The Price of Jealousy: A College Nightmare

eeks, searching for the warning signs I had so clearly missed. It was a p

s the perfect roommate. She seem

, offering me one of her granola bars as I struggled with a heavy

are notes, and order late-night pizza. It felt like a real friendship was

e so small at first, I barely noticed them. H

my takeout burger with disapproval. "That' s so many c

ugh it off. But i

ent shopping last weekend. You shoul

eel like transactions. One afternoon, I c

idterm, so I just took care of it fo

arah, you didn' t have

way, I' m a little short on cash for groceries this week. Co

e me feel cornered. I gave her the money, but

icited financial advisor. She' d see

she told me one evening. "He says you have to plan for the future.

ter she' d lectured me about buying a coffee on campus, I finally snapped. She was

sponsible, just like your brother." I paused, letting my eyes drift to her new clothes. "But wasn' t that the jacket you b

orm. For the first time, I saw her without the mask of sweet concern. She just looked flustered and angry,

ndly chats stopped. We coexisted in near silence, a silence t

do," she declared, standing in the middle of the room as if making a royal proclamation. "It' s only f

dumbfounded by

lm. "We are roommates. We split the chores fifty-fifty. T

und and slammed a textbook down on her desk with so much force that the

r jealousy and her resentment poisoning the air I breathed. The theft and her arrest were just the final, vi