Chapter 1

My roommate Diana Matthews was a famous 'dutiful daughter' streamer.

On the first day of school, she dropped straight to her knees, sobbing, begging us to let her move her mother, who had cerebellar atrophy, into the dorm with us.

We agreed—and then found out her mother wasn't just stealing our things, she was secretly filming us in the shower.

More than that, we found out her mother didn't have cerebellar atrophy at all.

When we politely asked them to leave, Diana turned around and posted us online.

My two roommates and I became targets everyone wanted to see punished, and in the end one of her rabid fans ran us down with a truck.

I opened my eyes again, and I was back on the first day of school.

I let out a shriek and immediately blasted my mom with a string of desperate calls.

"Mom! Get my eighty-year-old paralyzed grandma over to the dorm, now!"

The words were barely out of my mouth when my other two roommates came through the door, each supporting a silver-haired old woman.

The instant our six eyes met, I knew—they'd been reborn too.

The room leader pointed at her grandmother. "Fifty years on the stage. She can out-shout Diana Matthews to death."

The youngest pointed at her grandmother. "Captain of the Tai Chi team. Knows a thing or two with her fists."

They looked at me. I took a deep breath and spread my hands.

"My grandma's a little... special."

1

The words had barely left me when a knock came at the dorm door.

Cynthia Manning, Skylar Reeves, and I all went rigid.

Sure enough, the next moment, Diana Matthews pushed the door open.

An action camera hung against her chest.

The memory of everything Diana had done to me in my past life came flooding back.

Looking at that soft, fragile face of hers, I couldn't help a shiver.

The instant she stepped inside, her knees buckled and she dropped straight down in front of us with a thud.

"Please, everyone, be kind..."

But once she took in the roomful of people, she visibly froze.

Clearly she hadn't expected there to be this many of us.

Her mother, Patsy Whitney, came rushing in behind her, chewing on her fingers.

At the sight of us her eyes flickered, and she went right back to shoving her fingers in her mouth, making cheerful little "mmm, mmm" noises.

Hair a mess, face grimy—she really did look like something wasn't right with her.

No wonder she'd fooled us in our past life.

We exchanged a glance. Nobody said a word.

Seeing that, Diana quietly adjusted her camera, and the tears came pouring out.

"Hi, everyone. I'm your roommate, Diana Matthews."

"This is my mother. Years ago she came down with cerebellar atrophy—sometimes lucid, sometimes not herself. When my father saw her like this, he cleaned out every cent in the house and ran, and left the two of us to fend for each other."

"I only have my mother, and she only has me."

Diana's eyes were red from crying.

"So I'd like to bring my mother to school with me. Is that all right with you?"

"Fine, fine, of course it's fine."

"Both hands up, I agree."

"I'll throw in both feet."

We answered almost the instant she finished.

"I understand how you feel about not agreeing, after all—wait. What?"

Diana suddenly stalled out.

Clearly she hadn't counted on us granting such a brazen request so easily.

Cynthia stepped forward and helped her up.

"Diana, what are you talking about? We never said no."

As she spoke, a flash of resentment crossed her face, gone almost as soon as it came.

In our past life, Diana had run the exact same routine.

The moment she walked in, the crying, the kneeling, the whole tearful account of how hard her life was.

And she'd asked that same question:

"I'd like to bring my mother to school. Is that all right with you?"

Cynthia was the first to answer.

Level-headed as always, she said she understood how much Diana loved her mother, but did this square with the school's rules?

I put forward a suggestion too:

"I hear the dorms have extra space this year. Go apply to the school for a room of your own—it'd make life a lot easier for you and your mother."

Two simple sentences, and Diana only cried louder.

She cried until she was hiccuping. "Please don't hold us in contempt. I'll work like a dog for you..."

The over-the-top display stirred up public outrage in an instant.

A livestream channel with tens of thousands of viewers erupted into a campaign against Cynthia and me.

They dug up our social media accounts and flooded them with comments, and even wrote a report to the school.

That was when we learned she'd been livestreaming from the very first second she set foot on campus.

Cynthia and I traded a look and both stepped forward to steady her.

"Diana, don't think so badly of us. We're all good young people of a new generation—we're supposed to help each other out. The beds in this room, take your pick, you and your mother."

Diana looked half-convinced.

"Really?"

"Of course."

We said it in one voice.

Diana raised her hand slightly and laid claim to the best bed in the room.

In our past life, we'd gone by first come, first served, and Diana, who'd arrived last, was left with the bed right under the AC.

She wasn't happy about it, but she never said so outright.

She just steered her viewers.

"I did give everyone a heads-up in advance, but I'm not surprised they'd do this. It's fine, cold is cold, I can bear it. It's just my mother..."

Sure enough, we got branded as cold-blooded and selfish.

The moment Patsy Whitney saw Diana had claimed a bed, she flung herself onto it.

Diana walked over, sat on the edge, and gently stroked Patsy's hair.

"Mom, hurry and thank my roommates."

Patsy opened her mouth, baring a row of yellow teeth.

But before she could get a word out, Skylar helped Grandma Reeves sit down across from them.

Cynthia was already pulling off Grandma Manning's shoes and easing her down to lie back.

"Thank us for what?"

Cynthia flashed a big, bright smile.

"We're all dutiful daughters who brought family to school. From now on we should help each other out."

Grandma Manning and Grandma Reeves both reached out toward Patsy at once.

"Hello there, roommate Patsy."

"What?"

Diana and Patsy shot up at the same time.

That synchronized reaction—no denying they were mother and daughter.

"You're going to live here too? Why should you get to?"

Patsy bared her teeth, not a trace of a cerebellar atrophy patient about her.

Clearly, for a moment, she couldn't keep the act up.

Diana caught that something was off and hurried to grip Patsy's hand tight.

Three seconds later, her eyes went red again.

"If you don't want my mom moving into the dorm, you can just say so. There's no need to force us out like this..."

The words had barely left her when another knock came at the door.

I hurried over to open it.

The door swung wide, and a silver-haired little old lady in a wheelchair came sweeping in like a gust of wind, working the wheels herself.

I scratched my head, a little sheepish.

"My grandma has to live with us too. Grandma Manning, Grandma Reeves, Aunt Patsy—you've got a new roommate."