“Don’t you trust your aunt?”
“Yeah, but they’re so clueless. And so
obvious!”
“Took you long enough to figure it out. You’re
just a sweet little morsel to Harper. She’s
been looking at you like she’s about to devour
you. Happy? Your dream girl wants to get you
into bed!”
“Whatever. She was wearing familiar clothes. I
thought it was you.”
“So you sent her wine at dinner?”
“I was trying to find out what she was up to.
She’s bad news. Stay away from her!”
“I’ve seen women like her a million times.
You’re gonna get played if you’re not careful.”
Jace said the same thing back then, but I
thought he was prejudiced against Harper.
We argued. He got tired of me and left the
country. We never talked again.
The next day, a scream woke me up. Through
the hallway camera, I saw Harper rushing out.
After a while, Walker stumbled out.
I needed to watch. I dragged a sleepy Jace
with me and got him to take me back to
school.
Harper was trashing the dorm room. When
she saw me, her eyes burned. “Where were
you last night?!”
I looked at her. “The hotel. The room you got
for me. But the walls were thin. I heard
someone screaming early this morning.”
“You! You were in the room all night?”
L
“Well, no. I went to take a shower, and the
water heater was broken. So the front desk
gave me another room.”
The door number got bent, so 2206 became
2209, which was Jace’s room.
“You! Why did you change rooms?!” Harper
was furious.
Or else Walker would’ve assaulted me?
I looked at her innocently. “What’s wrong?
What happened?”
It was obvious.
I didn’t close the door when I left. Walker
went in first and found nobody. He heard
Well III III SE ATTU TouTU TIU
Douy.
- uy. Ne nieai u
someone turning the doorknob, thought it was
me, and assumed I came back. They were
both guilty. No one said a word.
Serves them right.
Harper cried on the bed. She trashed the
place. Finally, she had to suck it up.
But Walker didn’t see it that way.
He bragged about Harper being his girlfriend.
No one believed him. He told everyone what
happened in the hotel.
Walker, an outcast, suddenly had a reputation
with the campus queen.
There were so many people listening to his
king about her like abe
stories. He started talking about her like she
was at his beck and call.
Harper was in tears.
She couldn’t talk to Walker without making
the gossip worse. He started saying she
couldn’t live without him.
The whole school was talking about it.
Every day, people added her on social media,
sending disgusting messages. Someone was
calling late at night, just to curse her out.
Even guys on the street were asking how
much she charged.
The dean called Harper in to warn her.
didn’t feel bad for her Last time that was
I didn’t feel bad for her. Last time, that was
- me.
Harper’s reputation was ruined.
Then our dorm got robbed.
We got back from P.E. to see footprints on
the window. Nothing was missing, so it was
obvious someone was planning something.
Everyone freaked and wanted to call the
cops.
Harper tried to stop us. “He made a mistake.
If we call the cops, his life is over. We need to
give him a chance!”
We disagreed.
Harper accused us of being heartless. “You
wouldn’t let me bring in that stray cat. And it
died. This is a real person! Don’t you have
hearts?!”
She dropped the cat card again.
I cursed her. “Don’t be so sympathetic. You
want to die, go right ahead!”
“Willow, I’m disappointed in you. I thought you
were a spoiled little princess, but you’re just a
trust fund baby who doesn’t care about the
struggles of others!”
“The burglar has a tough life, okay? Don’t rub
salt in his wounds!”
“I don’t care. No one’s leaving. And no one’s
calling the cops!”
She grabbed my phone.
That’s what happened last time. We wanted
to call the police, but Harper wouldn’t let us.
She said she was helping us get good karma.
That night, the burglar came through the
window and stood in front of my bed, wanting
to kill me.
I remembered him saying, “I hate women who
don’t respect themselves.”
Harper was hiding in bed, watching him hack
at me.
The police found out he’d been cheated on by
his ex, so he hated women. Who would he
target this time?
I spent the night somewhere else.
Around midnight, 911 showed up. There was a
murder at school.
I saw caution tape everywhere. One of my
friends said, “Harper got stabbed three
times!”
“He was screaming about dirty whores. Does
Harper know him?”
“She’s got a bad rep!”
“Her dorm got scouted earlier. Harper
stopped them from calling the cops. They
must know each other!”
