Chapter 1

Ada, my cheap-as-hell roommate and student rep for our accounting cohort, suddenly started acting weird.

"Yo, listen up! Seafood buffet tomorrow night. Bosfa. My treat!"

The class went wild.

I just stared at her.

Whenever we got a buy-one-get-one-half-off deal, Ada always made sure she got the cheaper drink.

And now she wanted to pay for dinner for the entire class?

Yeah. Something was seriously off.

That night, I grabbed my ID and valuables and checked into a hotel near campus, telling everyone I needed quiet to study for exams.

The next morning, my phone started buzzing nonstop.

I opened the class group chat.

It was exploding.

Over ninety-nine unread messages.

Then Lily called me, sobbing.

"Simone, where are you? Help us... Ada's a monster! She sold us all out!"

Chapter 1

After the review session, our accounting cohort rep, Ada Duffy, walked to the front.

"Yo, listen up!"

The room went quiet.

"Seafood buffet tomorrow night. Bosfa. My treat!"

She flipped her phone around.

There it was.

A $3,600 Bosfa order.

Paid in full.

For one second, nobody said a word.

Then the room exploded.

"Holy crap, Ada. You rich now?"

"That place is like $120 a person! What, did you win the lottery? Find out you're secretly loaded?"

Everyone crowded around her.

Ada soaked it up, flipping her hair with a huge grin.

"Oh, it's nothing.

"I found this high-paying side gig. Dinner's no big deal."

I sat in the back, watching it all like I wasn't even part of the class.

I knew Ada way too well.

She never paid for laundry. She just tossed hers in with mine.

If we split shampoo for the dorm, she'd sneak half the bottle for herself.

To Ada, classmates were basically free clicks for her shopping referral links.

And now she was treating everyone?

To a $120 seafood buffet?

Yeah, right.

My brain started spinning.

'What could we possibly have that was worth this much to her?'

Before I could land on an answer, Lily Tayler, my roommate, rushed over and grabbed my shoulders.

"Simone! Ada's taking everyone to a seafood buffet! I've never eaten anywhere that expensive!"

"Mm-hmm."

Lily took the hint and ran back to the others.

I couldn't shake the weird feeling in my gut.

If I had to explain it...

Ada made me feel like a lamb walking straight to slaughter.

After all the hype, everyone headed back to the dorms in groups.

The halls were buzzing about how much they'd have to eat tomorrow to "get their money's worth."

I hurried back to my room.

Driver's license. Bank cards. Passport. Anything valuable.

Straight into my bag.

Then I headed for Assistant Dean Michael Elmore's office.

"Mr. Elmore, can I stay off campus for a few days? I signed up for an off-campus language test-prep course, and housing's included."

Mr. Elmore looked surprised.

"Simone, your grades are already great. You really need to push yourself this hard?"

"My family expects a lot. I want to pass on my first try and know I gave it everything."

I sounded sincere enough.

"All right. Just notify your RA and be careful."

I sent my RA a quick message and got out of there fast.

I left campus and booked a cheap motel about a mile away.

The second I got inside, I locked the door and dropped onto the bed.

Finally, I could breathe.

I checked my phone.

The class group chat was still blowing up.

Everyone was hyping Ada up and counting down to tomorrow's seafood feast.

Maybe I was being paranoid.

But my gut wouldn't let it go.

That $3,600 dinner was not free.

Chapter 2

The motel room was dead quiet.

My phone wasn't.

The class chat kept lighting up.

The sign-up list had hit twenty-nine.

There were thirty people in our class.

I was the only one missing.

Then Ada tagged me.

[Simone, you're literally the only one left. Hurry up and add your name!]

[I booked all thirty spots! It's already paid for!]

A few girls close to Ada jumped in right away.

[Simone, Ada's finally spending money for once. You can't bail!]

[Seriously! You never miss class dinners. You have to come!]

I watched the messages pile up.

Then I took a breath and typed.

[Sorry, guys. I signed up for a test-prep course.]

[I've got off-campus sessions for the next few days, so I can't make it back in time.]

[Have fun. Thanks for treating everyone, Ada.]

Then I muted the chat.

Less than a minute later, Lily DM'd me.

[Simone, you're seriously not going? Did you and Ada fight or something?]

Lily was sweet, trusting, and probably the person I was closest to in the dorm.

[No. I really do need to study for the exam.]

I stared at her cute profile pic for a second.

That bad feeling came rushing back.

After a second, I sent another message.

[Lily, don't you think Ada's being way too generous?]

[$3,600? She won't even buy water without splitting the bill. Where'd she get that kind of money?]

Lily replied almost instantly.

[She said she got a part-time job. Something with fancy business events. She can make like $800 a day.]

[Come on, Simone. You're way too paranoid. Something good finally happens and you're already overthinking it.]

My eye twitched at "fancy business events."

I tried one more time without making it obvious.

[Ada worked for that money too. I just have a bad feeling about this dinner. If you can get out of it, do it. Make up an excuse.]

Lily replied right away.

[No chance. Ada and I already made plans. We're riding over together after class tomorrow.]

[Okay, go study. I'll leave you alone. I need to figure out what I'm wearing tomorrow. Mwah!]

I stared at Lily's sticker, my stomach dropping.

I'd said everything I could.

If she still wanted to walk straight into a trap, I couldn't stop her.

The next morning, I went back to campus.

We had a required class for our major, and the professor was brutal about attendance.

Miss one class? Automatic fail.

No way I was letting Ada's weirdness cost me credits.

The second I walked in, the chatter died.

Ada was in the front row wearing some designer outfit I'd never seen before, with a bunch of girls crowded around her like fans.

The second she spotted me, she lit up and came straight over.

"Simone, you're finally here!"

She hooked her arm through mine, way tighter than necessary.

"Think about what I said last night, okay? You can take that exam anytime. Bosfa lobster? Not so much."

I slipped my arm free.

"I really can't. I already paid for the course. Skipping would be a waste of money."

Ada's smile dropped.

"Simone, we're roommates. I finally planned a class dinner, and it won't be the same without you.

"You seriously can't bail on me like this."

The more she pushed, the worse my gut felt.

"I really can't. Thanks, Ada."

Before she could argue again, I headed straight to the back and took my seat.

I didn't hear a word of that lecture.

From the back row, I kept catching Ada looking my way.

The second the bell rang and the professor left, I grabbed my bag and bolted.

"Simone!"

Ada yelled after me.

I didn't turn around.

I ran straight out of the building and all the way to the campus gates.

Chapter 3

Even after I got in the car, my heart was still pounding.

I knew it.

Tonight was gonna be bad.

Back at the motel, I sat at the desk and forced myself to chill.

Then I took a breath and shut off my phone.

Outside, the sky slowly went dark.

That night, I buried myself in language practice until late.

***

The desk lamp had burned all night.

I woke with my face on the hard desk, my neck so stiff I could barely move it.

I checked the clock.

10:38.

Already morning.

The room was dead quiet except for my breathing.

I stared at my dark phone, my heart pounding.

'Last night... it should be over by now, right?'

As I'd barely dodged a disaster, I reached for my phone and turned it on with shaky fingers.

The screen lit up. The logo flashed.

Then the home screen loaded.

No flood of messages.

Nothing.

For a few seconds, everything stayed quiet.

I laughed at myself. 'Was I seriously just being paranoid?

'Did I really miss the one epic seafood feast our class would ever have?'

Then, five seconds later, the silence ended.

Then my phone went insane, buzzing nonstop across the desk.

The vibration made my hand go numb.

The red badge on the chat app instantly flipped to "..."

Missed-call alerts flooded in.

Before I could even open the app, a video call popped up.

Lily.

My heart dropped.

I knew it.

The second I answered, Lily's tear-streaked face filled the screen. She looked completely wrecked.

She was hiding in a dorm bathroom stall, hair a mess, eyes swollen from crying.

"Simone... where are you? Something horrible happened. Please, you have to help us!"

Her voice was barely above a whisper, shaking with fear.

I forced myself to stay calm.

"Lily, stop crying. Take a breath.

"Tell me exactly what happened last night."

Lily wiped her face and tried to talk through the sobs.

"Last night... everything was fine at first.

"But halfway through dinner, Ada pulled out a stack of cash and a bunch of designer bags. She said she'd found a way to make crazy money and asked if we wanted in."

I almost laughed.

So Ada had finally shown her hand.

"She said she joined this 'exclusive business side-hustle group.' Easy work, huge money.

"But there was a $2,500 deposit to get in.

"She said she was only sharing it because she was our cohort rep. And she'd get a $1,000 commission for every person she recruited..."

A chill ran through me.

That was literally a pyramid scheme.

"Everyone's a student. Where'd they get $2,500?"

"That's what we said. Nobody had that kind of money.

"Then Ada showed us this loan app. She said she'd used it too and that it was made for college students, with basically no interest.

"She said the money came through super fast, she'd already paid off her loan, and she'd made over $10,000 on top of it..."

Lily started crying harder.

"Everyone got swept up after that $3,600 dinner. And Ada just kept pushing.

"She kept saying, 'This is your one shot,' and, 'We're classmates. You really think I'd screw you over?'...

"Simone, everyone but you downloaded the app.

"All twenty-nine of us e-signed the agreement, borrowed $2,500, and paid to join."

I sucked in a breath.

Twenty-nine people.

$2,500 each.

That was $72,500.

Minus the $3,600 dinner, Ada had helped that loan app pull in almost $69,000 in one night.

No way.

There had to be more.

"What happened next?"