2: 2
I wasn't about to leave the dorm just because she'd threatened me over the phone.
After I hung up, Clive and I settled into a standoff right there in the room.
He wasn't in any hurry now. He wandered around on his own, taking his time picking through my toiletries and things.
It made my skin crawl, but there was nothing I could do.
The minutes ticked by, and finally another girl arrived. She took Clive for the boyfriend who'd carried my bags up. There was a flicker of disapproval in her eyes at a guy being in the room, but she didn't say anything, just dragged her suitcase inside.
Someone finally here—my spirits lifted a little.
But the second I started toward her to grab her arm and beg for help, she swung her suitcase up onto what had been my bed.
The air froze for a beat, and then it hit me: my housing application had already been canceled.
I didn't belong in this room at all anymore.
Seeing my bed taken only made Clive happier. He held out his hand to me.
"Come on!"
"Or don't blame me when you're sleeping on the street!"
There was a boyfriendish tenderness in his voice that turned my stomach even more.
I stayed rooted where I was, refusing to move.
I was afraid that the moment I walked out of this dorm, something far worse would be waiting for me.
More people kept trickling in until the whole room was full, and little by little they picked up on it—why was there an extra person?
Before coming, everyone had been able to look up their roommates on the housing site, so it didn't take long for them to notice the one who didn't belong.
One girl came over to me, meaning well, and said,
"Hey, are you sure you've got the right room?"
I'd already explained to plenty of people that this was my dorm, and nobody believed me.
I said it again now.
The moment the words left my mouth, the look she gave me turned strange—after all, there were only four beds, and every one of them already had someone.
Another girl spoke up.
"You don't need to drag everyone else into a fight with your boyfriend."
"Why don't you and your boyfriend take it outside? This room isn't the place for you two to work out your problems."
One person said it and the rest jumped in right after.
"Yeah, we came a long way, we need to rest."
They were convinced Clive was my boyfriend—after all, he was still holding my luggage, and he knew all kinds of things about me.
But I knew I couldn't leave now.
The way they looked at me was turning cold, and they weren't going to spare my feelings any longer. They called the dorm manager up.
Their move sent a fresh surge of hope through me.
The dorm manager was sure to save me. There was no way she'd let a man be in here and do nothing about it.
Three minutes later, the dorm manager came hurrying up, out of breath.
But the instant she saw Clive, she took him by the hand and asked when he'd gotten in.
How come she didn't see his mother anywhere?
Clive turned into a smooth, glad-handing charmer on the spot, the two of them all warmth and small talk.
My heart hammered as I watched. The dorm manager was no help either.
After a while, she finally deigned to glance at me. Making a show of it, she pulled out her phone and checked it for a moment.
"Your name isn't on this room's list!"
"Your dorm was reassigned a while ago. You're in another building now. You've got the wrong room."
"Now get moving, quit wasting time!"
Even though I already knew she couldn't be trusted, hearing her actually say it killed something in me all over again.
By then Clive was done waiting me out. He grabbed my hand.
"Come on! Everyone else wants to rest!"
"Let's head back and turn in early too!"
I still wouldn't go. I swung my hand to slap him, but before it reached Clive's face a force clamped down and caught it.
The final boss had arrived.
Kayla James had seized my wrist, her voice hard.
"The camp's barely started and you're already hitting people. Aren't you the big shot!"
