Chapter 1

During the first day of the semester, my boyfriend, William Evans, brought my luggage up to my dorm room for me.

Out of the four of us who would share a dorm room, I was the last one to arrive. Once I finished unpacking my things, Natasha Tate, whose bed was across from mine, approached me with a stern expression.

"Tamara Sullivan, right? I don't think it's right for you to get a senior to help you carry your luggage around on the very first day of school. After all, it's better not to get too chummy with guys so soon. You should learn to keep an appropriate distance. If you feel bad declining his help, give me his contact information, and I'll pass on the message on your behalf."

Turning scarlet, I awkwardly explained that William was my boyfriend and a fellow freshman at our university.

"Oh," Natasha remarked. She gave me a meaningful look before heading back to her bed.

After introducing ourselves, we all chatted for a bit. It was already noon when William finished unpacking. He had come over to take me out to lunch, so I politely rejected my dormmates' offer to have lunch with them. The others were fine with it, but Natasha clicked her tongue disapprovingly.

"Tamara, this is going to be our first time sharing a meal together, but you're not even joining us. That's rather unsocial of you."

Though I felt rather mystified, I kept a smile up and promised to treat them to a meal next time. However, Natasha refused to let up. Scoffing, she instructed me to ditch lunch with William and join them instead.

Connie Orwell and Brenda Sterling, my other two dormmates, awkwardly waved their hands and said that wasn't necessary. Meanwhile, my phone buzzed as well. William was hurrying me.

Seeing this, Natasha became even more furious. She shook her head at me and declared, "See? Your boyfriend doesn't care about you making friends at all. And you! You're even willing to neglect our friendship for the sake of a guy."

Puzzled to no end, I frowned. I couldn't figure out how this was a sign that William, whom I had been dating for a year now, didn't care about me. Plus, what friendship did I have with a bunch of dormmates I was only meeting for the first time today?

When my phone rang once more, I walked off, but I could hear Natasha's frustrated ranting ringing out behind me. "To think that a college student would turn out to be a love-addled fool. Just wait and see. She's going to get dumped!"

I met up with William, who took my purse from me with a smile, saying, "I booked us a table at the restaurant you've been wanting to try. You've been dying to eat there for so long now, and you even told me I had to make sure we got a table there, so what took you so long to come down?"

As I wrapped my arms around his waist, the gentle breeze washed away all the confusion and annoyance I felt from what happened earlier. I responded light-heartedly, "I had to wait a while to get on the elevator. There were too many people. Sorry for being late."

By the time we got back to the campus after lunch, it was already late in the afternoon. All of my dormmates were lying on their beds and playing with their phones. I gave them a casual apology before handing out the gifts William and I bought for them. It was a small bottle of perfume that had a pretty decent scent and an affordable price. I rather liked it myself.

Connie and Brenda happily accepted the gift before teasing Willian and me about our loving relationship. When it was Natasha's turn, however, she picked up the bottle of perfume with two fingers before remarking with a taunting look, "It's not even a well-known brand. Who would give something like that as a gift?"

Though I felt displeased, it was only the first day of the semester. There was no reason for me to get into a fight with a dormmate already. I tried to brush it off with a half-hearted response, but Natasha wasn't done yet.

Natasha declared, "Judging by how cheap it is, I bet you bought it yourself. Why did you bother lying by saying that you and your boyfriend bought it together? Would he even pay for you? I bet you're the one who pays for all your meals and outings. Don't blame me for not reminding you that you'll be doomed for a lifetime if you willingly fork out all your money for a guy!"

I turned back toward Natasha, my expression dark. My tone became a little unpleasant as well. Holding my hand out to her, I said, "My boyfriend and I split all our bills. Stop coming up with such ridiculous assumptions about our relationship. How he treats me is none of your business. Since you don't like the perfume, you can give it back to me."

Not only did Natasha not return the perfume, but she even started smiling smugly as if she had discovered a secret of mine.

"You two split your bills?" Natasha exclaimed. "Well, just you wait! I bet he keeps a record of every bit of money he spends. Once you two break up, he's going to ask you to pay him back. When the time comes, it'll be too late for you to regret not heeding my advice!"

I couldn't be bothered to entertain her nonsense any longer, so I walked off.