I Work For My Roommate’s Love Pool Chapter 04

I Work For My Roommate’s Love Pool Chapter 04

Every morning I woke up early to grind through vocab and maintain my spot as the top student, only for the guys to decide Chloe was an academic prodigy.

Every shift I worked at my part-time job to maintain my resilient, Financial Aid student image, the guys saw Chloe as a precious, hardworking angel.

The more elegant and poised I acted, the more they praised Chloe’s crudeness as being authentic.

Every ounce of effort I made, every spark of brilliance I possessed.

The System sucked it all out of me like a vampire, turning it into a halo for Chloe Sterling.

I wasn’t competing with her.

I was using my own blood and soul to keep her disgusting dating pool stocked.

As long as I stayed perfect, as long as I kept trying to win them over, the System would never stop running.

Chloe would always be the untouchable “It Girl.”

And I would be stuck as the toxic second lead everyone hated.

I stepped out from the shadows, eyeing Chloe’s face—now blotchy with acne from her late-night benders.

Without those favorability points, what is she even worth?

I let out a cold laugh and headed for the dorms.

I get it now.

Since you’re sucking my life dry to keep your light on.

Since you’re using my perfection to filter your own mess.

Then I’m done.

Back in my room, I swept every expensive skincare bottle and makeup palette into the trash with one motion.

I yanked the curtains shut and smashed my alarm clock to pieces.

I’m done grinding.

The next morning, I didn’t get up at 6:00 AM to camp out at the library.

I slept until noon, only crawling out of bed when my stomach started screaming.

I didn’t wash my face. I didn’t brush my hair.

I just sat there with a matted bird’s nest on my head and greasy pajamas, ordering the oiliest, spiciest fried chicken I could find.

For the next week, I completely let myself go.

I skipped classes, quit my job, and stopped showing up to bring Dr. Cosmo his morning coffee.

I spent my days rotting in the dorm playing video games, swearing like a sailor at the screen.

Hungry? I’d grab frozen pizza, fried chicken, corn dogs. Thirsty? I’d shotgun cans of cold soda.

In just seven days, my once-perfect skin broke out in massive, angry red cysts.

Dark circles hung under my eyes, my hair was a stringy, oily mess, and I smelled like a walking pile of trash.

The “resilient, beautiful, self-disciplined” girl was officially dead.

Friday afternoon was Dr. Cosmo’s advanced seminar.

I rolled in right as the bell rang, yawning and dragging my feet in cheap rubber flip-flops.

The entire class turned to look, but their shock and disgust weren’t aimed at me, they were staring at Chloe.

“Oh my god, is that Chloe Sterling? What happened to her?”

“She smells… has she not showered in a week?”

“Gross. I can’t believe I used to have a crush on her. I must’ve been blind.”

[No, no, no! Evelyn ruined her own look, and now the leads’ favorability for Chloe is tanking!]

[SYSTEM ALERT: WARNING! Source of favorability is deteriorating rapidly! System cannot extract charm points! Transfer channel blocked!]

The smug look on Chloe’s face vanished instantly.

Dr. Cosmo stood at the podium. The tender gaze he usually reserved for Chloe turned into a look of total horror.

He slammed his textbook onto the desk, his voice vibrating with cold rage.

“Chloe Sterling! Look at yourself!”

“You’re a mess. You look exhausted. Do you think my classroom is a dumpster?”

I leaned back, lazily dug a piece of crust from the corner of my eye, and flicked it onto the floor.

Rainer looked like he was about to vomit.

“Chloe! Are you even listening to me?!”

Chloe went pale, her voice trembling.

“Professor… I didn’t…”

“It’s her! It’s Evelyn!”

She lunged forward and grabbed my arm, her eyes wide with panicked desperation.

“Evelyn! What are you doing?”

“Why didn’t you put on makeup today? Why didn’t you wash your hair? Why do you look like this?!”