"Is that you?"
Lila froze the moment she saw Grayson.
"Is that you?"
Grayson blinked, dumbfounded. He hadn't expected to see that girl from Dicos standing there, and now he realized she was actually Indie's roommate.
"So—you two know each other? That's awesome!"
Indie's eyes widened. Of course, looking at it now, these two definitely had met before. She hadn't imagined they would run into each other here.
"Yes, of course we know each other,"
Lila said with a mocking smile curling at the corner of her lips. "He's the guy who stole my food at Dicos."
Everyone's jaws dropped. For a few seconds, no one said a word; the air felt as if it had suddenly turned to stone. None of them knew what to say. In a moment like this, anything anyone said would seem out of place.
Miles' face flushed red again, but this time with anger instead of embarrassment. He glared at Grayson. "Grayson—why didn't you tell us you couldn't even afford a meal? You didn't think it was worth mentioning to your own roommates? You don't even treat us like brothers!"
"Yeah, Grayson," Tyler chimed in. "You should have told us. This isn't right."
"Grayson, just take a seat. We'll make it up to you tonight," Jace interjected, trying to smooth things over. "And hey, Lila, this is kind of fate, right? Funny how it all worked out."
Grayson didn't reply; he simply sat down slowly.
Lila, however, stood up abruptly.
"You know what? Forget it. I'm not eating anymore. I've got things to do—bye."
With that, she grabbed her bag and stalked off.
Lila herself had her own thoughts racing. Originally, she'd come here hoping to meet a nice guy. Before leaving the dorm, she had pictured that Jace's roommates would be handsome, wealthy heirs—someone she could date. She had imagined Jace and Sienna, along with herself and a new boyfriend, all heading off to hang out together. How perfect it would be! But instead, she'd found herself face-to-face with Miles, Tyler, and the long-awaited Grayson…and the gap between her dreams and reality felt crushing. She was beyond disappointed.
Just as she took a couple of steps forward, a guy suddenly blocked her path. He wasn't especially tall, but he was dressed stylishly and wore a Rolex on his wrist. In one hand, he held two glasses of red wine.
"Hey there, beautiful," he said in a slightly sleazy tone. "My friends and I are playing Truth or Dare, and I lost—so I was dared to offer a lovely lady a glass of wine. Would you honor me with a drink?"
He spoke with a cocky swagger, clearly accustomed to getting what he wanted. Judging by his outfit and the watch, he was probably rich. Still, Lila wasn't about to accept a free drink from some random guy—especially not now, given how upset she already was over the entire Grayson fiasco.
"I'm not interested," Lila replied coldly.
The guy, who had been all smiles a moment ago, froze, his face going pale with shock. He'd been sure she'd say yes. Rejected so flatly, he suddenly felt humiliated—he hadn't expected that reaction. He may have claimed it was just a Truth or Dare stunt, but in truth he'd been trying to flirt with Lila, and now she'd slapped him down with her icy refusal.
"Come on, don't be so unkind," he protested, taking a step to grab her arm.
Lila's eyes widened in surprise—he actually dared to touch her. Rage boiled up inside her, and without hesitation, she swung her hand and slapped him across the face.
"Get lost!" she spat.
The guy was stunned, utterly paralyzed by her slap. Meanwhile, over at the table, Jace, Indie, and the others had seen everything. They were about to rush over—but Lila wasted no time. While the guy stood there, stunned and speechless, she slipped away.
For a few moments, everyone at the table sat in stunned silence. A heavy awkwardness settled over them all. Miles, Tyler, and Jace all wanted to say something to stand up for Grayson, but knowing Lila's roommates were right there, they hesitated. It would be awkward to call Lila out on her rudeness in front of her friends—after all, everyone wants to save face. Not to mention, the whole "Grayson stole Lila's food at Dicos" topic felt too delicate to bring up again.
Grayson noticed how miserable the atmosphere had become and thought it best not to stay. He quietly made an excuse and left, knowing that his staying would only make things worse for everyone else.
Back in his dorm room, Grayson dropped his bag onto the bed and stared at his phone. Today's events—and Sienna's betrayal—replayed in his mind. Everything had come down to money. If Sienna had known the truth about his wealth, she would never have left him. If he'd been an obvious rich kid, someone with a silver spoon, perhaps Lila's attitude would have been different, too. Maybe it was time to show everyone exactly who he really was.
But honestly, Grayson thought, I kind of like things just the way they are. By pretending to be poor, he'd formed genuine friendships with Miles and the others—friendships built on mutual respect rather than money. They all knew he was "broke," and that he really was broke, and yet they treated him as an equal. Because of his façade, he'd experienced scorn from second-generation rich kids—something those trust-fund heirs would never know. Through those moments of contempt, he'd gained a deeper understanding of life and what really matters.
Grayson's personality rebelled against the arrogance of trust-fund kids; he preferred his current, low-key simplicity. In this life, someone who treats you well truly means it—such as his classmate Chloe.
Still, he wondered, was it really wrong to stay modest? Shouldn't he be more brazen? While his mind whirled with these questions, the dorm door opened and Miles and Tyler came back inside.
"How did it go?" Grayson asked.
"Ugh, those girls aren't even into us," Miles grumbled, dropping onto his desk chair and booting up his computer for a game. "Avery and Maya weren't quite as snobbish as Lila, but still, we had nothing in common. They were talking about fancy vacations, gourmet restaurants, luxury cars, designer watches—you name it. We had nothing to chip in."
"Honestly, though, Indie was pretty cool," Tyler said, settling onto his bed and scrolling on his phone. "She only kept things light at first. And hey, she even suggested we all go out for dinner again next week."
"That's great," Grayson said with a smile, genuinely happy his roommates weren't too discouraged. "But I'm sitting this one out next time."
"What? Grayson, if you're not going, what's the point? Let's just forget about Lila—she's not that great, anyway!" Miles said as he clicked away at his game.
"Hey, Grayson, you still need money? I can spot you some cash," Tyler offered, looking up from his screen.
"No thanks. I've got enough right now." Grayson pulled out his iPhone and started scrolling. He'd never owned a phone this nice—Sienna may have scorned his iPhone SE, but he was actually enjoying having a more advanced device at his fingertips.
As he tapped through his apps, a notification popped up on WhatsApp. The class group chat had exploded with a new message:
"Hey fam, I'm live streaming right now! Come support me! Love you all—here's my stream link…"
The chat erupted instantly.
"Holy shit, Lexi's live!" Miles exclaimed as he glanced at his phone.
"No way! Dude, that's awesome—free content!" Tyler shouted. "Grayson, she's that busty beauty from our group—go check it out!"
Lexi was known as the "busty beauty" in their group. She was adorable in a sweet, almost innocent way—sometimes people even mistook her for a high school student. But she had a naturally voluptuous figure, and her famous assets earned her that nickname among the boys. Lexi was into anime and gaming, usually hanging out with her own circle of friends. Even though they shared a group, Grayson and his roommates didn't really interact with her much.
"Why not? Free's free," Grayson said, tapping to join her stream.
On screen, Lexi appeared in a cozy, well-lit setup. She looked stunning, with natural makeup, and she was wearing a pair of playful elf-ear headbands. She made an exaggerated pout and fluttered her eyelashes, all while swaying to the camera—completely live, completely adorable.
"Hey, babes!" Lexi waved cheerfully.
"Hey, busty beauty!" Tyler responded with a grin, waving back at the screen—though Lexi definitely couldn't hear him.
"You total loser," Miles joked to Tyler, but his eyes stayed glued to Lexi's live feed.
Lexi sang a little song, then swayed her hips.
"Ugh, where's the love? Who's going to send this baby some gifts?" she called out, batting her eyes at the camera.
Checking the viewer count, Grayson saw there were 33 people watching—most of them were probably classmates or her friends. The chat box was already full of messages like: "\[Lexi, guess who this is?] \[Lexi, it's Professor Smith from Urban Studies—have you finished your assignment?] \[At last, the busty beauty is streaming…]"
Suddenly, one comment popped up: "The busty beauty is finally streaming…" Whoever wrote that got instantly muted.
"Damn, I got muted!" Tyler moaned, his nerdy side on full display.
"I want gifts! I want gifts, damn it!" Lexi shouted.
"We are good friends, you can't ignore me—a single digital rose would suffice!" she said, pouting.
In her streaming platform, a digital rose cost five dollars. That little plea did the trick. Almost instantly, a series of notifications appeared:
\[ChrisT89 sent a rose]
\[Maddie\_Luv sent a scarf]
\[Lexi, it's me—EthanLee 😎]
\[JazzyJay sent a rose 🌹]
\[Leo\_X sent a cozy scarf 🧣]
\[Lexi, hey! It's your boy Nate!]
…
Lexi beamed and squealed, waving at the camera. "Thank you, ChrisT89! Thank you, Maddie\_Luv! Thank you, JazzyJay! Thank you, Leo\_X!"
"Ah! The busty beauty thanked me!" A voice from down the dorm hallway whooped like a pig being slaughtered.
Then more "thank you"s from Lexi scrolled by. Most people had sent five-dollar roses or ten-dollar scarves.
Suddenly, another alert appeared: \[DebtCollector420 sent a scarf!]
"Who's DebtCollector420 ?" Lexi said, hiding a giggle.
"It's me, it's me!" Tyler squealed, bouncing like an ant on a hot skillet.
"Damn, Miles, tell them DebtCollector420 is me—I'm muted, I can't post it!" Tyler shouted.
Miles shot Tyler an exasperated glare, then typed out, \[DebtCollector420 is Tyler].
"Thanks, Tyler!" Lexi said, blowing a playful kiss to the camera.
Tyler grinned from ear to ear.
\[Oh snap, even Tyler the total loser is sending gifts—no way I can be outdone!] a user named "PranksterKingpin" suddenly typed in the chat.
Tyler's face turned beet-red. Sure, he was a self-confessed "loser," but having someone call him that in front of all the group—ouch. He wanted to disappear.
"PranksterKingpin, tone it down," Miles typed in defense. Good friends stick up for each other.
\[PranksterKingpin sent a supercar!] flashed across the screen.
Everyone in the stream chat froze for a moment, jaws dropped at the audacity of it all. Ti edges of the dorm began to vibrate with excitement—and disbelief.