Roommates Fall In Love

When I returned to the dorm, I found Julia still packing her bags.

She practically ran over as soon as she saw me, all excited.

“Keira, the counselor approved my leave of absence! I’m finally going to start my life with Howard!”

Her eyes were practically glowing with excitement.

She grabbed my hand, pulling me further into the room as she animatedly laid out her plans for the future.

“Howard says he’s taking me back to his hometown. We’ll rent a big house. He’ll work hard during the day, and at night, he’ll be home with me and the baby.”

“He promised it’s just a break from school. Once the baby’s born, I’ll come back and finish my degree. By the time I graduate, Howard will be 22, and we’ll get married.”

“By then, my parents won’t have a choice but to accept us. I’ll be a lawyer, he’ll have a good job, and we’ll save up to buy a big house. We’ll be happy together forever.”

I had my earbuds in, only half-listening to her go on, while my mind wandered.

Would they really be happy? I didn’t know. All I knew was that in the last life, less than a week after they broke up, Howard was already seeing someone new.

He even managed to clean out Julia’s savings before he left. It was only because we, her roommates, chipped in some money that she didn’t end up in one of those shady clinics for an abortion.

When I first heard about Howard’s new girlfriend, I shared the gossip with her. She didn’t say a word, just quietly pulled out her bar exam prep videos.

She became withdrawn after that, throwing herself into her studies. I thought she was just focusing on her future, but now I realize that’s when she started to resent me.

She studied law and passed the certificate, all so she could better game the system.

Julia knew that mentally ill offenders couldn’t be held fully accountable, so she greased the right palms early on, faking psych records for those thugs and messing with the alley’s security cameras.

To sell the whole act, she even had the goons rough her up, making sure she looked like an innocent bystander who just happened to get caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Julia was always sharp but just blinded by her obsession with Howard. She couldn’t wrap her head around why I’d try to “ruin” her life.

So she carefully laid out this trap, hell-bent on making me, the one who “wrecked” her happiness, pay the price.

But this time, I’m not stepping into her snare. So, I wonder, what kind of fallout is Julia in for when she finally has to face the consequences?