Chapter 5

Jessica's voice on the other end of the line was dripping with pride. "Diana, I have good news for you. I'm with Lawrence now."

"Oh." My tone was so flat that it might as well have been a comment about the weather.

I kept feeding my chickens as I asked, "Why are you calling me?"

The chicks had grown a little, but they were still chirping loudly and fighting over the food.

"Diana, why do I hear chickens on your end?" Jessica asked, puzzled.

"Because I'm feeding chickens," I said, my voice still flat.

Jessica sounded completely thrown off. "With all this rain, where did you even get chickens?"

I didn't bother explaining. "I'm raising them."

The vegetable and eggplant seeds I'd planted earlier had already sprouted. Every now and then, I went out to pull weeds or water them.

The meat I'd bought before was stored in the freezer, enough to last me a long time.

Jessica clicked her tongue. "Diana, where are you? How can you have barbecue and raise chickens? Is your place not affected by the storm at all?"

"No," I replied in the same flat tone.

How could she ever guess that I hadn't gone anywhere? I was still right here—in my own bedroom.

Just one wall apart, but it really was two completely separate worlds.

"It's great that your place isn't affected by the storm," Jessica said. "Then hurry and tell me where you are. I'll bring Lawrence and his family over. We're going to be one family in the future anyway."

A trace of mockery slipped into my voice. "You can look for me yourself. If you find me, you can come."

"What do you mean by that? You don't want us to come, is that it?" Jessica's tone turned sharp.

I'd always given Jessica whatever she wanted. This was the first time I'd ever spoken to her like that.

I nudged a chick that got in my way with my foot and walked back from the small patch of farmland into my house.

I still had plenty of ready-to-eat food stored in the fridge—frozen pizza, bread, sausages, and more.

I turned on the fan, reheated a pizza in the microwave, and watched as the crust turned golden and soft.

The smell filled the room. I took a picture and sent it to Jessica.

"Hey! How do you have pizza there? Diana, tell me where you are right now! You're so selfish! I'm stuck here chewing dry bread and eating instant food while you're eating pizza!"

Jessica's voice was desperate, though she tried to sound cute, still hoping to pry my location out of me.

I took a big bite of the pizza, stretching the melted cheese, and said with a grin, "Wow, this pizza's amazing. The cheese is so stretchy."

"Diana, no matter how nice your place is, your food won't last forever. What's the use of your shrink system? My system can make your food bigger—enough to eat for years. So hurry up and tell me where you are, and I'll come find you," Jessica said.

She didn't actually want to find me. She just couldn't stand that I was living better than she was.

I gave her the same answer again. "If you find me, you can come."

Then I hung up. On the camera feed, I watched as Jessica flew into a rage, smashing everything in my old room—furious and helpless.

Not long after, the news that Jessica had a system spread throughout the whole neighborhood.

As for who leaked it—that much was obvious.

People knocked on Jessica's door over and over, each of them clutching the last of their food, begging her to make it bigger.

At first, Jessica didn't know what to do. She wanted to pretend she didn't have the system and trick them into leaving.

But before she could say anything, Lawrence's family from across the hall came running out. His parents stopped the people at the door.

"Hey, hey, hey! Jessica's our future daughter-in-law," Lawrence's mom said. "If you want to use her system, you have to get our permission. It takes a lot of energy for her to use it—you'll have to pay."

At first, Jessica was angry that they'd told everyone about her system. But when she heard what they said next, her anger faded.

"That's right! Jessica's my girlfriend," Lawrence said, wrapping his arm around her waist. "You have to pay her if you want her to do the work."

Jessica leaned shyly into his arms, and just like that, the deal was sealed.

Lawrence's family had found themselves a business—using Jessica's ability.

Every person who wanted to use her system had to hand Lawrence 1,000 dollars.

It wasn't cheap, but with the storm still raging and food running low, money had lost most of its value. One couldn't buy food anymore, but one could buy Jessica's help.

It seemed like a win for everyone. But through the cameras, I saw more and more people coming to her door, again and again, asking her to use her system.

That only meant one thing—people had started to believe that as long as Jessica had that system, they'd never go hungry.

But they'd forgotten something crucial. The system could make food bigger, sure—but only if there was food to begin with.

Once Jessica used it on something, that was it. They couldn't eat half, save half, and make it big again. The system couldn't create food out of thin air.

Three whole years passed. Thanks to Jessica's system, not a single person in the neighborhood starved.

Everyone grew careless. They ate, drank, and partied like the storm would never end—and the food would never run out.

But at the end of that third year, real trouble began.

Everyone's food supply was nearly gone. Even when Jessica enlarged it, it still wasn't enough.

Resources were running dry, and her system couldn't fix that anymore.

The neighborhood started falling apart.

People fought in the streets, arguing and stealing whatever supplies they could find. Jessica had long since moved into Lawrence's home, living there like she was part of their family.

But from what I heard through the cameras, Lawrence's parents had started to get annoyed. Fewer people were coming for Jessica's help now, which meant no more money.

Meanwhile, Jessica was still living in their house, eating their food, using their things.

They were tired of her. So they came up with a plan to get rid of her.

Lawrence broke up with her—cold and simple. He just said he didn't love her anymore.

Jessica cried, screamed, and begged him not to do it, but it was useless. His whole family threw her out.

During a disaster like this, love didn't matter anymore. Everyone was just trying to survive.

Jessica sat crying at their front door for a full day and night before she finally went back to my house.

But when she got there, she found it completely empty. Lawrence's family had already cleaned it out. All the food she'd once stored was now sitting in their pantry.

The house she'd been so proud of was nothing but an empty shell.

Jessica went back to their door, shouting and crying, but all she got in return were their insults. They weren't going to give her anything back.

That was when she finally started to panic.