I laughed to myself. So this was her next move.
The scam angle hadn't worked, so now she needed me labeled a thief.
And if people bought that, the money thing from before would be even easier to believe.
One of our roommates sighed:
"No idea where it went. The door's been locked the whole time, the window was shut—nobody from outside could've gotten in…"
The implication couldn't have been louder.
The thief had to be someone already inside the room.
I didn't take the bait. I walked straight to my desk and sat down.
A few minutes later, Susan drifted over.
"Rebecca, it's just us in here, right? I've already gone through everyone else's stuff."
"So… you don't mind if I peek in yours too? That way we can all just clear the air and nobody feels weird."
I said nothing.
This was obviously a setup.
But the second I hesitated, the whispers started buzzing around me.
"Right? Like, just let her look. If you won't even open it, that kind of says something."
"An innocent person wouldn't think twice. Just pop it open and prove everyone wrong—what's the problem?"
I knew that if I refused to let her search, the label "thief" would land on me right here, right now.