Everly was very shocked by Misha’s thoughts. She had assud that Misha’s ideas were just a passing whim, or perhaps blind imitation driven by idol worship without much thought.
But after talking more deeply, Everly realized that Misha was a girl with very clear goals.
She was tired of the remote, backward small town and didn’t want to be trapped on the sa patch of land like her parents’ generation—living a stable but uneventful life. She loved adventure, was intensely curious, and yearned to explore a broader world. She was even prepared to pay the price to fulfill her wishes.
Even her decision to attend New Osebuch State University had been carefully considered. This university didn’t have overly strict academic requirents, so with effort, Misha could et the threshold. The university also offered a field survival major, which was a very practical skill for soone from a desert town.
“If it doesn’t work out, I can always go back to the town and guide desert travelers,” Misha said optimistically.
Life belonged to Misha; Everly had no right to interfere. She could only advise the girl to carefully think through the consequences, communicate properly with her parents, and ideally gain their support.
Misha seed to take Everly’s advice as tacit approval from her idol, and she looked very happy.
For once, she smiled easily, waved goodbye to Everly, and ran ho. Whatever happened in between was unknown, but the next day, when Misha ca to visit again, she told Everly with a bright smile that she had already spoken with her parents and reached an agreent.
“Katak is one of the top private schools in Micano. With my current grades, I can barely get in, and I still have a long way to go if I want to apply for a scholarship. My dad said that if I can improve my grades during the rest of 9th grade and cover the tuition for private high school myself, he will support going to New Osebuch State University with you!”
As she said this, Misha’s eyes sparkled, her face full of endless dreams for the future.
Everly was happy for her friend as well.
Having survived the hardships in the Xinkalan Theater, she realized that sotis having an extra companion was very necessary. Especially when that companion was a smart and brave girl like Misha, the sense of safety multiplied.
When Everly successfully graduated from 9th grade and enrolled at Katak High School, she imdiately discovered another benefit of having a companion—she could stay at Misha’s grandfather’s house.
Katak High School was a private school offering both day and boarding options and was the best private school in Micano City. Everly was lucky: after enrollnt, she ended up in the sa class as Misha, who had worked hard to secure a spot at Katak.
Originally, Everly, like in middle school, had chosen boarding. After all, her ho was too far from the city, and Old John couldn’t drive her back and forth every day.
However, when Everly opened the dorm door and saw the decorations in her roommate’s half of the room, her eyes went wide, and she imdiately realized she had t her match.
Everly’s roommate, Jessica, was obsessed with all things supernatural!
The school encouraged students to decorate their living areas according to their preferences, and Arican law protected citizens’ freedom of religion. So, as long as students didn’t use high-powered electrical devices or other prohibited items in the dorm, the dorm supervisors wouldn’t interfere—even if Jessica turned her side of the room into what looked like a lair for a dark witch.
And so, Everly watched helplessly as her roommate covered most of her wall with black cloth decorated with strange symbols, filled her desk with crystal balls, bizarre sculptures, dead branches, crow specins, and other ominous-looking items. Every day, Jessica flipped through old “magic books” with black covers, and at night, she would hold a water basin toward the moon, muttering mysterious incantations and performing all sorts of superstitious rituals that danced on the edges of Everly’s fragile nerves…
Horror Movie Survival Rule #5: Don’t get involved with dangerous gas.
Horror Movie Survival Rule #13: Don’t casually open ancient boxes, chests, books, or similar objects.
Roughly counting, Jessica had already broken two of Everly’s summarized rules within just three days of moving into the dorm. Everly couldn’t stand it anymore and went to the dorm supervisor, hoping the teacher would rein Jessica in.
But instead, Everly was scolded by Mrs. Kavira, the dorm supervisor.
Mrs. Kavira was a staunch materialist. She believed Jessica’s obsession with witchcraft wasn’t a big deal. Every child goes through a phase of curiosity about the unknown, and Everly was overreacting.
Because Jessica was also a Black girl, Mrs. Kavira even suspected that Everly was picking on her roommate because of her skin color. She had a “heart-to-heart” with Everly, educating her that the U.S. was a free and inclusive country. She advised Everly to understand Jessica’s hobbies, not to pick fights over race, and to get along peacefully with her roommate…
Everly was literally fuming.
At the sa ti, the teacher’s words reminded her of another horror-movie survival rule that Jessica’s presence had triggered: Rule #21 — Stay away from Black people whenever possible.
It wasn’t that Everly was racist—she secretly prided herself on being more sincere in rejecting racial discrimination than many self-righteous Aricans—but the directors in her past life simply didn’t play fair. Look at their horror movies: when the main cast included both Black and White characters, in 98 out of 100 films the Black characters would die, and only in a rare few would they survive to the end.
So having a roommate who combined the “half-baked supernatural enthusiast likes trying all kinds of occult gas Black” debuffs… well, Everly realized she was living with a high-risk disaster in the making.
Since going to the dorm supervisor was useless, Everly could only rely on herself and try to communicate with her roommate.
Privately, Everly approached Jessica and tried to persuade her to give up these unsafe hobbies—or at least not to practice them in the dorm—because it made her extrely uneasy. Everly believed her tone was perfectly normal and her attitude gentle.
But Jessica reacted as if she had been gravely insulted: first rolling her eyes, then crossing her arms and shrugging, and finally letting out a long “Hmph” through her nose.
Everly: “…”
No, why is this happening?!
Feeling the clear hostility from Jessica, Everly didn’t dare to push any further.
She tried the next best option: changing dorms. But no matter if she applied to the dorm supervisor or the horoom teacher, the answers were either “No extra dorm rooms available” or “No valid reason; you can’t just switch rooms.”
Just as Everly was about to lose it, Misha ca to the rescue.
Misha’s mother had originally lived in the city proper of Micano. After marrying Misha’s father, she moved to Lemot Town. When Misha ca to the city to attend school, she stayed at her grandparents’ house in the old district, which had many empty rooms. Adding one more resident—Everly—was no problem.
The old district had experienced the Xinkalan murder incident only a year ago, and was now in a very calm and safe period.
Misha’s parents were deeply grateful to Old John and Everly for their help during the cockroach disaster, and they liked Everly very much. They were eager for their daughter to be friends with the young hero who had saved the town. They had originally planned to let Everly stay and eat at Misha’s grandparents’ house for free, but Old John insisted on giving 5,000 dollars to cover a full school year’s food and lodging for her. Misha’s family absolutely refused any more.
Compared with the school’s boarding fees, which easily ran into the tens of thousands, this arrangent was extrely economical.
Even better, Everly was thrilled to finally escape her unreliable roommate Jessica and gain a relatively safe environnt for studying and living.
Everly thought that with her forr roommate’s talent for courting disaster, so kind of trouble was bound to happen sooner or later. She was very grateful that she and Jessica weren’t in the sa class. After moving out of the dorm, she no longer had any interactions with Jessica; even if Jessica got herself into trouble, Everly expected she wouldn’t be affected—at least, that’s what she hoped.
Unfortunately, things rarely go as planned. Sotis, even if you don’t seek trouble, trouble will co looking for you.
All of this began with a confession.
Of course, it wasn’t Jessica who was confessing—it was a boy in the sa grade, Edward Greenwood. A tall, strong, blonde-haired, blue-eyed handso boy, with a bright, sunny personality. He had been recruited by the school’s football team as a quarterback as soon as he enrolled. Rumor had it that many girls at school regarded him as a prince charming, a dream boyfriend, and even so of the upperclassn would gather by the field just to catch a glimpse of him.
In short, he was one of the most popular “school heartthrobs” at Katak High.
Wherever the school heartthrob went, he attracted attention. That day after school, under the blazing gaze of everyone around, he swaggered confidently over to Everly and tapped her locker with two fingers.
Everly looked up and t a very confident smile.
“Hey, Everly, I’m Edward… I wanted to talk to you about sothing. Would you like to co to the campus café for a bit?”
“?”
Everly was rarely the object of confessions, and Edward didn’t look nervous at all. At first, she didn’t realize the implication of his invitation—of course, this didn’t an Everly lacked charm. It was just that she treated everyone with a cool detachnt, giving her a sowhat untouchable aura, which intimidated many boys before they could even approach her.
Edward, however, was clearly an exception. Ever since elentary school, he had always been the center of attention, the focus of everyone’s eyes, a leader among the students. Full of confidence, he believed he could successfully confess and beco the boyfriend of the “ice queen” that everyone admired.
…Yes, Everly’s nickna had traveled with her as she advanced to Katak High.
And then, Edward—the undefeated champion of the dating world—t his Waterloo.
Everly had absolutely no interest in him.
Sure, he was handso, and his smile was very charming, as if no difficulty in the world could faze him. But to be honest, Edward’s academic performance was a bit poor. He was the most typical kind of “campus king” in Arica: simple-minded but physically strong, excelling in sports, and irresistible to Arican girls. But influenced by her mories from her past life, Everly felt that soone who was just strong and good-looking wasn’t enough—he also needed brains. Otherwise, lacking any one of those qualities made it impossible for her to feel ordinary, worldly attraction.
Edward had deliberately chosen a quiet corner in the campus café for his confession. Aricans generally valued personal privacy, so people nearby respectfully kept their distance.
Even so, it wasn’t long before the news spread like wildfire: “Edward confesses to the ‘Ice Queen’—rejected!”
That evening, Everly returned ho with Misha. As she lay on her bed for her daily ditation, a piercing howl suddenly ca from outside the window.
A coyote? But in her experience, coyotes only make short “yip-yip” sounds…
Everly thought she must have misheard. Just as she tried to listen more carefully, the howl stopped. In its place ca a sharp “scritch-scratch” sound at the window.
What… could that be?
Unable to continue ditating, Everly snapped her eyes open.
Through the glass, she saw a hand suddenly pull back.
———————————————————————————————————
Author’s Note:
There’s absolutely no racial discrimination or intent to portray people of color negatively [please believe ].
A person’s character can be good or bad—it has nothing to do with skin color. The heroine, Jessica, in this story is inspired by Talk to .
Has anyone seen that movie? If you have, you’d know that the Black female lead is really infuriating—she’s seriously good at making people mad [angry].
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