2
450words
I recognized her by her bright teeth.
I tugged Lucas’s sleeve.“Is that Sarah and her boyfriend?”
Lucas,seeing Jamal for the first time,swallowed hard.“Sarah’s with a foreigner?Doesn’t she care about what others might think?And after a breakup,who’d date her?It’s like setting off alarm bells.”
I shook my head.“You don’t get it.Say that out loud,and it’s racist.Love knows no borders,right?”
Lucas sighed,warning me to avoid getting involved with Sarah to avoid catching anything.
Before, he’d said the same, but I ignored it, trusting my best friend wouldn’t hurt me.
Now,I saw Lucas was right.
Back at the dorm,Sarah,like before,packed to move in with Jamal.
In my last life,I begged her to stay,to date longer first.
She refused,insisting cohabitation would deepen their bond,teasing if I was jealous.
Jealous?Sarah was delusional.
She patted my shoulder.“Don’t worry.Once I meet Jamal’s friends,I’ll hook you up.They’re all six-foot-two,ripped.Not like Lucas—five-nine,scrawny,average-looking.What do you even see in him?”
I realized then:in my past life,after I started dating Lucas,Sarah constantly belittled him.
When I defended him,she called me love-blind.
“You’re brainwashed by love,”she’d mocked.
I didn’t argue this time.Instead, seeing her pack, I was thrilled.
“Sarah,Jamal’s so sweet,taking you off-campus for better sleep.”
The roommates turned around and asked. “Sarah, you’ve got a boyfriend?”
In my past life,I kept her relationship secret to shield her from judgment.
“Yeah,you didn’t know?Jamal’s crazy about her.Couldn’t let her go at the dorm entrance—finally let her back just now.”
A roommate scratched her head.“I didn’t see anyone.Just a Black guy out front.Thought he was harassing someone—bolted past him.”
Sarah’s face soured.She was bold but hated owning it.
“That wasn’t you,was it?Your boyfriend’s Black?”
Sarah,usually calm,snapped,slamming a book into her suitcase.
“What,you got a problem with foreigners?You’re all educated—why so racist?Don’t we have students studying abroad?”
Her logic was rough but not wrong.
Roommate Chloe,a firecracker,wasn’t having it.In my past life,I smoothed things over for Sarah.Now,I fanned the flames.
“Sarah,chill.Chloe’s just concerned.”
Sarah spat on the floor.“Concerned?She’s jealous!”
Chloe,a debate champ and taekwondo captain,smirked.“Jealous?I’m warning you—don’t bring back diseases and infect us.”
Sarah lunged,grabbing Chloe’s collar,eyes blazing.
“Say that again!”
Chloe flipped her over her shoulder,slamming Sarah to the ground.
I pretended to mediate. “Let’s talk, not fight. Sarah’s just upset.”
Sarah roared at me.“Stop pretending,Emma!You’re loving this,you snake!”
Snake? I didn’t realize you were a traitor, pretending to be a saint only to end up like this.
Chloe,who knew I’d always had Sarah’s back,exploded.“Sarah,you’re shameless!Emma’s been nothing but good to you,and you trash her?Get out!”
Chloe slapped her own cheeks for emphasis.
With Chloe’s push,Sarah moved out that night.
I started packing too.Chloe frowned.“Sarah leaves,and now you?”
