Stella slipped into Tia's dorm, moving like a shadow. She'd watched Tia leave, but the uncertainty of Clara's whereabouts prickled at her skin. Scanning the room and finding it empty, she still wasn't satisfied.
"Clara?" she called out, her voice unnaturally loud in the silence. When no answer came, a predatory smirk settled on her face. It was time.
She tore through the room in a frenzy, searching for Tia's laptop. She ransacked the bed, upended the wardrobe, and tossed clothes aside until the space was a chaotic wreck.
"Where is it?" she hissed, her pulse racing. The clock was ticking, and her frantic movements only made her miss the obvious. Closing her eyes, she took a long, jagged breath to steady her nerves. When she opened them, she saw it—sitting right there on the bedside table. The laptop's casing blended so perfectly with the wood grain that she'd overlooked it in her panic.
She flipped the lid open. A small, dark triumph surged through her when she saw the login screen. Tia hadn't changed her password. Stella knew the password when Tia still trusted her and she had forgotten to change it now that they are no longer in good terms.
"Idiot," Stella whispered with a cold smirk. "You make this too easy."
She dove into the file directories, her eyes darting across the screen as if her life depended on it. She was hunting for one thing: Tia's half of the final project. When she finally found the folder, she let out a jagged cackle. Without a second thought, she highlighted the files and hit delete. To be certain, she purged the cloud backup and emptied the trash. Tia would have nothing.
"Let's see you stand in front of the board tomorrow with nothing but your own humiliation. I can't wait to watch you crumble," she muttered. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a permanent marker and scrawled the word 'LOSER' across the laptop lid in a cramped, distorted script, hoping to mask her handwriting.
She reached for a stack of Tia's clothes, intending to shred them, but a heavy thud in the hallway made her freeze. There were footsteps.
Fear turned her blood to ice. She shrunk back, holding her breath until her lungs burned. Only when the footsteps faded into the distance did she exhale. She didn't stay a second longer. Bolting for the door, she fled, leaving the room a disaster zone and the laptop sitting like a taunt on the bed.
In her haste, she collided with someone in the hall. She didn't look back or offer an apology; she just kept running until she reached the safety of her own room. Falling onto her bed, her chest heaving, she broke into a manic, breathless laugh. She could already see the look of utter ruin on Tia's face.
*****
Tia felt a lightness she hadn't known in years. Spending time with Xavier felt like a balm to her soul. She didn't fully understand his kindness yet, but she chose to believe it was genuine. After a quiet dinner, he dropped her off at the dorm gates.
The evening air was cool, and Tia walked toward her room with a lingering smile, her heart fluttering at the memory of the afternoon. But the moment she pushed her door open, the smile died.
"What happened here?" Her voice was a mere whisper. She rushed to the bed, gathering her scattered clothes in trembling hands. "Who would do this?"
Clara wasn't home, and Tia knew her roommate would never be this reckless. Then, she saw the laptop. Her stomach dropped.
"No, no, no..." she breathed, lunging for the device.
She checked the system first. The OS was intact, but when she searched for her project folder, she found a void. A cold realization settled in her gut. It had to be Stella. No one else knew the importance of that file or the password to get to it.
She stared at the word scrawled on the lid. LOSER. Even with the forced shakiness of the letters, the slant of the 'L' and the curve of the 'S' gave Stella away. Tia grabbed a cleaning wipe, scrubbing the ink away before it could set.
"You witch," Tia hissed, her eyes flashing. "The only loser here is you. Does it hurt you that much to just leave me alone?"
But the frustration was short-lived. Tia wasn't panicked—just exhausted by the prospect of cleaning up the mess Stella had left behind.
She walked over to her desk, reached into the hidden back of a drawer, and pulled out a small, silver flash drive. She had backed up every single line of code and every slide the night before.
"I'm glad you missed this, Stella." She tucked the drive into her pocket. She wouldn't confront her yet. She wanted the satisfaction of watching Stella's face when she realized her "victory" was an illusion.
The door creaked open, and Clara walked in, stopping dead in her tracks. "What... is... going... on?"
Tia sighed, dropping a pile of folded shirts. "It's Stella. She must have waited for us both to leave."
"What is wrong with her? Is she actually possessed?" Clara asked, immediately dropping her bag to help tidy the room.
"She was looking for my laptop," Tia explained, pausing to look at the empty screen. "She found it. Deleted the entire project for tomorrow."
"Oh my gosh! Tia, what are you going to do? It's dark already—can we even rewrite it in time? I'll help, we can pull an all-nighter."
Tia managed a small, confident smile. "There's no need. I kept a soft copy on my flash drive. I'm not worried about the work."
Clara let out a squeal of relief. "That's my girl! Seriously, though, you need to give her a piece of your mind."
Tia shook her head. "She's a pretender. She'd just lie and play the victim. I'd rather surprise her tomorrow when it actually counts."
They worked in silence for a few minutes before Tia looked up. "Where were you all day, anyway?"
Clara sighed dramatically. "I just needed a walk after you ditched me."
"And what time did you leave?" Tia teased.
"Okay, Detective Tia. I left around 11:00 AM."
Tia chuckled, tossing a pillow onto her bed. "Were you walking around the entire world? You just got back."
"What about you? Were you buried in the library stacks all day?" Clara shot back with a wink.
Tia just laughed, keeping the details of her time with Xavier to herself. She wasn't ready to share that glow just yet.
Once the room was restored to order, Tia plugged her drive into the laptop. She pulled up the documents, made a few final, sharp polishings, and sent them to the printer.
She stared at the whirling icon on the screen. She wondered briefly if Stella and Michael's own research was failing—if that was why Stella felt the need to sabotage hers. But it didn't matter. Stella wasn't a friend anymore, and she wouldn't be a threat to her in the future.
"Let's see how tomorrow goes, Stella," Tia whispered to the empty air, a sharp, determined smile tugging at her lips. "I hope you're ready for my own surprise."