My Heart, Their Secret

ped back on campus, a cold feeling washed over me. It started in the hallway of my dorm building. I

dn't

taped to the door. It was a notice from housing services, official and impersona

, Emily, Ashley, and Megan, should have been

hallway. I scrolled to my group chat, "The 304 Crew." My last message from a week

y's the lock changed? W

, a small notification appeared

Nothing went through. My heart started beating a little faster. I went to my contacts and tried to c

on't just disappear from the phone network at the same time. I checked their social media profiles. I couldn't find t

igging into my palm. My own dorm room was locked, and the

person I could think of,

re back! How w

ul voice w

steady. "I can' t get into my room, and I can' t get ahold of

. Did you check with

bling slightly. "Jess, I' m serious. It' s like they bl

tion. Maybe they had to move rooms for some reason and the message didn' t get to you.

ew roommates this year, Lisa and Karen. I had never m

, taking my suitcase. "Guys, this is my best fri

expected. Lisa, a small girl with dark hair, physically flinched. Her eyes went wide, and her face turned pale. Karen just stared, her mouth

id, trying for a

urned back to her computer. Karen just gave a stiff nod and did

her new roommates. "So, Sarah' s roommates ki

s tensed. She di

e. I had a small box of chocolate

ach if you guys want any," I said

ueaked. Her expression was one of pure ter

scrambling backward. Her chair ti

there, my hand outstretched

ay?" she whispered, helping her up but keeping her e

pletely bewildered. "I was

Then she grabbed her keys from her desk, gave Karen a panicked

ace pale. "You should ha

ket. "I' m going to go find her." She

e in the suddenly silent room. I sank onto Jessica

r problem?" I asked, my

as I felt. She picked up the

ince they moved in. Really quiet, lots of strange rules. Like they always keep t

h. They' re just freshmen. Probably overwhelmed a

es. It was the same cold, isolating feeling I got standing in front of my empty, locked