My Roommate Tried to Frame Me for Giving Her Syphilis, So After Rebirth, I Went on the Warpath Chapter 02
I went straight back to the dorm.
My hand had barely closed around the handle when the door flew open from the inside.
My roommate Bree Walsh stood there with a bottle of industrial disinfectant and sprayed it right into my face.
The bleach fumes hit the back of my throat and set me coughing.
She planted herself in the doorway like she was keeping out a burglar.
“Bree, are you out of your mind?”
I wiped the disinfectant off my face and stared at her.
“Am I out of my mind? You’re the one who’s insane.”
She took a step back like I might rub off on her.
“Everybody in our year knows you gave Chloe syphilis!”
“You won’t even get tested, and then you come waltzing back in here. Are you trying to infect all of us?”
Our other roommate, Kayla Brooks, had two masks on and looked at me like I was something stuck to her shoe.
“From now on you don’t touch anything in this room that the rest of us use.”
I looked at the two of them and couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“Chloe says I infected her, and that’s enough for you?”
“Better safe than sorry.”
“Besides, Chloe is a good girl. She would never be caught anywhere like that.”
“You’re the one who disappears every weekend. Nobody knows what you’re doing out there.”
I spent those weekends tutoring to cover my own expenses, and somehow that had turned into evidence against me.
The door opened again.
Chloe walked in looking like she could barely stand.
The second she saw me, the tears started rolling down her face again.
“Bree, don’t be like that with her.”
“I really don’t think she meant to do it. She probably didn’t even know she was sick when she gave me the towel.”
She crossed the room and stopped in front of me.
“If you leave school and get yourself treated, I’m willing to forgive you.”
The girls packed into the doorway let out a little sigh, like they were watching a saint.
“Forgive me?”
I laughed, and there was nothing funny about it.
“Somebody supposedly ruined the rest of your life, and you squeeze out two tears and hand out forgiveness?”
“Are you really that sweet, or are you scared that if I stay and call the police, the investigation lands on what you’ve been doing off campus?”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Chloe’s face changed.
“It means drop the innocent act. If you want the police involved, let’s do it right now. I’ll dial 911 for you.”
I pulled out my phone and started dialing.
Panic crossed her face for a second before she buried it under that wounded look again.
“Are you crazy? If the police get involved, how am I ever supposed to show my face again?”
She covered her face and fell apart.
“That’s enough! Mia, you are impossible.”
Grant’s voice came from the back of the crowd.
He shouldered his way through with a face like a storm and a memo on department letterhead in his hand.
“You’ve refused to cooperate with the department’s health investigation, and you’ve put the other students under serious stress and risk.
“The department has decided to move you out of your current room. You’ll be housed in the old West Annex for now.”
Bree and Kayla traded a look, and the relief on both their faces was obvious.
I laughed at them on the inside.
In my old life I swallowed that same speech and moved in without a word.
Moving out was as good as admitting I was the source, and the whole campus turned on me online that same day.
“The West Annex has been shut down for years. It’s damp and there’s no air conditioning. How is anybody supposed to live there?”
“You’re walking around infecting people. Where exactly do you think you should be living?”
Grant took half a step back in disgust, and there was a warning in his eyes.
“On top of that, given the damage you’ve done to this department’s reputation, we’re suspending your eligibility for this year’s national scholarship.
“That is only the first step. Keep this attitude up and a formal disciplinary action follows.”
A ripple of delighted laughter went through the hallway.
I didn’t cry and I didn’t argue.
I took out my phone and photographed the memo instead.
“A sheet of printer paper with no letterhead and no signature, and you’re calling it a disciplinary notice?”
I let out a short, unimpressed laugh.
“Mr. Mercer, since when does an academic advisor have more authority than the president of this university?”
Getting caught throwing around power he didn’t have, in front of an audience, wiped the color out of his face and replaced it with rage.
“Don’t split hairs with me. These are unusual circumstances and they call for unusual measures.
“I would suggest you keep your head down before the department has to take stronger action.”
I looked around at all of their faces, and what I felt was relief.
Let them run with it. The bigger this got, the better.
“Fine. I’ll move.”
I grabbed my suitcase and headed downstairs without looking back.
The higher they built the stage, the worse the fall would be when it finally came.
