Everly was very shocked by Mishaâs thoughts. She had assumed that Mishaâs 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 didnât want to be trapped on the same patch of land like her parentsâ generationâliving 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 didnât have overly strict academic requirements, so with effort, Misha could meet the threshold. The university also offered a field survival major, which was a very practical skill for someone from a desert town.
âIf it doesnât work out, I can always go back to the town and guide desert travelers,â 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 seemed to take Everlyâs advice as tacit approval from her idol, and she looked very happy.
For once, she smiled easily, waved goodbye to Everly, and ran home. Whatever happened in between was unknown, but the next day, when Misha came to visit again, she told Everly with a bright smile that she had already spoken with her parents and reached an agreement.
âKatak 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 me going to New Osebuch State University with you!â
As she said this, Mishaâs 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 sometimes 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 immediately discovered another benefit of having a companionâshe could stay at Mishaâs grandfatherâs 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 enrollment, she ended up in the same 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 home was too far from the city, and Old John couldnât drive her back and forth every day.
However, when Everly opened the dorm door and saw the decorations in her roommateâs half of the room, her eyes went wide, and she immediately realized she had met her match.
Everlyâs roommate, Jessica, was obsessed with all things supernatural!
The school encouraged students to decorate their living areas according to their preferences, and American law protected citizensâ freedom of religion. So, as long as students didnât use high-powered electrical devices or other prohibited items in the dorm, the dorm supervisors wouldnât interfereâeven 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 specimens, and other ominous-looking items. Every day, Jessica flipped through old âmagic booksâ 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 Everlyâs fragile nervesâŠ
Horror Movie Survival Rule #5: Donât get involved with dangerous games.
Horror Movie Survival Rule #13: Donât casually open ancient boxes, chests, books, or similar objects.
Roughly counting, Jessica had already broken two of Everlyâs summarized rules within just three days of moving into the dorm. Everly couldnât 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 Jessicaâs obsession with witchcraft wasnât 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 âheart-to-heartâ with Everly, educating her that the U.S. was a free and inclusive country. She advised Everly to understand Jessicaâs hobbies, not to pick fights over race, and to get along peacefully with her roommateâŠ
Everly was literally fuming.
At the same time, the teacherâs words reminded her of another horror-movie survival rule that Jessicaâs presence had triggered: Rule #21 â Stay away from Black people whenever possible.
It wasnât that Everly was racistâshe secretly prided herself on being more sincere in rejecting racial discrimination than many self-righteous Americansâbut the directors in her past life simply didnât 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 âhalf-baked supernatural enthusiast + likes trying all kinds of occult games + Blackâ 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 hobbiesâor at least not to practice them in the dormâbecause it made her extremely 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 âHmphâ through her nose.
Everly: ââŠâ
No, why is this happening?!
Feeling the clear hostility from Jessica, Everly didnât 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 homeroom teacher, the answers were either âNo extra dorm rooms availableâ or âNo valid reason; you canât just switch rooms.â
Just as Everly was about to lose it, Misha came to the rescue.
Mishaâs mother had originally lived in the city proper of Micano. After marrying Mishaâs father, she moved to Lemot Town. When Misha came to the city to attend school, she stayed at her grandparentsâ house in the old district, which had many empty rooms. Adding one more residentâEverlyâwas 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.
Mishaâs 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 Mishaâs grandparentsâ house for free, but Old John insisted on giving 5,000 dollars to cover a full school yearâs food and lodging for her. Mishaâs family absolutely refused any more.
Compared with the schoolâs boarding fees, which easily ran into the tens of thousands, this arrangement was extremely economical.
Even better, Everly was thrilled to finally escape her unreliable roommate Jessica and gain a relatively safe environment for studying and living.
Everly thought that with her former roommateâs talent for courting disaster, some kind of trouble was bound to happen sooner or later. She was very grateful that she and Jessica werenât in the same 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 wouldnât be affectedâat least, thatâs what she hoped.
Unfortunately, things rarely go as planned. Sometimes, even if you donât seek trouble, trouble will come looking for you.
All of this began with a confession.
Of course, it wasnât Jessica who was confessingâit was a boy in the same grade, Edward Greenwood. A tall, strong, blonde-haired, blue-eyed handsome boy, with a bright, sunny personality. He had been recruited by the schoolâs 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 some of the upperclassmen would gather by the field just to catch a glimpse of him.
In short, he was one of the most popular âschool heartthrobsâ 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 met a very confident smile.
âHey, Everly, Iâm Edward⊠I wanted to talk to you about something. Would you like to come to the campus cafĂ© for a bit?â
â?â
Everly was rarely the object of confessions, and Edward didnât look nervous at all. At first, she didnât realize the implication of his invitationâof course, this didnât mean Everly lacked charm. It was just that she treated everyone with a cool detachment, giving her a somewhat untouchable aura, which intimidated many boys before they could even approach her.
Edward, however, was clearly an exception. Ever since elementary school, he had always been the center of attention, the focus of everyoneâs eyes, a leader among the students. Full of confidence, he believed he could successfully confess and become the boyfriend of the âice queenâ that everyone admired.
âŠYes, Everlyâs nickname had traveled with her as she advanced to Katak High.
And then, Edwardâthe undefeated champion of the dating worldâmet his Waterloo.
Everly had absolutely no interest in him.
Sure, he was handsome, and his smile was very charming, as if no difficulty in the world could faze him. But to be honest, Edwardâs academic performance was a bit poor. He was the most typical kind of âcampus kingâ in America: simple-minded but physically strong, excelling in sports, and irresistible to American girls. But influenced by her memories from her past life, Everly felt that someone who was just strong and good-looking wasnât enoughâhe 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. Americans generally valued personal privacy, so people nearby respectfully kept their distance.
Even so, it wasnât long before the news spread like wildfire: âEdward confesses to the âIce Queenâârejected!â
That evening, Everly returned home with Misha. As she lay on her bed for her daily meditation, a piercing howl suddenly came from outside the window.
A coyote? But in her experience, coyotes only make short âyip-yipâ soundsâŠ
Everly thought she must have misheard. Just as she tried to listen more carefully, the howl stopped. In its place came a sharp âscritch-scratchâ sound at the window.
What⊠could that be?
Unable to continue meditating, Everly snapped her eyes open.
Through the glass, she saw a hand suddenly pull back.
âââââââââââââââââââââââââââââââââââ
Authorâs Note:
Thereâs absolutely no racial discrimination or intent to portray people of color negatively [please believe me].
A personâs character can be good or badâit has nothing to do with skin color. The heroine, Jessica, in this story is inspired by Talk to Me.
Has anyone seen that movie? If you have, youâd know that the Black female lead is really infuriatingâsheâs seriously good at making people mad [angry].