I watched my roommate take her last breath right in front of me. She was attacked by a groundskeeper on her way back from the library a few days ago. To bury the scandal, the university offered the rest of us in the dorm guaranteed spots in the graduate program. But today, I heard a strange rumor. "Did you hear? Someone saw the girl who died... they said she was studying by the old library again!" 1 I suppressed the shock rising in my chest and hurried back to the dorm. My roommate, Sarah, was already there. Her face was paler than mine, and she looked visibly shaken. "Sarah," my voice trembled, "did you hear the rumor... about Lily?" Sarah looked at me as if I were a lifeline and nodded vigorously. She glanced around the room nervously, as if afraid of disturbing something unseen, then leaned in and whispered, "Sunny, do you think it's true? Do you think she... came back?" "Impossible," I said quickly, trying to convince myself as much as her. "We saw her die. People don't come back from the dead. They must have seen someone else." "That's not what I mean," Sarah hissed. "I mean... what if she came back for revenge?" My breath hitched. "Why would she? I didn't kill her. It was... an accident. If she wants revenge, she won't come for me." But deep down, the thought had already taken root. Sarah's fear turned into annoyance. "Sunny, don't you dare try to put this all on me. You played a part in her death too. If she's back for blood, neither of us is safe." I stayed silent. I didn't want to admit it, but she was right. Lily had a heart condition. After the assault on University Avenue, the shock triggered an attack. She was lying on the ground, gasping for air, her pills just out of reach. I had moved to help her, but Sarah stopped me. She stared at Lily with a terrifying intensity. "Sunny, do you want that grad school spot?" "If Lily dies because of this scandal... the school might guarantee spots for the three of us to keep us quiet." I hesitated. Shamefully, I hesitated. I studied hard every day, but my grades were just shy of the cutoff. A guaranteed spot would secure my future. Sarah kicked the pill bottle away, sending it skittering into the darkness. I watched her do it. I hesitated. I didn't stop her. Because of my hesitation, Lily died, her hand still reaching for the medicine that could have saved her. Just as Sarah predicted, the university hushed it up and offered us the spots. I thought it was over. But now... Before Sarah could say more, the door opened. Our third roommate, Emily, walked in. Sarah shut up instantly, blinking at me before turning to Emily with a forced casualness. "Emily, did you hear someone saw Lily on University Avenue? Do you know anything about it?" "Really? Haven't heard," Emily replied flatly. She climbed into her bed and turned her back to us. Sarah rolled her eyes and texted me a stream of complaints. She's so cold. No roommate loyalty at all. Lily dies and she doesn't even care. She hated Lily anyway. Probably happy she's gone. If it weren't for us, she wouldn't even have that grad spot. Ungrateful. I wanted to roll my eyes too. If Sarah had "roommate loyalty," she wouldn't have kicked Lily's medicine away. But I was no better. I comforted Sarah over text. I don't care. I'm going to check University Avenue myself. Sunny, you have to come with me. 2 I stared at the message. Was she crazy? She thinks Lily is a ghost, and she wants to go find her? But I wanted to know too. Having someone with me felt safer. We picked noon the next day—broad daylight, maximum sun. We went to the study corner on University Avenue. If anyone saw Lily, it would be here. There were plenty of girls with long hair reading, but none of them were Lily. I heard Sarah let out a long breath behind me. "See? I told you. They saw it wrong." She still wasn't reassured. She dragged me up and down the avenue several times. Only when we were absolutely sure Lily wasn't there did she smile. For the next few days, we "coincidentally" walked by that spot, scanning every face. No Lily. It was just a rumor. But the night I finally relaxed, a man jumped from the roof of the Humanities building. 3 When we heard someone jumped, a crowd rushed to see. Sarah and I went too. Suicides happen on campus sometimes. The pressure is high. But when I saw the body, my blood ran cold. It was a man in a groundskeeper's uniform. His face was a mess, unrecognizable. But sticking out of his pocket was a delicate, expensive hair clip. I knew that clip. Lily's dad gave it to her for her birthday. It cost a fortune, and she loved showing it off. Why was it on this man? I knew then. He was the one who attacked Lily. A chill crawled up my spine. Sarah grabbed my arm, her nails digging into my flesh. She was trembling. "It's her... she's back for revenge." I looked at Sarah's terrified face and couldn't find a single word of comfort. We stood there, clinging to each other as campus security shooed us away. Strange. Why wasn't the Dean of Students here? She usually handled these things. As we walked back, Sarah kept looking over her shoulder. Suddenly, someone shouted. I looked up. Fire. 4 It was coming from the faculty office building! I ran with the crowd. "The fire started in the Dean's office," someone whispered. "Everyone got out except her. She's still inside." My heart sank. The Dean was the one who covered up Lily's death. She was the one who proposed the grad school spots. First the attacker. Now the cover-up artist. It wasn't a coincidence. The heat from the fire hit my face, but I felt freezing cold. When the fire was out, they brought out the Dean's body. She was curled up like a piece of charcoal. The smell of burnt meat mixed with the acrid smoke made me gag. Sarah vomited right there on the grass. She wiped her mouth, looking at me with wide, panicked eyes. "Sunny... what do we do? are we next?"
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