Chapter 2

She kept nagging me, but her texts were actually super sweet.

Maggie: [Forget it. It's fine. Your health comes first. I'll make you cheesecake next time. I have some meds for your stomach. I'll go and grab them for you.

[Even if you're going to lie down, at least take the medicine before you rest.

[It's already nighttime, and you can't buy medicine in town now. Seriously, you should really keep some at home.]

If this were any other day, I'd honestly be tearing up.

But right now, she was obviously just trying to lure me out and get me to open the door.

Maggie texted, [Open the door and grab the medicine before you go to bed. I've boiled some water too, so take some with you. Take the meds, get some sleep, and you'll feel better tomorrow.]

I pulled up a photo of the medicine box and sent it to her. [I've got medicine here. When Nicole quit a while back, she gave me her whole box.]

Nicole Riley worked here for three years before she left last month.

Maggie sent me a pouty sticker. [I'm just worried about you and wanted to check in. Why do you keep turning me away?]

The real-time comments kept reminding me. [Lexie, don't fall for her tricks. No matter what she says, do not open the door!]

I turned off the lights in the living room and bathroom. [Maggie, I've got hot water here, and I've taken the meds. I'm heading back to bed now. Goodnight.]

There was no movement outside my door, and I couldn't hear any footsteps leaving.

The dorm building had three floors, with five rooms each.

Maggie and I were both at opposite ends of the third floor.

"What now? She's not budging," a man's voice came from outside the door.

Maggie let out a cold laugh. "Relax, I know how to handle her."

"You better really have a plan," the man said.

"Of course," Maggie shot back, sounding dead sure.

I started to get a bad feeling about this.

And it didn't take long for my fears to come true.

Phoebe Sawyer, a colleague from the general office, suddenly pinged me. [Lexie, Maggie said she came by with food, but you wouldn't let her in?]

I replied, [I've got a bad stomach and I'm already in bed.]

The live chat warned me about stuff that hadn't even happened yet. Even if I called the police or told my coworkers Maggie was trying to hurt me, nobody would buy it.

So I decided to keep lying through my teeth.

[Oh, what happened?] Phoebe asked.

[My dinner wasn't cooked through, so my stomach's a mess. I'm totally wiped out,] I replied.

[Do you want to go to the hospital?] Phoebe texted again.

I replied, [No need. Nicole left me some meds when she left, and I've already taken them. I'll be fine after a good night's sleep.]

Thank goodness I kept those medicines.

Phoebe explained, [Hey, just get some rest. Maggie forgot her keys when she brought food for you, and now she's stuck outside. It's late, and she's scared, so she reached out to me.

[I thought maybe you two had some disagreement, and she asked if you could let her stay at your place for the night.]

My blood ran cold. I never imagined Maggie would stoop to something like this just to trick me into opening the door.

I was racking my brain, desperately trying to figure out a good way to turn her down.

Just then, Phoebe messaged me again. [It's fine now. She went to the office to get the spare key for the dorm.]

My heart tightened. [What?]

Phoebe texted, [All the dorm spare keys are kept together, so she can just grab one, let herself in, and go to bed.]

The chat flooded in. [Damn, I just saw your room number on the spare key Maggie took. Lexie, did you deadbolt your door?]

[And there are still two guys lurking right outside your door.]

Seeing the live chat, my heart was racing with panic.

And of course, I hadn't locked my door tonight.

[Maggie and her crew are already on the second floor.]

I only had two options. First, I had to lock the door immediately, but that would make it obvious I was dodging them on purpose.

Second, I could hide out in the bathroom.

Come on, even a fool would know to go with option one!

I slammed the lock shut, hands shaking as I locked the door tight.

As soon as the two guys outside heard the lock snap shut, they leaned in, putting their ears right up against the door, trying to catch any sound from inside.

Just then, I heard footsteps coming down the hall. Maggie had shown up.

"I heard her lock the door. You don't think she's caught on to what we're up to, do you?" one of the men muttered.

"No chance," Maggie shot back, not a hint of doubt in her voice.

Just as she pulled out the key and was about to unlock my door, the live chat flashed across my screen again.

[Lexie, even if you deadbolt the door, she can still unlock it from the outside with her key. Shit! You need to stick your key in the lock so she can't use hers!]

[Get the key, quick! It's on the shoe rack to your left. She's about to open the door any second!]

The live chat had me so spooked, my hands were shaking like crazy.

I didn't even know how I managed to snatch the key and shove it into the lock in just three seconds.

Right as Maggie was about to turn her key, I jammed mine in at the very last second.

"Did you hear something?" one of the guys asked.

"Lexie, are you hiding behind the door? Are you messing with me on purpose?" Maggie snapped, dropping all pretense, her voice was full of anger.

I didn't say a word.