Chapter 2

2 I couldn't take it anymore, so I left to grab something from the cafeteria.

About thirty minutes later, Chad posted in our gaming squad's Discord: "[Anyone wanna game?]"

He was high rank, super skilled, and lots of people wanted to ride his coattails. But he had only ever played with me.

Everyone jumped at the chance. "[Carry me, Chad!]"

"[Whoa, Chad's not playing with Liv today? What's the occasion?]"

Chad replied, "[Don't ever bring her up in front of me.]"

Everyone started to sniff out the gossip. "[Whoa, you guys break up?]"

"[Just checked Liv's profile, and they aren't gaming buddies anymore.]"

"[Man, you two seemed perfect, even from the same town. What happened? I was waiting for wedding bells.]"

Chad immediately replied with a vomit emoji.

He was making it very clear how much he disliked me.

Everyone jumped to conclusions.

"[Did Liv cheat or something?]"

I sighed.

I was curious why Chad suddenly hated me.

So I tagged him while he was still chatting, "[Since you're here, you should at least explain why. I don't want people making stuff up.]"

The group immediately pounced. "[Wait, does this mean Chad cheated?]"

Chad seemed annoyed that I was getting so bold.

He sneered, "[How dare you ask me? Since you’re so desperate to know the truth, I guess I'll spill. I’ve already given you enough chances to save face.]"

Then he posted a picture.

He quickly added, "[How could you even think of hitting on me when you look like that? So gross.]"

I clicked on the image and scowled.

It was a photo, secretly taken.

The picture showed a heavyset girl with dark hair, grinning while holding a food delivery bag like she had pulled off a heist.

It was Stacy?

The squad chat blew up.

"[Who is that whale? She's terrifying!]"

"[Is that actually Liv?]"

I immediately typed, "[Where did you get that picture?]"

Chad didn't hold back, "[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 kept refusing. So, I had the delivery guy take a picture of you when they dropped off my food order. I know it's a weird thing to do, but thank goodness I did. Or else I'd never know you were a lard butt!]"

I frowned. "I didn’t get your delivery. That's my roommate. She must have taken it."

Chad scoffed, "[I knew you’d say that! You’re saying that’s your roommate? Fine. Then post a picture of you.]"

Everyone else jumped on the bandwagon. "[Yeah, Liv, we’ve known each other for a while, and we’ve never seen what you look like.]"

"[I remember her saying she was a dancer. With that body, she must be in the belly dancing club!]"

"[Lard bucket, you deserve to get dumped!]"

I looked at the guys’ insults. I was disgusted.

Even if I proved it wasn’t me, who cares? I knew Chad's true colors now.

We were no longer buddies, so I wasn't going to argue with them.

Besides, I didn’t want to post my pictures for them to pick apart.

So, I just replied, "No."

Chad sneered, "[I won’t hold it against you for lying to me. Just stay away from my school.]"

Our school was literally right next to his.

Their basketball team often played on our courts.

We had seen each other a few times.

But he didn't know it was me.

What if he did see me again? He wouldn't recognize me.

I muted the chat, ate quickly, and went back to the dorm.

Stacy was on her bed, feet up, scrolling through TikTok.

I went to her and asked bluntly, "Stacy, did you take my delivery?"

I was going to tell her about the leaked picture, that it was posted on the gaming Discord, and that "ShadowStrike" — the dude who was hitting on her online — was the one who posted it.

Instead, Stacy’s bulk climbed off her bed.

She threw the half-eaten chicken leg bones onto my desk, sneering, "It was super hot out! I was doing you a favor by grabbing your food. So what if I ate a few legs? Here's the rest of it, so quit being such a cheapskate!"