The Selfie Secret

When I started college, my new roommate secretly used my phone to take a selfie.

She sent it to the guy I was in an online relationship with and added the caption:

[Baby, do you think I'm beautiful?]

My boyfriend replied with a giant question mark, followed by a voice message full of curses.

"Just thinking about dating someone with that face makes me want to puke!"

"Let's break up, you ugly freak. Stay far away from me!"

By the time I got out of the shower and tried to explain, I realized he had already blocked me.

My roommate, holding her own phone, smugly told me, "The streamer I've had my eye on just added me. He says he wants to start an online relationship."

When I looked at the account, I saw it was none other than my ex-boyfriend.

After my shower, I grabbed my phone from the desk.

I turned it on, and my heart soon sank. My online boyfriend had sent a bunch of angry texts and was saying he wanted to break up.

Scrolling up, I saw the reason: a photo of my roommate, Sadie Ferguson. It was a disaster.

Her face was shiny with grease, and her forehead was a constellation of bright pimples.

Her smile showed off yellow teeth with a hint of a chili pepper stuck between them.

I almost dropped my phone, feeling sick to my stomach.

I tried to explain it was not me, but he had already blocked me.

Fuming, I turned to Sadie and demanded, "Why did you use my phone without asking?

"And who gave you permission to send that awful photo?"

Sadie just rolled her eyes and snapped, "As if your plain face could keep a guy's attention. I did you a favor by using my photo, and you don't even appreciate it!"

I was at a loss for words. My face might have been plain, but I had been listed among the top ten prettiest girls in middle school on a popular review site before.

Sadie had not always been this crazy. Ever since she started streaming to please her oddball viewers, she had been changing her appearance to look more and more outrageous.

They all praised her, calling her a beauty in her streams.

I needed to figure out how to explain this mess to my boyfriend.

Our relationship might have started online, but I knew who he really was.

His name was Carl Smith, and he was a junior at Future Tech University next door. He was a total heartthrob.

He was a music streamer on a popular platform, and his singing was amazing.

I moved to this city for him. After I shared a song online, he reached out to me.

He liked my voice, and we ended up talking all night. When he found out I was at a nearby college, we made it official the next day.

I had planned to surprise him at this month's university music festival.

However, he had just blocked and dumped me.

I was feeling pretty low when Sadie suddenly jumped up with a huge smile.

"My favorite singer just followed me back! He wants me to be his girlfriend!"

I peeked over, curious. Was that not the same guy who had just broken up with me?

Sadie's singing page did not have a profile picture to accompany her few songs. Her voice was sweet and cute, unlike my cool, calm voice.

Carl had just dumped me and was already looking for someone else? The surprise nearly knocked me off my feet.

Carl sure was lucky, finding the real person behind the picture.

Sadie took off her clothes, her body jiggling all over.

I thought she was off to shower, but she slipped into pajamas and headed out of the dorm.

She hid her underwear under her pillow. I was totally taken aback!

I knew she was about to sing in the hallway with that high-pitched voice of hers.

When Sadie got back, she asked Carl in a super sweet voice: "Did you like my singing just now?"

Out of breath, Carl said: "Sadie, your voice is so sweet. It's got this special pull on me.

"I'm gonna use your voice to help me fall asleep."

Then, I heard a groan from his end.

My ears felt like they were under attack!

They said goodbye on the phone, not wanting to hang up.

She sighed.

"Too bad Carl doesn't know I'm a huge online star.

"I'll surprise him at the music festival!"

I could not wait to see Carl's face when he found out.

Sadie started her live stream late at night.

It was just my luck that I was putting on a face mask when I stumbled upon her stream.

She was all dressed up in black, her body wrapped up like stacked layers of a swim ring.