Chapter 3

I froze where I stood, stares coming at me from every direction like sharp blades.

"Damn, she really knows how to fake it. She said she was helping Alma collect cardboard, but it turns out she was making Alma do the grunt work so she could pocket this dirty little sum."

"And here I thought she was so righteous, so kind-hearted. Turns out she's one thing to your face and another behind your back."

"Why should someone like that get to be class president? We should've just voted for Eleanor Smith back then."

The insults came in wave after wave, like a cold, freezing tide, drenching my heart over and over.

In the sweltering heat, I'd gone dorm to dorm collecting the cardboard everyone left over from their packages.

Eight floors, no elevator. I ran up and down, my sweat soaking through, drying, and soaking through again.

I helped people out of pure conscience and never took a cent, yet here I was, getting the whole thing turned around on me.

Eleanor deliberately goaded me. "No wonder she fought so hard to be class president. She just wanted to use the title to line her own pockets."

Every drop of blood rushed to my head, and my clenched fists were shaking. "Stop slandering me. What do you even—"

Before I could get the word "proof" out, the floating warning comments came flying across again.

"Don't! Alma already photoshopped fake transfer records. She's just waiting for you to jump into the pit!"

"The more they lie, the better it is for you. Hurry, record the evidence!"

I took a deep breath to steady myself, then raised my phone and hit record.

Alma, who had been bobbing up and down knocking her head to the floor, froze in an instant.

"Car... Carmen, what... what are you trying to do?"

"Didn't you say I forced you to give me money? I'm recording it for you, so the police can come arrest me in a bit."

"What? Call the police? No!" Alma, kneeling on the ground, sprang straight up.

Alma clamped onto me, her nails digging into my flesh.

That shout of hers startled even Eleanor, who flinched. "Alma? You..."

Alma realized she'd overreacted and let go at once.

"Carmen, why call the police over something so small? It'll only sour things between us. Let it go, just let it go..."

But off to the side, Eleanor kept egging her on. "Oh, sure, Carmen. You're bullying Alma because she's honest and easy to push around, and you don't dare call the police, right? Fine, then call them!"

Alma's voice trembled. "Eleanor, we're all classmates here, please don't be like this..."

Eleanor wouldn't let up. "Alma, don't be scared, I'll talk to the police for you! I'll tear that hypocritical face right off her."

The two of them went back and forth, and Alma's face went pale with distress.

"Achoo!" Phineas's loud sneeze cut through their tug-of-war.

"Mommy, I'm so cold, I feel so awful."

He sniffled, looking utterly pitiful.

Susannah, from the dorm next door, couldn't stand to watch.

"Okay, everyone stop fighting. Let the kid come wash up in our dorm first. Look how frozen he is."

Phineas's eyes lit up, and he couldn't wait to slip inside—but I stopped him.

"He goes in there, and if something happens, which of you is going to take responsibility?"

Susannah's hand, reaching to take Phineas's, hung in midair.

The murmuring that had filled the room a moment ago died all at once, and even Eleanor didn't dare say a word.

Alma pressed close to my ear, her voice low, her teeth all but grinding to powder. "You bitch, are you dead set on driving me to my death?"

Her cunning eyes darted around, and the vicious look on her face suddenly eased.

"Forget it, forget it. Since Carmen thinks so poorly of us, we won't go in."

"But the child's clothes are soaked through, so he took them off. You've got a dryer in your dorm—you can at least take these in and help dry them, can't you?"

Eleanor took the clothes without a second thought. "Of course. I'm not as cold-hearted as some people."

Something suddenly came to me, and my heart sank. "No!"

But by the time I turned, Eleanor had already plugged it in.

With a snap, the breaker tripped.

The entire dormitory building was plunged into darkness in an instant.