Plot Twists Short Stories & Roommate Revenge Novels

My roommate won first prize in the national lottery, a full 100 million dollars. She quit her job on the spot, blocked her boss, and said to me, "Amanda, from now on, we'll live in Luxuria Heights, eating the best food and living it up." We went on shopping sprees at Hermès and treated Michelin restaurants like our daily canteen. On moving day, she told me to go ahead to the top-floor luxury apartment and wait for her. She said she needed to pick up a package. Excited, I entered the password she had given me. "Beep. Incorrect password." I was just about to try again. Then, the door opened. The person who came out was not my roommate but a stranger in a suit. He looked at me and frowned. "Who are you? Why do you have the password to my home?" I was stunned. "This is Lydia Zaydn's apartment. Who are you?" The man's expression turned strange. "Lydia Zaydn? I've lived here for five years. I've never heard of that name."

Chloe, the maid I share a room with, is dead. I watched the head housekeeper and another maid pin her to the floor. I watched them as the housekeeper vomited up a slimy, black web of fungus and forced it down Chloe's throat. I should have screamed. I wanted to. But my selective mutism took over, trapping the sound in my throat. It probably saved my life. The next day, Chloe was alive again. She walked into the young miss’s room to brush her hair, just like always. I was so scared I dropped the water basin I was holding. As I stood there, frozen, the young miss leaned in close, her voice a whisper only I could hear. "You've noticed it too, haven't you? They're not themselves anymore."

For three years in college, I was basically the dorms’ unpaid tech support. I was always on call, never charging for dust cleaning, thermal paste replacement, and operating system installations. Then senior year started, and Mickey, a freshman, called me out in the dorm group chat. “You know thermal paste only costs a few bucks a tube, right? Yet, he’s seriously charging you guys two cans of energy drinks for the job.” Mickey added smugly. “My family runs a computer store. Come to me instead. I’ll charge you a can for the service, and I can guarantee authentic parts.” The group chat blew up. “The kid’s legit!” “Well, Axis isn't getting any more energy drinks from me.” I read the messages and quietly packed away my tools in the cabinet. They had no idea the thermal paste I used cost nearly forty bucks a tube. The dust cleaning was done with professional-grade equipment. Little did they know, the so-called genuine parts sold on the market were mostly refurbished parts with a fresh coat of paint. I got into bed and pulled a sleep mask over my eyes. Honestly, this couldn’t have come at a more perfect time. I’d been wondering when these days of doing free repairs at my expense would finally end. Well, there's my ticket out.

Right before graduation, our Resident Advisor (RA), Jasper Hollister, posts a message in the group chat announcing a hygiene inspection in two days. At the same time, he sets up a pool and demands 200 dollars from each of us to hire a professional cleaner. I immediately ask, "How on earth does a cleaning service cost 800 dollars for a tiny four-person dorm room?" Jasper instantly gets defensive and snaps, "If we get held back from graduating because of you, are you gonna take the blame?" Not wanting any drama, I just pay up and spend the next two days quietly grinding out my thesis at the library. On inspection day, I get a furious phone call from our Residence Hall Director, Deborah Campbell, screaming at me to get back to the room immediately. I push the door open to find the other three beds are spotless. Meanwhile, my bed and desk are buried under a mountain of takeout containers and trash that reeks to high heaven.

My roommate, Florence Myers—who happens to be from a low-income family—is obsessed with AI. She relies on AI to determine whether the food she eats will bring her good or bad luck, and she even lets AI plan her daily outfits. On our very first day of orientation, she refuses to lock the window, claiming an AI dating app has matched her with her soulmate. I warn her that our dormitory is located deep in the mountains and leaving the window unlocked is dangerous. Florence threatens to end her life if I don't let her have her way. "Cora AI said my true love will break through the window tonight!" I don't want to pick a fight, so I wait until she's sound asleep and quietly lock the window shut. However, when I wake up in the middle of the night, I catch a thief climbing in through the window. I'm about to call for help when Florence clamps her hand over my mouth, looking ridiculously excited. "Don't make a sound, Cleo! I just woke up to unlock the window, and he showed up! This is fate. We're meant to be!" Her cheeks are tinged pink. "If I go over and greet him right now, do you think he'll confess his love to me first?" Ignoring her attempts to stop me, I decisively call the cops and have the thief arrested. I think this matter's behind us, yet on the night orientation ends, Florence corners me against my bed, shoving the latest news headline in my face. "This is all your fault! The thief from that night is the richest man's long-lost son! You ruined my chance to marry into wealth!" The very next second, she strangles the life out of me. … When my eyes fly open again, I realize I've been reborn back to the very first day of college. This time, I scoff, grab my luggage, and walk out the door. Since Florence wants a love story that begins with a home invasion so badly, I'll gladly step aside and let her live out her dream!

My roommate, Nathan White, says he practices extreme mindfulness and can't kill any living creatures. On the very first day of college, he grabs my electric mosquito swatter and stops me. "Mosquitoes are living creatures too. How can you kill them?" That night, he opens every window in our dorm, saying he wants to leave the door open for any little lives that have lost their way. I get bitten so badly that I develop a high fever and an allergic reaction. My eyelids swell so much that I can barely open my eyes. When I put up a mosquito net, he tears it down with tears in his eyes. "How can you be so selfish? If you cover yourself up, what's going to happen to them?" In my previous life, those words marked the beginning of my condemnation by everyone in my dorm, my entire class, and even the campus confession page. They say I'm cold-blooded and that Nathan is simply too kindhearted and criticize me for being unable to tolerate just a few mosquitoes. In the end, my high fever leads to an infection, and I go into anaphylactic shock and end up in the ICU. Meanwhile, Nathan faces the camera with an aggrieved expression and claims that my hostility is what provoked the mosquitoes to attack me. When I open my eyes again, I'm back on the first day of college. Nathan is holding down my electric mosquito swatter and looking at me expectantly. "You won't hurt them, right?" I pick up my phone and head straight to the office of the faculty member in charge. "Ms. Zimmer, I'd like to apply for permission to live off campus." Whoever wants to turn the dorm into a wildlife sanctuary can do as they please. I want no part in it.

Gillian Cook, my roommate, asked me to join her group order for a Black Friday online sale. It was a small request, but I turned it down immediately. I knew that if I joined the order, I would end up receiving a pile of unsealed adult toys. In my past life, Gillian tricked me into joining the group order to destroy my mental state and steal my early admission offer slot for grad school. When I went to the campus mailroom to pick up my package, the tissues I'd ordered had somehow been replaced with a pile of unsealed adult toys. Quite a few people got my phone number off the delivery label and messaged me with malicious intentions. I tried to explain that the items weren't mine, but Gillian pulled out the group-order records and said with feigned seriousness, "Those toys are nothing! Hannah's sex drive is through the roof! Having a boyfriend isn't enough for her—she spends the night with several different men every week!" As soon as she said that, I became the target of vicious online abuse. More harassment followed, and my boyfriend, Samuel Hunter, broke up with me. The whole ordeal made me deeply depressed, and I eventually jump from a campus building to end my life. After my death, Gillian successfully got into the grad school I have always wanted to attend through my early admission offer slot. Yet the online harassment continued, targeting my innocent parents too. When I opened my eyes again, I found myself back at the moment Gillian tried to trick me into joining the group order.