my last life."I leaned closer to his ear and said, word by word, "This is what you owed me. Now you've paid it back, with interest."So, I'd like to interview you. Are you satisfied wi

  • The Laptop Trap   Chapter 8

    "Professor Warren, I was wrong. I really was wrong. Please give me one chance. I'll rewrite it right away. I swear I'll write properly. Please don't cancel my degree."Professor Warren pulled his leg back with disgust."Academic fraud. Bribing faculty. With character this rotten, our school cannot teach you. Wait for your punishment."Everyone looked at Caleb with contempt.Parker and Tyler, who had spoken for him moments ago, had already hidden far away, afraid of being associated with him."You really can't know a person by their face. He acted so noble, but did such filthy things behind everyone's back.""Serves him right. He tried to cheat the system and it blew up in his face. Now his graduate slot is gone, and he won't even get a diploma."Watching Caleb collapse in despair, the breath I had held in my chest finally eased.Police sirens sounded outside.Officers strode into the computer lab and scanned the room.Caleb's father shook with fear and tried to hide behind se

  • The Laptop Trap   Chapter 7

    The dean was rubbing his temples in anger, ready to speak, when a voice came from the entrance."Who said he had an award-level thesis? As his thesis adviser, why don't I know about it?"The crowd parted automatically. An elderly professor walked in with a grim face, holding a stack of printed pages.The moment Caleb saw him, even his crying stopped."P-Professor Warren."Professor Warren slammed the papers onto the desk. Pages scattered across the floor."Caleb Reed, how dare you mention your thesis? Look at the garbage you submitted."He pointed at the pages on the floor, his beard shaking with anger."Twenty thousand words, with an eighty-five percent plagiarism rate. Even the punctuation was copied straight from other published papers."I told you to take it back and rewrite it. You told me your computer broke and all your materials were lost. So it turns out you were acting here instead."The hall filled with sharp intakes of breath."Eighty-five percent plagiarism? Tha

  • The Laptop Trap   Chapter 6

    Several guards rushed in and struggled for a long time before pinning Caleb's father to the floor.Amid the chaos, Caleb ran to the influencer's camera and snatched the selfie stick. He sobbed at the screen."Everyone, you saw it, right? He's a psychopath. He deliberately disguised bricks as a laptop to trick me. I plugged my USB into the wrong port and it short-circuited!"My thesis really is gone. This is murder by another name. Please help me get justice!"I hadn't expected his crying to fool another wave of viewers."No matter what, putting out a fake laptop as bait is disgusting. This guy is too calculating.""Exactly. The roommate only wanted to borrow it. Did he have to push him this far? How is he supposed to graduate without his thesis?"Tyler also jumped in to smooth things over."Noah, you really went too far. Even if Caleb was wrong to take your things, you shouldn't ruin his future like this."Just get someone to recover Caleb's thesis. Then you'll be even."I sn

  • The Laptop Trap   Chapter 5

    "Hello? Hello, can you hear me? How do you use this thing? Oh, it's on."Caleb's father froze with the chair in midair.Everyone's attention shifted to the screen."I'm Ray from South Gate Salvage. Yesterday afternoon at three, a young man named Noah Hamilton brought me an Alienware laptop to sell."In the video, a middle-aged man stood among piles of old electronics.Caleb whipped around and stared at the screen.Ray scratched his head and continued, "The motherboard was completely burned. It wasn't worth fixing. I paid him seventy dollars for scrap."Then the young man said one leg of his desk was uneven, so he bought a matching empty laptop shell from me for seven dollars. We put two bricks inside to give it weight. He said he was taking it back to level the desk."The hall fell dead silent.I pulled a stamped receipt from South Gate Salvage and a screenshot of the seventy-dollar transfer from my canvas bag. I slapped them onto the table."Printed receipt. Transfer record.

  • The Laptop Trap   Chapter 4

    Parker leaned closer to check the power cable."Maybe it's dead. Plug it in and try."Caleb fumbled for the power cord, plugged it in, and pressed the power button again.Still nothing.He jerked his head up and glared at me."Noah, did you do something to this laptop?""What could I have done? It was locked in my cabinet. You're the one who smashed the lock and stole it. Now that it won't boot, you're blaming me?"I gave a cold snort.Caleb was sweating, slamming the keyboard with both hands."Impossible. It's an Alienware. How could it be broken? You must have set me up!"His face went pale as he pulled out his USB drive. His hands shook."My thesis. My award-level thesis is all on this drive. The indicator flashed when I plugged it in just now. It must have been infected by a virus from your laptop!"The crowd exploded into chatter."Oh my God. Noah is ruthless. He deliberately put a virus-filled computer in his cabinet as bait?""That's not just petty. That's practica

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