Chapter 4

After the stalking scandal, Lexi was completely ostracized.

In our major classes, not a single person would team up with her for group projects.

When I returned to the dorm that afternoon, I sat at my desk reading while she sat on the edge of her bed.

At first, I could hear her scrolling through her phone, but eventually, even that went quiet.

I turned a page. Out of the corner of my eye, I felt something shifting. When I glanced over, she was staring directly at me.

I looked back down at my book.

About five minutes passed, and that cold stare remained glued to the side of my face. I still didn't budge.

"Chloe," she finally spoke, her voice flat. "Are you happy now?"

I didn't even look up. "You brought this on yourself."

She let out a chilling, bizarre chuckle. A cold shudder ran down my spine; something felt terribly off.

At eleven that night, I reached for my tumbler on the desk and took a sip.

A strange, faint taste hit my tongue—bitter and metallic, like crushed pills dissolved in water.

I held the water in my mouth without swallowing, quickly stood up, rushed into the bathroom, and spat it into the sink.

I rinsed my mouth with fresh water twice, only stopping when the water came out completely clean.

I didn't make a scene. Walking back to my desk, I poured the rest of the tainted water into an empty plastic water bottle and tucked it away, placing the original tumbler back in its exact spot on the nightstand.

At 2:00 a.m., the bed frame across from mine creaked softly.

Through the slits of my eyelashes, I watched her.

Lexi leaned over and mounted her phone on a small tripod at the foot of her bed. After tweaking the angle, the camera was pointed squarely at my sleeping figure.

The screen was lit with a live-streaming app. Her thumb hovered over the "Go Live" button, ready to press down.

The exact second her finger grazed the glass, I threw off my blanket.

I lunged forward, snatching the phone out of her hand before she could process what was happening. Her gasp caught in her throat as I slammed my left hand onto her shoulder, shoving her backward.

*Bang!* Her spine collided with the metal railing of the bunk bed, the dull thud echoing loudly in the quiet room.

She was pinned firmly against the bars, trapped under the weight of my hand.

"What are you doing?!" Her voice trembled violently.

"What did you put in my water?" I whispered, keeping my tone so low only she could hear.

Her lips quivered so hard she couldn't form a coherent sentence. "It was... it was just powdered vitamins! I just wanted you to sleep better!"

I let go of her shoulder, turned around, pulled the plastic bottle from my nightstand, and thrust it right under her nose.

She jerked her head away, her nostrils flaring in panic.

I locked eyes with her. "I kept it."

Ignoring her panicked expression, I tapped three digits into my phone keypad.

"Don't..."

I let out a cold laugh, dialed 911 right in front of her face, and brought the phone to my ear.

"I need to report an incident. Someone slipped an unknown substance into my water, and I suspect it's drugged. She's right here in the room."