Chapter 3

A person said, "The truck rear-ended you at such close range, yet you ended up paralyzed, while she walked away with barely a scratch. Doesn't that sound fishy to you?

"What I'm about to tell you—believe it or not, it's up to you.

Your roommate deliberately lured you outside. That was her intention all along. There's no way it was just some random coincidence.

"She must have gotten word somewhere that she was destined for a disaster, so she brought you along as her human shield.

"If you don't buy it, have your parents go find a reputable fortune teller and ask them straight up if Shirley used you as her shield to take her misfortune.

"Once you took the fall for her, she started acting guilty as hell and began dodging you on purpose.

"Now everything finally checks out."

I replied, "I've never bought into this kind of nonsense."

But the facts were staring me in the face—there was definitely something shady about Shirley.

Now that her plan had failed, she'd definitely try something else.

Just to cover all my bases, I had my family hook me up with someone who actually knew their stuff.

At the same time, I used my grandpa's passing as an excuse to catch an earlier train home.

Luckily, I'd saved Shirley's birthday before, so when my contact asked for it, I didn't have to go into panic mode.

She lined up my birthday against Shirley's, then started chanting a string of spells that sounded like total nonsense to me.

When she finished, her conclusion matched exactly what was blowing up in the forum's top comments.

She said, "She's burned through all her luck chasing after money, and now she can't handle the misfortune that comes her way.

"Looks like you're the luckiest out of all three of her roommates, so she picked you to be her shield against disaster!"

I'd never actually heard of anything like this happening in real life before. I was so shocked my jaw nearly hit the floor.

My grandpa, who was a die-hard skeptic about all that supernatural stuff, couldn't help but chime in from the side.

He asked, "What is this? How can she have the ability to use my granddaughter to shield against disaster?"

The fortuneteller frowned, then asked me for the birthdays of my other two roommates.

"Just as I thought—you're the most fortunate one," she said.

Her brows were furrowed so tight they looked like a single line. Honestly, she reminded me of the doctor who broke the news about my leg amputation in my previous life.

I was so freaked out I nearly dropped to my knees, convinced another wave of bad luck was coming my way.

I blurted out, practically begging her for a lifeline, "Madam, what are we supposed to do now? Is there any way to fix this, or am I doomed?"

She shot me a playful side-eye, raising her eyebrow.

She said, "Didn't you say you don't buy into all this crazy talk, 'Red Lights'?"

She hit me with my forum username.

I gasped, totally stunned.

I asked, "Wait, you're 'HardWorkPaysOff'? What are the chances?"

Iris Barrett answered me solemnly, "It's not a coincidence. I came here to help you."

My grandpa, standing nearby, called her out.

He said, "Bullshit! I handpicked her out of a bunch of fortune-tellers crowding around the Holy Church!"

The woman shot back, "Oh, please. I'm literally the only one in this whole city who does readings for free, and you call that 'handpicked'? Give me a break!"

I said, "Hey, isn't that a kind of 'handpicking' in its own way?

"Can you two just quit arguing already? Shouldn't we be focusing on how to get out of this mess?"

Iris thought for a moment, then replied, "Easy. Just make sure she can't leech off your luck."

"So, how do I actually pull this off?" I asked.

Iris said, "Easy. Act like she doesn't even exist.

"Don't listen to her, don't look at her, don't interact with her, and make sure you aren't living under the same roof.

"Most important of all, don't fall for any of her stories. Resist every temptation she throws your way."

I asked, "What kind of temptations?"

She answered, "Any and all of them."

I patted my chest confidently. "Relax, I can totally handle this!"

Iris shot me a look. "I actually graduated from a legit academy. Call me Dr. Barrett."

I just grinned. "Alright, Dr. Barrett."

*****

After winter break ended and school started up again, a week went by.

I was practically in tears as I messaged Iris. [Dr. Barrett, she's throwing so much at me, I can barely hold out anymore. What am I supposed to do?]