Greed [GxG] ✔

[ 1 ] Eveline's Roommate May Be A Thief, Or A Demon From Hell.

The mystery of Eveline's roommate's identity was resolved traumatically and, most importantly, criminally. There were a number of unexplainable occurrences leading up to the occasion, but in hindsight, Eveline was only just now reading them as what they were: evidence.

Evidence that her first week of college was cursed from the start.

Moving onto campus that first week meant moving her little sister's luggage back into their parents' vehicle. It was an annual exchange altered only by the lack of Eveline's things amongst Val's pink suitcases in the backseat. Their summer at nonna's house near campus was over.

Eveline shut the trunk and brushed off her hands. "That's everything."

"Do you really not want help moving in?" Val asked.

"Do I really want mom and dad sniffing around my neighbors' dorms and causing a scene?"

"Okay, fair point. But I'm only asking for purely selfish reasons."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Of being nosey and wanting to see your dorm room."

"That's what that stupid disposable thing you gave me is for—"

"It's a camera! It's not a new concept."

"Whatever."

"You never use it! Use it!"

"I said whatever." She stuck her tongue out at Val, which earned her a finger to her cheek. She gritted her teeth against the pressure as Val dug her forefinger in with contempt.

"Easy now, before you bruise her on her big day!" their mom chided from the porch. Their dad was stepping out the front door and shutting it behind her, grandma nowhere in sight.

Eveline's jaw clenched as her mother approached. She was dressed to impress an executive chairman—another reason Eveline loathed to even consider letting her anywhere near her dorm room. Her neighbors would think she was a nepo-baby (which she debatably was, not that she wanted to admit it).

She grimaced against her mother's weirdly affectionate hug. The skin of her collarbone was milky and warm from the summer heat and the fact that she was wearing a blazer. She couldn't remember the last time they'd hugged, but she hoped it was the last.

"Mom, stop."

She squeezed tighter. "But I'll miss you—"

"Okay, I'll miss you too," she said, straining through every word until she released her.

Her satisfied sigh made her feel like she'd lost her integrity. She staggered back a little, heel slipping off the pavement and into the grass. Her mother dabbed her eyes with the pad of a manicured thumb.

"I don't know why I'm so emotional," she said, reverently. She sniffed, smiled, and patted Val on the head as she passed to reach the passenger door. "Imagine if we'd been dropping you off at Yale. I'd be inconsolable."

"I'm sure that would do wonders for my reputation," she said. A thump on her head sent her nearly face planting, only to have herself teetered into her father's side.

Her father ruffled her hair out of her ponytail. "Good luck, kid. Valentine—let's get moving."

"Okay," Val said, and spared the time it took their father to start the car to hug Eveline.

She squeezed Val around the middle and said, "Call me if you need anything."

"Back at you. And don't forget cameras exist. And postal services."