Chapter 1The Price of Envy

The moment Tessa laid eyes on me at the Vanguard Corp. interview, she completely fell apart.

It all started with the concert I’d been dreaming of for months.

The night tickets went on sale, I pulled an all-nighter, but my frantic clicking was for nothing. They sold out in seconds. Gritting my teeth, I ended up forking over an extra four hundred dollars to a scalper for a floor seat.

The next morning, I was jolted awake by the grim look on my roommate Tessa’s face. She was standing over my bed, her voice a low hiss. “Are you insane? Spending nine hundred dollars on a concert ticket?”

I tried to explain patiently that my parents were fine with it, that it was my allowance to spend on things that made me happy. But her voice shot up, accusing me of being spoiled and thoughtless. She even threw out a sleazy warning about “girls who’d do anything for a designer bag,” telling me I needed to remember my "self-worth."

The night before the concert, my phone buzzed with a notification: Ticket refund successful. A moment later, an email from my academic advisor landed in my inbox. The attached grade report showed that I, who had always been at the top of my class, had failed several core subjects.

Frantic, I ran to find Tessa, who was our department's student representative. She just smirked at me. “Aren't you just here for a good time, Sophie? What's the rush?” Then, with a voice dripping in acid, she added, “Funny how the ones who act so innocent are always the ones with the most dirt.”

Now, watching her stand here before me, utterly flustered and lost, the irony is almost too much to bear.

* * *

After finals wrapped up, I spent the entire night trying to snag a ticket for the concert I’d been waiting for all year. They were gone in a flash. Just as I was about to give up, a post popped up on social media—a friend of a friend was selling a floor ticket. The last one.

My parents had just dropped fifty grand into my account for "expenses," so I didn't hesitate. I immediately offered four hundred dollars over the asking price and secured it.

The next morning, I was still half-asleep when I felt a pair of eyes burning into me. I cracked mine open to see my roommate, Tessa, leaning deep into my curtained-off bunk, staring at me with an unnerving intensity.

I jolted upright. “Tessa? What are you doing?”

A chill crawled up my spine.

“You didn’t go to sleep until 4:35 a.m., Sophie,” she said, her voice low and accusatory. “What were you doing up to, being all sneaky?”

My bed curtains were drawn. How could she possibly know the exact time I fell asleep? Her dark, hollow gaze made my skin crawl.

“Oh, uh, I was trying to get concert tickets,” I mumbled, trying to brush it off. “The show is next month. Can you move? I need to get up.”

I gestured for her to get off my bed, but she acted as if she hadn't heard me. Instead, she plopped right down on the edge of my mattress, her expression a strange mix of pity and amusement. She patted my shoulder.

“Don’t play dumb. You stayed up all night for a concert ticket? Seriously, there’s nothing special about them. You can listen to any song you want online for free. It’s a total waste of money.”

She wasn’t done. “Besides, it’s not easy to earn money these days. You really want to be one of those suckers throwing cash at celebrities? That’s your parents’ hard-earned money you’re burning!”

I fought down a wave of irritation and climbed out the other side of the bed.

“Tessa, you don’t need to worry about it. Finals are over, and I’m ready to relax. It’s not that expensive, and the experience is worth it to me.” I added, “And my parents are going with me. They love concerts too.”

That seemed to set her off.

“Not that expensive? I never took you for such a materialistic person! Your parents might spoil you now, but the real world won’t be so kind!”

I almost laughed. Did this girl have any concept of boundaries?

“Nine hundred bucks for one show? What a waste. Whoever marries you is in for a world of trouble.”

She spat out the exact number, down to the dollar. My other roommates glanced over, their eyes wide.

“Whoa, that’s a lot, Sophie. You sure you didn’t get ripped off?” one of them asked.

How did she know the exact amount I paid on my own phone?

I took a deep breath, about to explain I got it from a trusted source, when Tessa let out a cold snort.

“Oh, a few hundred dollars is nothing to Sophie. She has her ways of getting money from men.”

That was it. I’d had enough. I shoved her off my bed.

“What did you just say, Tessa? It’s my money, what does it have to do with you? Don’t push your luck!”

Tessa was not only our student rep but also a micro-influencer with a decent following. She was used to being the one in charge, the one nobody talked back to. My public defiance made her face flush a deep, blotchy red.

“Whatever. There’s no talking to people like you,” she huffed, turning away. “I was just trying to be nice. Why do you have to pretend to be such a goody-two-shoes all the time?”

I ignored her and headed to the cafeteria. But when I got back to the dorm, I found her hunched over my bed, her hand darting around under my pillow. She was so focused she didn’t hear me come in.

“What are you doing?” I demanded.