Chapter 3

The single room wasn't approved on the spot.

Mrs. Taylor said she had to call housing services to check for empty beds and submit a formal request to the dean.

Hearing that the administration was getting involved, Sienna's tears fell even faster.

"Please don't escalate this to the dean. They'll just think I'm causing trouble again."

A student in the hallway chimed in, feeling sorry for her.

"Mrs. Taylor, maybe they should just go back and talk it out?"

"Yeah, the semester just started. Moving out on day one looks bad on their record."

"Exactly. Just bear with it for a couple of days, communication is key."

Mrs. Taylor looked at me.

It wasn't a look of favoritism—it was sheer helplessness.

The university administration moved like a turtle, but peer pressure and moral high grounds traveled at the speed of light.

Sienna knew exactly how to play this.

Clutching the remote, she kept her voice just soft enough to sound fragile, but loud enough for everyone in the hallway to hear.

"Norah, I just want you to let go of your greedy consumerism."

"The glaciers are melting. Polar bears don't even have ice to stand on anymore."

"If we can't even handle a little heat, how much longer does Earth have left?"

In my past life, this was the exact moment I backed down.

I had thought to myself that since it was only the first day of college, I shouldn't make enemies. So, I followed her back to the dorm.

That night, she locked away the remote, unplugged the fans, and told us to "listen to the beautiful hum of the summer cicadas."

I was trapped in that suffocating room until 4:00 AM. My heart was pounding like crazy, and my breathing sounded like a broken bellows.

When I crawled to grab my emergency heart medication, she snatched it away, crying that "pharmaceuticals are toxic chemicals" that would ruin my "natural bodily magnetic field."

I ended up on the floor, gasping for air, clawing at the bedpost as my vision went black, until I finally lost consciousness.

In this life, I took out my phone, laid it on the desk, and hit record.

"Mrs. Taylor, I'm happy to follow the official housing protocol."

"But until my single room is approved, I will not be sleeping in that dorm. If the university cannot provide a temporary bed, I want a written statement from your office."

"A statement confirming that I have submitted proof of a severe heart condition, and that my current assigned dorm has an active hazard where a student is forcibly cutting off electricity and refusing to allow cooling."

The office went dead silent again.

Sienna stopped crying.

The way she looked at me now was no longer pitiful—she looked at me like I was an irredeemable sinner.

Mrs. Taylor remained silent for a few seconds before picking up her desk phone and dialing the resident advisor line.

"Hi, is this the RA for Hall B, Room 503? Please send someone up to check on that room immediately."

"A student reported that their roommate is refusing to let them use the AC or fans."

She listened to the person on the other end, her expression hardening.

"Yes, I am serious. One of the residents has a severe heart condition and cannot be exposed to extreme heat."

Sienna suddenly lunged toward me.

"Why do you have to blow everything out of proportion?!"

Her voice wasn't loud, but it was dripping with self-righteous anger.

"We could have finished this beautiful spiritual journey together!"

Outside the door, several students had already raised their phones, recording us.

I took a giant step back.

"Get away from me. The smell of your sweat is making me nauseous."

Sienna bit her lip, tears instantly spilling over.

"This is the scent of nature! How could you insult me like that?"

Crying hysterically, she turned and ran out of the office, heading back to the dorm.

Mrs. Taylor closed her eyes, grabbed her keys from the desk, and sighed.

"Let's go. Room 503."

When we arrived at Room 503, the door was slightly ajar. From inside, we could hear our other roommate, Chloe, sobbing hysterically.

Mrs. Taylor pushed the door open.

A wave of suffocating, sweltering heat hit us in the face, carrying a strange, sour, rotting stench.

Sienna was standing right beneath the AC outlet, holding a pair of heavy-duty kitchen scissors.

On the floor lay the severed end of the AC's thick white power cord.

She held her head high, looking like a martyr standing before a firing squad.

"Since a locked remote wasn't enough to stop your greed, I have permanently freed us from this path of sin."

Chloe was sitting on the floor, crying, clutching a small, unplugged portable insulin fridge in her arms.

Inside the plastic case, several expensive vials of imported insulin had already turned cloudy and ruined from the heat.

Chloe was shaking with pure rage, pointing a finger at Sienna.

"Are you insane?! You unplugged my mini-fridge! That was my entire semester's supply of insulin!"

Sienna looked at the ruined medicine on the floor, her face filled with mock pity.

"Chloe, such expensive medicine is a luxury of capitalism."

"Elderly people in remote villages fight through illnesses using only their inner strength. Material goods do not bring true health. Why don't you try letting your own body fight the disease naturally?"

Chloe's face drained of all color.

"I have Type 1 Diabetes! I will literally die without insulin!"

Sienna sighed, shaking her head.

"That's only because you are too dependent on modern medicine. Mother Nature will give us—"

"Screw your nature!"

Chloe scrambled up from the floor, grabbed a heavy textbook from her desk, and hurled it straight at Sienna's head.

Sienna shrieked, ducking quickly behind Mrs. Taylor.

"Mrs. Taylor! She's attacking me! The synthetic toxins in her body have driven her mad!"