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In the dorm, I showed my roommates the birthday gift I had bought for Brianna. It was a pair of earrings, a wreath of green jade with jade feathers dangling below.
Everyone gasped. “They’re beautiful.”
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Saag Azmere nas uvally calm. She was hunched over her desk, writing furiously. My other roommat Yole Now NY Sabok These earrings are gorgeous.”
Sean dont even kook up in busy with a proposal for my club. Don’t bother me.
Yole pouted and turned away
As ergore chattered, Susan kept her head down, but I could see her sneaking glances out of the corner Nen
I suddenly had an idea ex let’s all go shopping. I’ll show you some even more beautiful jewelry, and I‘ treat you all t
Degore was on board. Yolle called out to Susan again, but she just repeated that she was too busy.
I put the earrings back in their box and placed it in my locker. I never bothered to lock it.
My roommates and I went out for the entire afternoon, leaving Susan alone in the dorm.
When we got back that evening, I opened my locker to change and glanced at the earring box. Sure enough
it had been opened.
I casually asked, ‘Susan, Bri’s birthday is in a couple of days. Are you coming?”
Susan readily agreed. “Of course! Bri invited me. We can go together.”
The night before Bris birthday, I suddenly came down with a bad case of dianthea. I was up all night, running
to the bathroom more than a dozen times
The next morning, Susan helped me to the campus clinic.
As I was getting an IV drip, she reminded me, “Leah, you’re in no condition to go today. Why don’t you give me the gift, and I’ll take it for you?”
I was completely drained and weak, I had no choice but to tell Susan to get the gift from my locker. After sh got it, she even sent me a picture of it.
On Bri’s birthday, the group chat was eerily silent. Usually, we’d be flooding it with pictures of the cake, the gifts, everything. I didn’t know what Susan had said, but the silence was unsettling.
That evening. Susan returned, her face beaming with suppressed joy. The moment she saw me, she quickly wiped the smile off her face and looked at me with a hesitant expression.
She came over to my bed and whispered, “Leah, Bri said the earrings you got her look like fakes.”
“I think there must be a misunderstanding,” she continued, her voice full of concern. “Don’t worry. Think abo
ut it, maybe you got scammed.”
“I didn’t want them to say anything in the group because I was afraid it would upset you. Why don’t you apol ogize to Bri later and get her another gift? Don’t let this ruin your friendship.”
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She looked so genuinely concerned. If I hadn’t known the gift had been swapped, I would have been comple tely fooled by her performance.
I replied with feigned agitation, “That’s impossible! I have the receipt. The sales associate said they could be engraved, so I had them put the first letter of Bri’s name, ‘B,‘ inside. I’m calling Bri right now, and we’ll go to the store to get them authenticated.”
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