Mystery of the Missing Dormmates

My roommates booked a New Year's Eve light show table—five hundred per person—and started urging me in the group chat to transfer the money.

I quietly sent a screenshot of my account balance. "You guys go ahead," I wrote. "I haven't even scraped together my tuition yet."

They replied with a string of mocking "haha"s. Our dorm leader, Giselle Murdoch, even posted on her social media with the caption: [The first step to crossing class boundaries is distancing yourself from people who kill the mood.]

Just after midnight, they sent me a photo from the light show and said, "Too bad you're not here."

I frowned, confused, when my counselor's call cut in—her voice tight with urgency.

"Did you invite your roommates to the light show? The organizers said they never even checked in! They're missing!"

The counselor's words hit me like a truck. My mind went completely blank. For a moment, I couldn't think straight.

"Elena! Are you listening to me? The organizers checked—your name and student ID are on the reservation, but it was an e-ticket. There's no scan record.

"That means they never even made it inside. Now all three of their phones are off. Their families are losing their minds. Tell me the truth. What the hell is going on?"

The booking info was mine?

When did I ever buy a five-hundred-dollar New Year's Eve table ticket? I have to count every dollar for next month's meals. There's no way I'd do something that insane.

And they just sent photos a minute ago. How could they just vanish?

A chill shot from the soles of my feet straight to the top of my head. My hand holding the phone started shaking.

"Professor Mann… I didn't. I swear I didn't book any tickets." My voice came out high and shaky, trembling with fear. "I've been in the library all night studying. I have no idea where they went."

"Don't panic. Don't be scared."

Professor Prudence Mann's tone softened a little, but the authority in her voice was still razor-sharp.

"You need to go back to your dorm right now. Giselle's parents are driving in from out of town, and the school administration is taking this very seriously. We need your full cooperation to get to the bottom of this."

I hung up and just sat there frozen on the library's cold wooden chair. The warm lights and the focused students around me felt like they belonged to another world.

An invisible wall of ice had split me off from them.

I'd been set up.

The thought struck me like a jagged bolt of black lightning, cutting through all my confusion and numbness.

They disappeared—and they did it using my name, my student ID, to book that ridiculously expensive ticket.

The whole thing was careful, deliberate, and cruel.

What were they trying to do?

If they turned up safe, it'd be nothing more than a prank. I'd be defenseless, looking like a desperate liar to my counselor and classmates.

But now—they were missing.

And me? The roommate who had the ticket but didn't go, and who had a history of tension with them? I became the prime suspect overnight.

I forced myself to breathe. Think. Slowly, I stood up, packed my books, and stumbled toward the dorm.

The winter wind cut my face like knives. I gripped my backpack straps so hard my nails dug into the fabric.

'Stay calm, Elena. You didn't do anything wrong. What are you afraid of?' I told myself.

When I pushed open the door to Room 412, the air inside was suffocating.

Professor Mann stood in the middle of the room, her face grim. Two school administrators stood nearby, speaking in low, serious voices.

The whole dorm felt muted, like someone had hit pause. Outside, the occasional crackle of New Year's fireworks sounded painfully out of place.

My bed was neat. Untouched.

Across from me, Giselle, Kathryn, and Sarah Freud's beds were exactly as they'd left them.

Giselle's desk still had her expensive makeup scattered around. Kathryn's chair had a luxury cashmere coat draped over it. A single earring sat on the corner of Sarah's desk—one she hadn't had time to put on.

Everything looked like they'd rushed out in a hurry.

"Elena's here," Professor Mann said as soon as she saw me, waving me over.

The administrators' eyes locked onto me at once. Scrutinizing. Probing.

I walked forward, my voice low. "Professor Mann… I'm back."

"Tell us everything, Elena."