Chapter 3

I packed my things and left the dorm. Summer took a photo of my back and posted it on her Instagram story with the caption, "A loser."

After leaving the dorm, I waited outside the convenience store opposite the dorm building. A few minutes later, Summer and Jean came out. They left campus arm in arm.

I waited there for an hour but didn't see Adeline. She was the daughter of an affluent family and didn't return to the dorm much. Generally, she treated me, Summer, and Jean equally—she was equally condescending to us.

Still, she'd helped me in the past, and I didn't want to see her end up like she did in my past life. I was about to call her to warn her when I heard a commotion come from the dorm building.

"There's a fire! Call 911!"

A swarm of young women ran out of the dorm building.

I looked up to see thick, black smoke coming from my dorm. When 911 and the college administration arrived, Summer and Jean were back, too.

Upon hearing that our dorm had caught on fire, Summer wanted to charge inside like a mad woman. "My laptop! My bed! My makeup and bags!"

She came from an ordinary family, and one of her hobbies was saving to buy various bags. It was why she cooked in the dorm—to save money. Unfortunately, everything she'd bought after saving up had now burned to a crisp in the dorm.

Her cries attracted Marie Hart, the counselor's attention. She approached Summer and asked, "Why did your dorm catch on fire, Summer? Were any of you using high-power electrical appliances?"

Summer's expression became flustered when she heard that. Still, she regained her composure and said, "No, of course not. We would never do that."

Meanwhile, Jean trembled beside her. Just then, a firefighter came out of the building with a burnt oven. Marie hurried over to find out what had happened.

Jean said to Summer, "What should we do? Is that our oven, Sum?"

"It can't be. Nothing's ever happened to it!"

Then, two firefighters carried Adeline out of the dorm and hurriedly got her into an ambulance. I was surprised by this. What was Adeline doing in the dorm? Had she been there from the start?

Before I could figure this out, Marie called me, Summer, and Jean. She looked grim as she told us to head to her office.

Once we were inside, Marie flung the oven to the floor and snapped, "Whose is this?"

She looked furious. It was understandable. This incident could affect her career, after all.

Neither of us spoke. Summer and Jean were trembling so hard they were almost vibrating.

"This is a serious matter, guys. Tell me whose oven this is!"

I was about to speak when the office door opened. Another counselor called Marie out. Soon, we heard an angry roar. "I'll give you until the end of the day to find the culprit. Otherwise, I'll kill all of you to avenge Adeline!"

The roar came from Terence York, Adeline's boyfriend. Terror washed over me when I heard his familiar voice.

Summer's knees almost gave out when she heard this. She looked at me and said, "You're the one who caused the fire, Michelle."

Jean said, "Yeah, it must be you. Why else would you have taken your things out of the dorm?"

I rolled my eyes at them. "Have you two lost your minds? You know exactly why my things weren't in the dorm. Your stupid oven's the one that caused the fire. Dream on if you think you can push the blame on me!"

Their expressions became hideous. Summer composed herself and softened her tone. "You're not blameless in this, Michelle. Jean and I are in the student council, and Marie likes me. All you need to do is own up to this first. Once the storm has passed, I'll help you clean your records."

I couldn't believe she was still using the student council to threaten me under the circumstances. Marie could barely stay afloat in this, yet Summer and Jean were still thinking of using the student council to protect themselves.

I let out a disparaging laugh. "You think I'm a fool, don't you? Will a demerit or a simple punishment be enough to settle this matter? You two will go to jail if anything happens to Adeline."

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, Marie returned with a college administrator. They looked grim, probably because Terence was pressuring the college for an outcome.

The administrator stormed over to us and slammed the desk. "Whose oven is this?"

Summer jolted, looking like she was about to cry.

I started, "It belongs to—"

Summer pointed at me and shouted, "It belongs to her! Michelle Stone!"

Jean immediately caught on and said, "Yeah, the oven is Michelle's. We've told her repeatedly not to use high-power electrical appliances in the dorm, but she's refused to listen. She even told us off for being nosy!"

Summer struck while the iron was hot and pointed at my luggage. "She must've harbored a grudge against us for repeatedly trying to talk sense into her. That's why she caused the fire! Look at how she's already moved her things out of the dorm. She must've tampered with the oven!"