College had barely started when my new roommate, Jenna, announced she was going to cook in our dorm room to save cash. I was about to talk her out of it when the pop-ups appeared. 【DON’T, HAILEY. She’ll blame you for starving her and drag your name through the mud in the freshman group chat.】 【She’ll rally every student on financial aid, claim you look down on poor people, and get you socially canceled.】 【Later, you’ll give in. She’ll start a fire with her illegal hot plate, then lock the door on her way out, leaving you to burn to death.】 A chill shot down my spine. I immediately started packing a bag to go see the Resident Director about a room transfer. 1 When I blinked, the strange, transparent comments faded from the air. In front of me, Jenna was still pleading her case, her voice a little too whiny. “My family’s broke, Hailey. They scraped together every penny just to get me here.” “My parents are simple, blue-collar folks. I can’t keep asking them for money.” “If I cook for myself, I can save a ton. Plus, I’ll have more time for my online side-hustle instead of running to the dining hall.” She gestured around the room. “Besides, you guys probably have crazy schedules. I eat like clockwork. If you’re ever hungry, you can grab a bite with me.” “I won’t even charge you, I promise. C’mon, be a good roomie, please?” She was asking, but her cooking gear—a sketchy-looking hot plate and a collection of mismatched pots—was already spread all over the floor. She was also on a video call, clearly broadcasting this whole negotiation. It was a hostage situation, and I was the hostage. I was in a tough spot. Because of some weird housing lottery fluke, our four-person suite only had three of us. Our third roommate, Brianna, had some medical issues and was deferring her arrival for a couple of months. Over the call, Brianna, who just wanted a quiet place to recover, barely registered the conversation and just said “Sure, whatever,” before hanging up. That left me as Jenna’s sole target. Just then, the pop-ups flickered back into existence above her head. 「Poor Hailey. First week of college and she gets a roommate from hell.」 「Seriously, she needs to run. Whether you say yes or no, this type of person will pin any problem on you and drag you down with them.」 「It’s so tragic. In the original timeline, you almost escaped the fire. But Jenna ran back, not to help, but to lock the door so you couldn't snitch.」 My blood ran cold. Jenna was that vicious? 2 I took a deep breath, trying to keep my voice steady. Under Jenna’s expectant gaze, I started cautiously. “Jenna, it’s not that I don’t want you to cook… it’s just, the housing agreement explicitly forbids high-wattage appliances. That hot plate…” I trailed off, letting the implication hang in the air. The thing looked like it was from the 90s, caked with years of grime. I was half-convinced it would explode the second she plugged it in. But I couldn't just say that. Jenna, thinking she was winning, puffed out her chest. “Don’t worry! If anything happens, I’ll take full responsibility. It’ll have nothing to do with you, I swear!” I still pretended to be hesitant. “Even if the RA doesn’t do a room check, what if there’s a fire…?” “Oh, is that what you’re worried about?” Jenna visibly relaxed. “I’ll go to Target tomorrow and buy a couple of fire extinguishers for the room. See? Problem solved.” “But…” Seeing me still on the fence, a flicker of annoyance crossed her face, but she quickly masked it, throwing her arms around my shoulder. “C’mon, Hailey. Just say yes.” “...Alright, fine,” I sighed, as if worn down by her persistence. “But you remember what you said. If there’s any trouble, it’s on you.” “Of course, of course!” With Jenna appeased, I grabbed my phone and walked out of the room. Only after the door clicked shut did I look at the pop-ups, which were going ballistic. 「Hailey, you can’t be this naive! Her verbal promise is worthless.」 「It won’t be long before her cooking trips the circuit breaker for the whole floor. You’ll be home for the weekend, and she’ll stash the hot plate in your closet to frame you.」 「You get written up for that. When you try to explain, she’ll play the victim card about being poor.」 Honestly, I didn’t doubt them for a second. My old self probably would have caved to her sob story and taken the fall. But this time… 3 I glanced down at my phone. The recording app was still running. I had every single one of Jenna’s promises on tape. There was no way she could pin this on me now. With the Jenna situation temporarily handled, I didn’t waste a second. I headed straight for the Housing Office. No matter what, getting away from a person like that was the top priority. “You want to switch rooms?” The Housing Coordinator, Ms. Davis, looked at me with a pained expression. “Hailey, you know we’re over-enrolled this year. Every bed is taken. I pulled a lot of strings to get you this suite.” Ms. Davis was the daughter of my mom’s college friend. She had intentionally placed me in a less-crowded suite to give me a better freshman experience. Neither of us could have predicted a roommate like Jenna. “I know, and I appreciate it. But I can’t stay there. It’s… a really bad fit.” I chose my words carefully. I couldn’t tell her the whole truth. If Jenna found out I’d gone behind her back, she’d make my life a living hell. Seeing my determination, Ms. Davis sighed and handed me a form. “Fill this out, and I’ll submit it. But I can’t make any promises. Even if it’s approved, with the way things work around here, it could take a month, minimum.” I nodded. A month. I could live with that. I’d just have to make myself scarce. I asked Ms. Davis to keep my request confidential. Back at the dorm, Jenna had already launched her culinary enterprise. For the first few days, it wasn’t so bad—just ramen or some simple soup. The smell was contained. It made me wonder if I was overreacting, if I was trusting these weird pop-ups too much. So, I started spending a bit more time in the room during the day instead of staying out until late. Until one afternoon, as I was walking back to my building, a girl stopped me. “Are you from room 2632?” 4 Our building was #2, sixth floor, room 32. 2632. My stomach dropped. I had a very bad feeling. Before I could ask, the girl rolled her eyes and walked away, muttering under her breath. “Unbelievable. This is a university, not a damn food truck. If you’re gonna be a line cook, do it somewhere else. No wonder she’s broke.” I couldn’t judge the girl without knowing the full story. But my gut told me this had everything to do with Jenna. “Jenna, what are you doing?” Sure enough, as I hit the sixth-floor landing, I was assaulted by the thick, choking smell of burnt chili. It was so strong my eyes started watering. Covering my mouth, I ran to our door, expecting to find our room filled with smoke. But inside, it was surprisingly clear. The air was fresh. A group of strangers was sitting around Jenna’s hot plate, laughing and eating. When I walked in, Jenna’s face flashed with guilt. “Oh, Hailey! You’re back.” She grabbed a disposable bowl. “Here, have some! It’s on the house.” I opened my mouth to ask what the hell was going on, but Jenna was frantically shaking her head and widening her eyes, silently begging me not to make a scene. I scanned the room and decided to wait until her “customers” left. I shut my mouth and walked towards the door to turn off the fan. My fan. It was positioned to blow all the fumes out into the hallway. I had to get it back; I’d overheard someone downstairs saying they were getting the RA. If my fan was part of the evidence, I’d be implicated. But as I reached for it, one of the girls—the one with a sharp bob—snapped at me. “Who are you? You can’t just waltz in here, get free food, and turn off our fan.” Her comment set off a chain reaction. The whole group started grumbling. One of the guys turned on Jenna. “Hey, Jenna, we all chipped in for this. If you’re bringing in extra people, you owe us a refund.” Forgetting about me, Jenna rushed to placate them. “No, no, this is my roommate! Don’t worry, she’s eating too, so she’ll definitely cover today’s meal for everyone.” She turned to me, her eyes pleading. “Right, Hailey?” 5 My head was spinning. Since when was I eating, let alone paying? “Hailey, please,” Jenna whispered, pulling me aside. “These are my first real customers. Just let me make a little money, okay?” There it was again. The guilt trip. As if on cue, the pop-ups returned, more frantic than ever. 「Jenna is shameless. Using Hailey’s fan, their shared electricity, and probably Hailey’s water, too. All she provides is the pot, and she pockets all the cash.」 「Don’t give in, Hailey! If you back down now, the next time you try to stop her, she’ll say you’re jealous of a poor student trying to get by.」 「Yeah, and to keep their cheap meals coming, they’ll all team up to bully you out of the room. They’ll spread rumors about you on the campus gossip app.」 「You’ll be forced to move out and rent an expensive off-campus apartment.」 Reading those comments, a light bulb went off in my head. I was struggling to find a legitimate reason to get my room change approved. Now, they were handing one to me on a silver platter. I cleared my throat and looked at the girl who’d spoken up first. “Oh, you’re all here for Jenna’s… food, right? My bad, total misunderstanding.” I plastered on a fake smile. “You guys go ahead and eat. Just be careful with my stuff, okay? It’s all pretty expensive, so please don’t touch anything.” The people who came to Jenna for cheap food were, by definition, on a tight budget. My comment hit them like a slap in the face. They were instantly furious. 6 “What’s that supposed to mean?” the girl with the bob shot back. “Just because we’re on financial aid, you think we’re thieves? How dare you insult us like that!” Yep. Birds of a feather. They were just like Jenna. Ignoring her, I turned and headed for the door. Jenna was trying to calm everyone down, but not before shooting me a venomous glare. “Hailey, how could you say that? We might be poor, but we have dignity!” she hissed. “You’ve really disappointed me.” In a few short sentences, she’d successfully painted me as a snobby, toxic rich girl. But now wasn’t the time to argue. Just before leaving, I paused in the doorway and added, helpfully, “By the way, I saw the RA heading this way with a couple of people. If you don’t want to get written up, you should probably pack this all up. Like, right now.” “What? Why didn’t you say so sooner?!” Jenna’s face went pale. Forgetting her customers’ hurt feelings, she and the group scrambled to hide the evidence. I allowed myself a small, satisfied smile. As I rounded the corner of the stairwell and saw the RA approaching, I knew the show was about to begin. 7 Jenna got caught. So did her entire dinner club. A few academic advisors got involved, but their hands were tied. These were all scholarship students, and unless they committed a major offense, the university couldn't punish them too harshly. That night, when I got back to the room, Jenna confronted me. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you, Hailey?” I played dumb. “Did what?” “You knew the RA was coming. You stalled and wasted our time so we’d get caught. You enjoyed watching that, didn’t you?” “Jenna, I was trying to help you. How could you accuse me of something like that?” I managed to sound genuinely hurt, though inside I was ecstatic. “I was out all day, how was I supposed to know you were running a restaurant in here? If you’d given me a heads-up, I could have been a lookout for you.” My performance must have been convincing, because her expression softened slightly. “Really?” she asked, still suspicious. “Really.” I pouted. “Besides, I haven’t even complained to you yet. You guys made all my clean clothes smell like chili. I’m going to have to get them all dry-cleaned. Maybe you should ask your friends from today to chip in for the bill?” “You should have put your clothes away! Don’t you dare try to scam me with your designer labels. I’m a scholarship kid, I don’t have that kind of money!” Just like that, her brief moment of calm vanished. “You’re such a jinx!” she spat. “I’ve been doing this for a week, and nothing went wrong until the day you decided to come back early!” I pretended to be angry, too. “I never asked you for money! But if my being here is such an inconvenience, why don’t you just move in with one of them?” With that, I drew the curtain around my bed. “I’m going to sleep.” The pop-ups appeared again, this time almost cheering. 「Don’t be mad, Hailey, don’t be mad!」 「Yeah! If Jenna’s friends move in here, you might actually avoid the fire!」 I was faking my anger, but inside, I was celebrating. When a pop-up confirmed that Jenna was already messaging her friends about a potential room swap, I was too excited to sleep.
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