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

chapter 3
The vote was practically unanimous.
Nobody wanted to be cut, and everyone was desperate for a chance to play with Valkyrie.
Get rid of Liv.
Valkyrie’s better anyway.
Liv is good, but Valkyrie is gorgeous and skilled.
Easy choice.
I ignored the flood of messages until the captain finally DM’d me.
One last in-house match. You versus Chad. Winner decides it.
I accepted.
At first, I couldn’t figure out why the name Valkyrie sounded familiar. Then Chad added the account to the team, and the moment I saw the avatar, my whole body went cold.
It was a cropped photo of a girl in a silver sequin dress. The lower half of her face was visible, along with a delicate collarbone, a jawline tilted perfectly toward the light, and lips painted in a very specific shade of cherry gloss.
My blood ran hot.
That was my photo.
The silver dress was hanging in my closet right now. I had worn it to the school’s hottest student pageant last year. And the silver pendant around the girl’s neck was a one-of-a-kind gift from my grandmother.
I clicked on the profile.
Just a girl who loves gaming and good vibes. University of Vanguard.
My school.
Slowly, I turned toward Stacy’s bunk.
She was lying on her stomach, thick legs kicking in the air, giggling into her headset.
“Oh Chad, thank you so much for the invite.”
“Only the best for a goddess,” Chad said warmly through her speakers. “With you on support, we’re going straight to the top.”
I pressed my hand over my mouth to keep from laughing.
The irony was unbelievable.
Chad hated the real me because he thought I looked like Stacy.
At the same time, he was simping for Stacy because he thought she looked like me.
Stacy had clearly stolen my private Instagram photos, cropped them, built a fake Valkyrie persona, and probably bought a boosted account too—because earlier that same day she had still been begging me to carry her out of Platinum.
I looked back at the screen.
The rage from losing my place on the team evaporated, replaced by something colder. Sharper. Clearer.
If I exposed everything right now, it would turn into a messy dorm fight. Stacy would cry, Chad would deny it, and I would end up with nothing but a headache.
No.
If they wanted to play games, I would show them how a real player did it.
I quietly closed my laptop, grabbed my gym bag, and left the dorm.
I needed air.
And I needed a plan.
Two days passed. I ignored the squad Discord completely. As far as they knew, Liv had disappeared in humiliation.
In real life, the weather was gorgeous.
I was sitting outside the campus café in high-waisted shorts and a cropped white tee, my hair tied back in a loose bun, sketching strategy notes in a notebook.
“Is this seat taken?”
I looked up.
A tall guy in a varsity basketball jacket stood there with two iced coffees and a confident grin.
Chad.
He didn’t recognize me.
Of course he didn’t. The last time he had carried me to the nurse’s office, my face had been buried in my hands and my hair had been a mess. And in his mind, Liv was still the greasy girl in the delivery photo.
“I’m waiting for someone,” I said flatly.
He ignored the hint and sat down anyway, sliding one coffee toward me.
“I’m Chad. I play point guard for State. I’ve seen you around campus a few times. I don’t usually do this, but you’re gorgeous, so I figured I’d shoot my shot.”
I stared at him.
Up close, without the charm of his online persona, he looked exactly like the kind of guy who thought basic human decency had to be earned through beauty.
“I’m not interested.”
I pushed the coffee back.
His smirk faltered. “Come on. I’m kind of a big deal over at State. I could show you a good time.”
“And I said no.” I closed my notebook. “I prefer guys who aren’t superficial narcissists.”
The mask slipped instantly.
“Wow. Okay. Didn’t realize I was talking to an ice queen. You might be a ten, but with that attitude, you’re going to die alone.”
“Better than living as a joke,” I muttered.
Then I stood up and walked away.
As I headed back to my dorm, my phone buzzed with a campus announcement.
Attention all Vanguard gamers. The annual Tri-State Collegiate LAN Tournament is open for sign-ups. Grand prize: $10,000 and a sponsorship deal with HyperX.
A slow smile spread across my face.
State always entered that tournament.
And suddenly, I knew exactly how this was going to end.