My Roommate Stole My Crush,So I Got His Rival

I fell head over heels for Carter, the captain of our school's ice hockey team, the second I laid eyes on him. Amy egged me on to shoot my shot if I really liked him, and she even came up with a whole game plan for me. She told me to lay on the charm, act all cute and clingy, and call him "babe" every time I ran into him. She also pushed me to join the cheer squad so I could go to his games and cheer him on front and center. But after two whole months of pulling out all the stops to win him over, even Carter's teammates were practically melting at how hard I was trying. The man himself? A total ice wall. Not a single c***k in his facade. It wasn't until today that Amy finally spilled the truth. "That online boyfriend I was telling you about a while back? It's Carter. I made you chase him just to test how loyal he was to me. But I had no idea he'd be this rock solid, turning down a total smoke show like you. Sorry, babe, looks like I can't hand him over to you after all." ***** The AC in the dorm droned on with a low, constant hum. I sat frozen at my desk, my brain completely short-circuiting. I was scrambling to wrap my head around what Amy had just said. I kept replaying the question in my head. What did she mean, her online boyfriend was Carter? "C'mon, Mia Hale, you're not mad at me, right?" When I didn't say anything for ages, Amy set down her makeup brush. She tilted her head and stuck out her tongue. "Who can help it? You're so drop-dead gorgeous, after all. Oh, c'mon, look at it this way—you just helped your girl vet her new man! You were the one saying you were scared I'd get catfished by some random guy online, right? Now you know Carter's a good guy, don't you?" I clenched my fist so hard my knuckles turned white, letting my nails dig sharply into the soft skin of my palm. The sharp pain grounded me a little. Amy had met Carter online during school break. She'd told me all about him back then. An upperclassman in the business school, on the ice hockey team, his family ran a huge real estate business out of Calcutt. Only one week into the break, she'd been ready to rush back to campus early to meet him in person. I'd been worried sick she'd get played, so I'd talked her out of it for three straight days before she finally gave up on the idea. But never in a million years would I have guessed the guy she was talking about was Carter. "Why didn't you tell me this from the start?" When I finally spoke, my voice came out rough and scratchy, like I hadn't spoken in days. Amy just shrugged it off like it was no big deal. "I was insecure, okay? Carter's so hot, and his family's loaded, and you're so freaking perfect. When you said you had a crush on him at first sight, I really was going to set you two up at first! But how was I supposed to know Carter's that crazy about me?" I stared at her face, a sharp stinging sensation prickling at the bridge of my nose. Humiliation coiled around every inch of my body, thick and suffocating. For these past two months while I was chasing Carter, Amy had volunteered every single idea and plan, walking me through every step. She knew every single word I'd said to Carter, every single time we'd crossed paths. She'd sat there and broken down exactly what Carter liked to eat, what he did for fun, what kind of girls he went for. She'd told me to wait for him right outside the hockey rink after practice, to "accidentally" run into him at the library. She'd even pushed me to join the cheer squad specifically, just so I could cheer him on at his games in person. All while she was carrying on her online relationship with Carter right under my nose. What even was I to her? Some trained monkey she'd strung along for a laugh? Or just a total, pathetic fool? "C'mon, Mia, you're not actually mad at me, are you?" Amy huffed, planting her hands on her hips like a pouting toddler throwing a fit. She acted like I had no right to be mad at her. I'd always valued her so much as a friend. Any other time, the second she pulled this little pouting act, I'd have caved immediately, apologized, then offered to take her out for her favorite boba and fries to make it up to her. Not today. I couldn't do that, not this time. "What do you want me to do? I'll just let you have him, whatever!" I lifted my head. "Sure."