Page 124 of The Wrong Play

And then, in a truly spectacular display of blind panic…she turned too fast, lost her balance, and smacked straight into the wall with a thud.

Silence.

“Emma?” I whispered.

She slid down the wall, eyes fluttering shut as she crumpled into a heap on the floor.

Okay, sometimes it felt like I actually lived in an alternate reality since coming to this school…and this was one of those moments.

I gawked at her unconscious body, my heart still racing.

Shoving my hair out of my face, I forced myself to move, peeling back more of my sheets. My stomach churned as more of the tiny brown shapes scattered.

Nope. Nope, nope, nope.

My whole body recoiled as the realization sank in.Bed bugs.

As if summoned by my misery, the RA burst into the room, breathless. “What’s going on? I heard screaming—” Her gazedropped to Emma, still unconscious, then to my bed, then back to me.

“Emma?” she yelled, dropping to her knees next to Emma’s body.

“There’s bugs,” I squeaked, pointing to my bed.

On cue, Emma groaned from her place on the floor. Her eyelids fluttered, and for a second, she just lay there, blinking sluggishly at the ceiling. Then, realization dawned in her expression. Her head snapped up, her gaze darting wildly around the room until it landed on me, then the bed.

“Are they gone?” she asked, her voice small and hoarse.

I hesitated. “Uh?—”

She let out a blood-curdling scream. “THEY’RE STILL HERE! FUCK! THEY’RE IN MY HAIR!”

Emma shot upright, flailing like a possessed marionette, slapping at her arms and shaking out her hair so violently that I instinctively took a step back.

“Emma, breathe?—”

“I CAN FEEL THEM CRAWLING! THEY’RE EVERYWHERE!” she screeched even louder, spinning in panicked circles before she ran straight into the dresser. The impact sent her sprawling back onto the floor with a groan.

The RA exhaled sharply, rubbing her temples. “Fucking hell. I don’t get paid enough for this.”

Emma groaned from her place on the floor. “Where are we supposed to go?”

The RA pinched the bridge of her nose, looking genuinely stumped. “That…is a great question. You can’t sleep here, but I don’t exactly have a backup plan for a full-on bed bug infestation. Umm…” She glanced around like someone was going to pop out from the closet or something and give her an answer.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out with shaky fingers, my brain still trying to process the nightmare unfolding around me.

Jace: Miss you.

I stared at the screen, my heart stuttering. My chest felt tight, like the weight of the entire evening had suddenly doubled. Before I could overthink it, I typed back.

Me: There are bed bugs in my room. Emma knocked herself out. I’m being evicted.

The three little dots appeared almost instantly.

Jace: Be right there.

I blinked at the screen, still dazed. I wasn’t sure what response I expected, but it definitely wasn’t that.

Barely ten minutes later, the sound of heavy footsteps pounded down the hall. The door flew open, and there he was—Jace, dressed in sweatpants and a Tigers hoodie, his eyes immediately scanning the room before locking onto my sheets. He took one step closer, leaned over the bed, and squinted.

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