3: 3
Gay's eyes lit up. She dug the makeup bag out and touched up her face.
One of the girls laughed and teased her.
"Gay? What's the deal with that Black exchange student and you? Don't tell me he's your boyfriend. Gay, you've really got it, huh, even a Black exchange student's crazy about you."
Gay gave a smug little nod.
"New boyfriend. Oh, and I won't be back tonight. If the dorm supervisor does a room check, cover for me."
Another roommate asked with a grin.
"Gay, they say Black guys are really something in that department. Is it true?"
Gay narrowed her eyes, her smile turning loose and pleased.
"Try one yourself sometime and you'll find out. But yeah, definitely something."
A third roommate flushed and cleared her throat.
"Gay, we're still students. You really should be using protection, it's the smart thing to do."
Gay waved it off and slung her bag over her shoulder as she stood.
"You don't get it, skin on skin is the best part. And if I get pregnant, worst case I'll just find someone to take the fall for me."
All at once I remembered my last life. In the middle of class, red welts broke out over my skin for no reason, and I knew right away it was an allergic reaction, so I took leave and went back to the dorm for my allergy medicine.
I'd been back barely half an hour, the rash only just starting to settle, when the dorm door was shoved open.
Gay looked at me and spoke, her voice all fake reluctance.
"Should I really tell everyone, that Barbara took leave and came back to the dorm to secretly give birth in the dorm bathroom."
The girls heard her and rushed into the bathroom, and there on the floor lay a dark-skinned baby boy, bruise-purple choke marks around his neck.
In that instant, everyone decided I'd had the baby, didn't want to deal with it, and had strangled him.
The school ruled me morally corrupt and expelled me, and I was facing prison for premeditated murder.
I couldn't bear the crowd screaming at me, and in a daze I lost my footing on the stairs and fell to my death.
Remembering that miserable end, I shivered. Now that I thought about it, the baby in that bathroom was very likely Gay's. She was the only one in our dorm with a Black boyfriend.
I watched Gay's back as she left the room, my hands closing into fists.
Just then a roommate tugged at me.
"Barbara, you've crushed your bag flat. What are you spacing out about?"
I came back to myself and let go.
"It's nothing. Just thinking about something."
I'd been given another life, and I would never give Gay the chance to frame me again.
My phone rang. I picked up.
"Hello, is this Ms. Swanson? I'm a doctor at Bayport General Hospital. The results from your physical three days ago are in, and they aren't very good. Could you come down to the hospital when you have time?"
I answered and hung up.
My cramps had been getting worse this year, bad enough that I kept fainting, so a few days before the semester started, my mom took me in for a full workup.
The next day I went to the hospital.
The doctor handed me the test results.
"Ms. Swanson, things don't look good. There's a malignant tumor on your ovary, and it's already advanced. The best option now is a hysterectomy as soon as possible, to keep the cancer from spreading and threatening your life."
I hesitated. Then I thought of the frame-up in my last life, and I nodded.
"All right, doctor. I agree to the surgery."
I took a month's leave from my teacher, talked it over with my parents, and the surgery date was set soon after.
A month later I was recovering well, and the doctor told me I could be discharged.
