My roommate, Stacy, had a bad habit of eating other people’s takeout. One day, she went too far.

chapter 2
About thirty minutes later, Chad posted in our squad Discord.
Anyone want to game?
He was high rank, insanely skilled, and everyone wanted to queue with him. But until recently, he had only ever played with me.
The server exploded.
Carry me, Chad.
Whoa, you’re not playing with Liv today?
What’s the occasion?
Chad replied almost immediately.
Don’t ever mention her to me.
That was all it took. Everyone smelled gossip.
Wait, did you two break up?
Liv and Chad aren’t gaming buddies anymore.
You guys were perfect. Same hometown, same vibe. I was waiting for wedding bells.
Chad responded with a vomiting emoji.
The whole chat went wild.
Did Liv cheat?
I stared at the messages, disgusted and confused. I still had no idea why Chad suddenly hated me, so I tagged him.
Since you’re here, at least explain it. I don’t want people making things up.
The squad immediately pounced.
Wait, so did Chad cheat?
Chad seemed annoyed that I had spoken up.
You really want the truth? Fine. I’ve already given you enough chances to save face.
Then he posted the picture.
How could you even think about flirting with me when you look like that? So gross.
I clicked on it and felt my face harden.
It was a secretly taken photo of a heavyset girl with dark hair grinning while holding a food delivery bag like she had just won a prize.
It was Stacy.
The chat exploded.
Who is that?
No way that’s Liv.
That’s terrifying.
I typed immediately.
Where did you get that picture?
Chad answered without shame.
I wanted to meet you. You kept making excuses, so I respected the fact that you were a girl. But when I asked for a picture, you refused. So I had the delivery guy take a picture when they dropped off the food I ordered for you. Yeah, maybe it was weird, but thank God I did. Otherwise I never would’ve known what you really looked like.
I frowned.
I never got your delivery. That’s my roommate. She must’ve taken it.
Chad scoffed.
I knew you’d say that. Fine. If that’s your roommate, then post a picture of yourself.
The others piled on immediately.
We’ve known Liv forever and still don’t know what she looks like.
She said she was a dancer. With that body maybe she meant belly dancing.
You deserve to get dumped, bucket girl.
I stared at the screen, sickened.
Even if I proved the girl in the photo wasn’t me, what did it matter? I had already seen Chad’s true colors. I wasn’t about to post pictures of myself just so these idiots could tear me apart too.
So I typed one word.
No.
Chad replied instantly.
Fine. Just stay away from my school.
Our campus was right next to his. Their basketball team often practiced on our courts. We had crossed paths in real life before, but he had never realized I was Liv.
I muted the server, finished my food, and headed back to the dorm.
Stacy was sprawled across her bed scrolling through TikTok.
I walked over and asked flatly, “Did you take my delivery?”
I had been about to tell her that the picture had leaked in Discord, that Shadow Strike was the one who had posted it, and that the guy hitting on her online was the same guy humiliating me.
But before I could say anything else, Stacy climbed down from her bed, grabbed the greasy takeout bag, and tossed it onto my desk.
“I was doing you a favor,” she snapped. “It was hot out, so I picked it up for you. So what if I ate a few pieces? Here’s the rest. Stop being such a cheapskate.”
Half-eaten bones scattered across my desk and onto the floor.
My expression went cold.
“Clean it up.”
Stacy rolled her eyes. “It’s your food. Why should I clean it? You always act rich, but over a few chicken legs you’re losing your mind. People would kill to buy me food. I’m doing you a favor by eating it.”
Then she waddled off to the bathroom.
I didn’t bother arguing. I just picked up the bones and dumped them neatly onto her desk.
When she came back and saw them, she shrieked and lunged at me.
I dodged easily.
At that exact moment, our other roommate walked in.
“What’s going on?”
I was still breathing hard when Stacy pointed at me and yelled, “Liv’s online boyfriend dumped her, and now he’s playing with me. She’s jealous and going crazy.”
Our roommate looked from Stacy’s flushed face to mine, uncertain.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I am,” Stacy said. “If you don’t believe me, listen.”
She pulled out her phone and called Chad.
Thirty seconds later, his voice came through the speaker.
“Hey, what’s up?”
Stacy immediately put on her fake sweet voice.
“Chad, honey, Liv is jealous that you’re playing with me. She’s throwing trash and acting insane.”
Chad didn’t even hesitate.
“She did what? I knew it. Ugly girls always have ugly souls.”
Stacy pouted theatrically. “So you’re not going to talk to her anymore, right?”
“Absolutely not,” Chad said. “I can’t stand her.”
Stacy smiled smugly at me.
Then she added, “But you guys are on the same team. What if you run into her again?”
Chad sounded disgusted. “Our team is high rank. If it weren’t for her skills, she wouldn’t even be there. Don’t worry. I’ll get the captain to bring you in instead. I’ll only play with you from now on.”
Stacy giggled like she’d just won the lottery.
On the Discord server, Chad immediately tagged the captain.
Can we make room on the roster? I have someone better.
The captain replied.
We’re a competitive team. Everyone contributes. Cutting someone isn’t easy.
Nobody wanted to lose their spot, so several teammates agreed.
Then Chad dropped the name.
I want to add Valkyrie.
The whole server lost its mind.
Valkyrie? The girl from the game company’s beauty contest?
She’s gorgeous.
And she’s cracked at the game.
I heard she’s rich too.
No wonder Chad dumped Liv.
Bring in the goddess.
The captain hesitated.
Fine. But we’d need to cut someone. Who goes?
There was a brief pause.
Then Chad typed the words everyone wanted to hear.
Drop Liv.