Chapter 2

"He said he graduated years ago but still misses this soup. We used a lot of good ingredients today. I'll save a bowl for you later."

She stirred the pot as she spoke to me with a smile.

I smiled back and thanked her.

Looking at the steaming, fragrant pot of soup, I raised the corners of my mouth.

When no one was watching, I poured that bottle of water into the pot.

After pouring the water in, I immediately threw myself into my cafeteria shift.

The lunch rush was brutal. The cafeteria was packed with students and faculty coming and going, and I worked straight through until noon.

When I pushed open the dorm door, I immediately saw Caleb sitting at his desk.

His gaze locked onto me the moment I entered. His eyes were full of urgency, as if he had been waiting for me for ages.

Before I could sit down, Caleb got up and walked quickly toward me. He held a nicely packaged bag of toast, his smile gentle and sincere.

"Julian, you must be exhausted after working all morning. You must be hungry too. I just bought this bread. Have some to tide you over."

A second later, I heard his inner voice again.

[I don't know if he drank the water or not. If he didn't, I need him to eat something else just to be safe.]

[And maybe I won't just get his scholarship. I might get today's part-time wages too. Every bit counts.]

Hearing his greedy calculations, anger instantly surged in my chest.

Wanting my scholarship was bad enough. Now he was eyeing the money I earned with my own sweat.

I suppressed my anger. My voice came out colder than I intended as I refused him outright.

"No, thanks. I already ate staff lunch at the cafeteria. I'm not hungry."

Caleb's hand froze in midair. Most of the smile collapsed from his face before he awkwardly drew his hand back.

He quietly returned to his seat, and the atmosphere turned stiff.

Another roommate, Tyler Brooks, had always thought I was withdrawn.

He already disliked me, so now he seized the chance to defend Caleb. His tone was full of accusation and dissatisfaction.

"Julian, that's kind of too much, isn't it?

"Caleb gave you water and bread out of kindness because he felt bad that you had to work. Why are you so ungrateful?"

I looked at Tyler, my tone calm and open.

"I'm not ungrateful. I already thanked him.

"And I already ate. I'm not hungry. What's wrong with refusing extra food?"

Caleb sat off to the side. His complaints kept ringing in my ears, full of irritation and impatience.

[Julian is so hard to deal with. Nothing works on him. He won't eat or drink no matter what.]

[If I'd known he'd be this much trouble, I never would've picked him as my test subject. What a waste of time.]

Tyler still refused to let it go. He crossed his arms with a cold snort, his tone growing even more sarcastic.

"You're just pretending to be above everyone. You never hang out with us, and just because you have good grades, you look down on the rest of us.

"Now you won't even accept someone else's kindness?"

He paused, suspicion filling his eyes.

"Don't tell me you secretly threw away the water Caleb gave you too."

My gaze was clear as I looked straight at him. My voice was calm and firm.

"Don't randomly guess at other people's actions, and don't define people however you like. Besides, I already drank that bottle of water."

The moment those words left my mouth, Caleb's previously disappointed eyes lit up.

The corners of his mouth rose uncontrollably. He could barely suppress the smile spreading across his face.

Then he quickly hid the wild delight in his eyes and stepped in as the good-natured peacemaker.

"All right, all right. Tyler, don't talk about Julian like that. He probably didn't mean anything by it. Maybe he's really just not hungry.

"We're all roommates. There's no need to make things unpleasant over something so small."

[Great! It finally worked! He drank the water. That five thousand dollars will be mine soon.]

[Once I get the money, I'll buy the sneakers first. Then I'll feed the other two roommates snacks and drinks too and transfer all their living money over.]

[If I make a few more transfers, I can pick up those new jerseys too. Perfect.]