Chapter 1

After the freshman orientation drills ended, my roommate Leah Fox announced in the class group chat:

【Orientation was rough on everyone this week, so tonight I'm organizing a group dinner at The Rosewood Table to treat you all right.】

【It's only five dollars a person, and once we're there, everything on the menu is all-you-can-eat.】

The Rosewood Table was one of the city's upscale restaurants, a thousand a head.

The chat erupted in cheers.

But a few people had doubts: “Does The Rosewood Table even do a buffet? And just five dollars, is that for real?”

Leah said, “The restaurant is owned by my roommate Tilda Summers's family. I negotiated a special deal for everyone.”

Except she'd never said a word to me about it.

And five dollars for all-you-can-eat at The Rosewood Table was pure fantasy.

I was about to set the record straight with her when she raised a hand and cut me off:

“I've already told everyone, so don't go ruining the mood now.”

“Five dollars each, forty people in the class, your family clears two hundred. That's not bad at all.”

“Plus it drums up business for your family's restaurant. Win-win.”

But all I wanted to tell her was that the restaurant had been sold last week. It wasn't my family's anymore.

……

“It really can't be done,” I explained to Leah again. “A single glass of water there costs five dollars. Five dollars a head isn't going to cover a meal.”

Leah patted me on the shoulder.

“Oh come on, everyone's worn out from orientation. Your family's restaurant sits empty anyway, so why not throw everybody a nice perk?”

“The whole class will remember you for it.”

Even as she talked, Leah had already posted a payment code in the chat:

【Five dollars each, all-you-can-eat at The Rosewood Table tonight!】

When I heard the payment chimes coming from Leah's phone, I posted a message in the chat:

【The Rosewood Table isn't my family's.】

But less than a second after it went up, Leah deleted it.

Even so, someone had seen it, and the questions came right away:

【Didn't Tilda just say The Rosewood Table isn't her family's restaurant? So this five-dollar all-you-can-eat thing is fake too?】

Leah explained: 【Tilda's just modest and didn't want everyone knowing her family runs a restaurant.】

【Relax, everyone, I've already worked it out with them. Five dollars, all-you-can-eat.】

I frowned at her. “I already told you The Rosewood Table isn't my family's. It's not my call to make.”

Leah waved me off. “All right, stop with the act.”

“I heard it the first day of school. Your mom said it right there on the phone, that The Rosewood Table is your family's.”

I thought back to that phone call with my mom.

She had said The Rosewood Table was ours, that was true. But the next thing she said was that the restaurant had been sold.

No wonder Leah knew my family ran a restaurant when I'd never mentioned to anyone what my family did.

She'd clearly only caught the first half.

“It was ours before, that's true, but last week—”

Leah cut me off again. “I'm doing your family's restaurant a favor, drumming up business.”

“I know your family prices its dishes high, but high prices don't mean anything if nobody comes in.”

“Better to run a low-price event. Your restaurant gets the crowds, the students eat well, and you leave a good impression on everyone.”

“It's a three-way win.”

My other two roommates took Leah's side too.

Valerie Lambert needled me: “Some people just love flaunting how rich they are, and now they won't even give the class a discount to eat at their own family's restaurant.”

Paulette Simmons nodded along. “By rights, since your family runs a restaurant, you should've treated us for free at our first class dinner of the year.”

“We're not even asking for free. Just a discount, that's all.”

The three of them played off each other until it sounded like I'd be some selfish miser if I said no.

I didn't want to keep going back and forth with them, so I just posted a message in the chat:

【The Rosewood Table isn't my family's. If everyone wants to eat there, I can help get the price down to half off, but five dollars all-you-can-eat really isn't possible.】

The Rosewood Table had already been sold, but I knew the man who'd taken it over, and he was on good terms with my family.

If I brought classmates in, he'd agree to give us half off.

The chat blew up.

Not with thanks for getting the price down to half off, but with accusations that I was cold-hearted.

【Didn't Leah just say five dollars all-you-can-eat? I already paid, and now you're saying it's only half off?】

【Your family runs a restaurant and is already this well-off, and you're still nickel-and-diming your classmates over pocket change? That's just cold.】

【You say it's not your family's, so how can you negotiate a discount? At least put some effort into your lies.】

They were all convinced the restaurant was my family's, and that I only said otherwise because I didn't want to let classmates eat there cheap.

I was still typing my explanation, message not even sent, when it showed I'd been kicked out of the group chat.