Chapter 2

Seeing my indifference, Celeste bit her lip. "Selene, I'm not just keeping the snake for a while. Even if its injury heals, I'll continue to keep it. If you object, speak up now."

Under her expectant gaze, I reached out and stroked the snake's head.

"Nah. It looks really beautiful. Take good care of it," I said.

Celeste frowned.

I ignored her, turned around, and picked up my bag.

I worked part-time at a fried chicken shop every evening, and it was just time to leave.

As soon as I left, I heard my other roommate, Noelle Dixon, say, "Celeste, you should really reconsider it. This is where we sleep after all."

Celeste said unhappily, "There's nothing to reconsider. Selene didn't say anything and she's the class monitor. What do you have to complain about?"

Noelle said something, but I didn't hear it.

However, I guessed she wouldn't contradict Celeste.

Celeste was on the student council. She was also the head of the department that managed students' academic credits.

If anyone offended her, they would have a tough time.

She would constantly monitor them, trying every means to deduct points.

If one didn't have enough credits, not only would one miss out on scholarship, but also risk repeating the year.

Therefore, even if our other two roommates frowned upon Celeste's behavior, they usually bit their tongues.

Celeste detested me the most.

I was the class monitor, and Andrea and several course instructors like me. Thus, Celeste's threat of deducting credits had no effect on me.

And so, Celeste disliked me and was always causing me trouble.

Only after finishing my part-time job did I truly feel like I was once again alive.

There was a student council event tonight, and Celeste hadn't returned when I got back to the dorm.

She had put the snake in a lousy cardboard box without even giving it water.

The snake was seriously injured and curled up in it.

As soon as I put down my bag, Noelle looked over to me. "Selene, tell Celeste to get rid of this snake. Keeping it in the dorm is too scary."

I asked her, "Why don't you tell her yourself?"

"She won't listen if I say it." Noelle pursed her lips. "Selene, help me out. Only you dare to go against her."

"Just because I dare to go against her, does that mean I should?" Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw that the snake was awake.

I cleared my throat and added, "Besides, how cute is this snake? Keeping it in the dorm might bring us good luck."

Noelle's face went pale. "But we're all scared. You're the class monitor. Shouldn't you do something about it?"

I shrugged. "I can't control what pets others keep. If you don't like it, you can report it to Ms. Boyd."

When I firmly refused to intervene, Noelle's face instantly fell.

She muttered, "Crazy bitch."

I didn't know if I was the crazy bitch, but I knew Noelle was.

She could also report it to Andrea but she wanted me to do it instead.

Moreover, when Celeste returned, she didn't even dare to speak up against her like she had done to me.

After the lights went out, and before I fell asleep, I heard a rustling sound.

Then something bumped against the cardboard box.

Celeste woke up. "What's that sound?"

"It sounds like the snake," Noelle whispered. "Is it hungry? Have you fed it?"

Celeste replied, "No, I didn't even eat dinner myself, much less feed it."

When she finished, the snake's movements grew louder.

Celeste lost her patience, grabbed her power bank from her bed, and threw it at the snake. "Quiet. I'll feed you tomorrow."

The power bank seemed to have landed on the snake, making a dull thud.

Perhaps the snake was stunned by the hit or Celeste's words worked; the snake fell silent again.

Soon after, my roommates fell asleep.

But I couldn't sleep.

In my previous life, Celeste treated the snake like a treasure when she saw I was afraid of it.

She fed it, applied medicine to its wound, and almost slept with it at night.

Yet now she was so impatient with it.

I wondered if it was because she saw that I wasn't afraid of the snake, so she thought it was useless and stopped caring.

This was confirmed in the following days.

Celeste seemed to have forgotten about her promise to feed the snake, leaving the dorm early and returning very late every day.

She would only occasionally peek into the box.

The snake was already severely injured. After several days of neglect, the injured parts of its body rotted, and it was about to starve to death.

I thought it would die, but on Sunday night, I heard a commotion.

The snake seemed to have regained some energy. It struggled to get out of the box, frightening everyone in the dorm.

This snake was unlike normal snakes; it was intelligent and held grudges.

I thought for a moment, then went out to buy first aid supplies and also got some leftover scraps from the fried chicken shop.

Back in the dorm, I carefully cut away the rotting flesh from the snake.

At first, the snake was very hostile towards me, avoiding my touch.

I said softly, "Don't be afraid; I'm treating your wound."

The snake stopped moving. After I finished treating its wounds, I threw the chicken scraps to it.

It sniffed at the food, then began to devour it, looking extremely hungry.

From that day on, I brought back scraps to feed it every day.

Later, I realized it wasn't safe for the snake to live in the cardboard box so I bought an insulated snake enclosure online.

Seeing how well I was taking care of the snake, Celeste became even more negligent, not even looking at it anymore.

Still, she never said she would send the snake away.

I thought that if Celeste truly didn't intend to care for the snake, once the snake fully recovered, I would send it to an animal shelter.

Unexpectedly, three days later, Celeste made a move.