Imperfect Substitute

2

I thought she would say something else, maybe a warning.

After all, the last girl who went to a hotel with Shane Sinclair at least slapped me and warned me not to get any funny ideas.

But this one just called me a bootlicker. It was hardly effective.

I shoved the items into her hands expressionlessly, took one last, deep look at Shane Sinclair standing on the steps, and turned to leave.

By the time I finally rushed back to my dorm, the door was already locked.

I clutched my coat and knocked again and again until I woke up the dorm supervisor and she let me in.

"It's so late. Why are you just getting back now?" the dorm supervisor asked, looking me up and down.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am. I'm late." I signed the register and sweet-talked her a bit before finally getting back to my room.

The lights in the dorm room were already out.

The sound of me opening the door startled my three roommates.

"I was just about to ask, where have you been so late?" Our dorm leader, Quinn, poked her head out from behind her bed curtain.

"Do you even need to ask? It was Shane Sinclair again, wasn't it?" Susie chimed in.

"I'm not trying to be mean, but besides his handsome face, what part of Shane Sinclair is worth you liking him this much?" Mona threw open her curtain, fuming.

Even in the darkness, I could feel the indignation in their eyes.

"Exactly! With your looks, even if you can't get the Campus Heartthrob, you could at least land a Department Heartthrob! And what about Sean Rollins from Class 6? He likes you so much! He even got into a fight last time because Shane Sinclair was making fun of you, so why do you..."

Susie was a chatterbox; once she got started, she could go on forever.

I ignored her, washed up, and climbed into bed, clutching the old phone from my drawer.

Seeing that I hadn't said a word, Susie finally sighed, shut her mouth, and went to sleep.