Chapter 4My Roommate Slandered My Private Life

Zach spent the next two days completely depressed over the lost internship.

But he never linked it to Anna. In his mind, she was just a beautiful college girl from a comfortable background. He assumed he just had terrible luck.

And then, he did something even more foolish.

On Friday night, he posted a photo on his private story.

It was a sneaky photo of me, taken from the side while I was playing games at my desk.

The caption read: Some guys look totally innocent, but they're secretly running a whole harem behind closed doors.

The comments from his circle of friends immediately started rolling in.

Who is it? Call him out!

No way, is that your roommate?

Confirmed player?

Zach replied: If you know, you know. Keeping it quiet.

He didn't block me from seeing the post. But he had blocked Anna.

Unfortunately for him, he didn't know Anna had a burner account. And that burner account was already on his friends list because she had added him with both accounts at the same time.

Zach was completely clueless.

Anna saw every single word.

That night, she called me.

"Nate."

"Yeah?"

"He's calling you a player on his story."

Her voice was calm. Unusually calm.

"I saw it," I said. "It's fine. I'll talk to him tomorrow."

"Nate."

"Yeah?"

"I'm not happy."

Those three words coming from Anna were more terrifying than any direct threat.

The last time she said she wasn't happy, a guy on the campus forum had posted anonymous lies about me. A week later, his final thesis was flagged for academic dishonesty, and his graduation was delayed by a full semester.

Of course, that might have just been a coincidence too.

"Anna, listen to me..."

"I'll listen to you, Nate," she said softly. "You handle it how you want. But if he does it again, I’m not holding back."

"Deal. Give me three days."

"Okay. I'll wait."

The line went dead.

I took a deep breath. Three days. I had to make Zach back off within three days, or Anna was going to make his life a living hell.

The next morning, while Zach was in class, I talked it over with Harvey.

"What are you going to do?" Harvey asked.

"Just lay the cards on the table and tell him to cut the crap."

Harvey shook his head. "Won't work. Guys like him only get bolder when you confront them. He'll just think you're defensive."

"Then what do you suggest?"

Harvey thought for a moment. "Why don't you just have your girl block him and delete him?"

"Anna won't do it," I said with a wry smile. "She said she wants to observe him."

Harvey shivered. "The way she says 'observe' sounds incredibly creepy."

I agreed. But I still had to try a direct conversation first.

That afternoon, Zach returned to the dorm. I closed the door, and Harvey, picking up on the cue, put on his noise-canceling headphones.

"Zach, got a second?"

He was changing his shirt. Hearing me, he paused, then flashed a grin.

"What's up, Nate?"

"About you adding my girlfriend," I said directly. "And the things you've been telling her. I know about all of it."

Zach's smile stiffened for a fraction of a second.

But he recovered instantly, his grin widening.

"Nate, you're taking it the wrong way. I was just chatting with her, checking in on how you guys were doing."

"Checking in?" I stared at him. "Telling her I was out with other girls and calling me a player is checking in?"

Zach shrugged. "I just didn't want her to be kept in the dark, man. Bro code, you know? Just being honest."

"That girl was my cousin."

"Oh," Zach feigned surprise. "Seriously? Well, my bad then. Sorry about that, bro."

He apologized, but his eyes told me he didn't feel a single shred of regret.

"And another thing," I continued. "Take down that post with my photo."

Zach's expression finally shifted.

"Nate, aren't you being a bit paranoid? I didn't even name you in that post."

"The photo is literally of me."

"It's just a casual dorm life pic," he laughed. "If it bothers you that much, I'll be more mindful next time."

He didn't say he would delete it.

I took a slow breath. "Zach, I'm saying this one last time. Stay away from my girlfriend."

The room went silent for a moment.

Zach looked at me, a slow, condescending smile spreading across his face.

"Nate, are you really that insecure? I just had a couple of harmless chats with her and you're already panicking?"

He patted my shoulder.

"Relax, bro. I'd never steal a roommate's girl."

He grabbed his keys and walked out.

Harvey took off his headphones and looked at me.

"You hear that?" I asked.

"Yeah," Harvey said. "He's completely delusional."

I sat back in my chair, staring at the ceiling.

Three days.

Day one was already a bust.