Apart from necessary social interactions, I tried to keep my distance from the four girls in our dorm.
I knew I didn't belong with them. Their flawless makeup and expensive clothes made me feel deeply insecure and afraid.
In contrast, I felt more comfortable around Sarah, who seemed less fortunate than me in many ways.
If the other four girls hadn't so obviously disliked her, I think Sarah and I could have become good friends.
In this community college where hardly anyone took their studies seriously, Sarah stood out like a sore thumb. She attended every class, completed all her assignments on time, and spent her weekends either working part-time jobs or in the library.
I knew it was because she was determined to transfer to a four-year university.
This was probably the initial reason why the other four girls excluded her.
But the main reason was that Sarah had managed to offend Ashley, another girl in our dorm, shortly after the semester began.
Unlike Sarah's timid nature, Ashley was like a wildfire. Not the warm type, but scorching.
As the daughter of a wealthy government official, Ashley had clearly been spoiled since childhood. She always acted like an entitled princess, doing and saying whatever she pleased.
She never hid who she liked or disliked.
Because of her domineering personality, even though she wasn't officially in charge, Ashley had become the de facto leader of our dorm.
I remember that shortly after we returned from Fall Break, it was Ashley's birthday. The other girls in the dorm planned to pool money together to treat Ashley to a nice dinner.
Only Sarah made excuses to avoid contributing.
I later learned that her family wasn't well-off, and she probably couldn't afford to spend the money at the time.
Ashley didn't say anything then, but afterwards she clearly started targeting Sarah.
The haughty princess didn't care what others thought of her.
The other three girls followed Ashley's lead and began deliberately isolating Sarah.
They even started mocking her constantly.
Sarah loved watching "The Crown", so they called her "Lady Di" to her face and "Cinderella" behind her back.
Sarah didn't have a boyfriend, so they would taunt her by saying things like, "When is your Prince Charming going to rescue you from your life of drudgery?"
Surprisingly, Ashley wasn't even the cruellest. That title belonged to Brittany.
Brittany slept in the second bed and was best friends with Chloe in the fourth bed.
They were both stunning, and Brittany was even a minor internet celebrity who often livestreamed from our dorm at night.
Online, she would sweetly call her male viewers "darling".
But when it came to Sarah, her words were especially harsh.
I remember one time during the day, Sarah was studying vocabulary in the dorm.
She wasn't being loud, but Brittany still complained that Sarah was disturbing her and sneered.
"I don't know why you bother studying so hard. With your looks and brains, even if you transfer to a university, you'll never make as much in a real job as I do from one livestream."
After hearing Brittany's words, Sarah didn't say anything. She just quietly put away her textbook.
But I saw that her eyes had turned slightly red.
Afterwards, I went to comfort her privately.
She told me, "Emma, it's okay. Once I transfer out of here, everything will get better."
That night, the usually quiet Sarah opened up to me about her high school days.
She said she had actually done quite well in high school. However, during her senior year, some family issues arose that affected her performance on the college entrance exams.
Her family wouldn't let her retake the exam, which is how she ended up here.
Now she was fully focused on transferring to a good university so she could build a better future for herself.
"You know what they say in The Crown. It doesn't matter how others look down on you, what matters is that you don't look down on yourself. Emma, I believe that the harder you work, the luckier you get!" she said to me earnestly, her eyes shining with determination.
I suddenly realized that Sarah was actually good-looking.
If she learned how to do her makeup, she might even outshine Brittany and the others.
Yes, Sarah! You could do it!
You'd get into the university of your dreams and become even more successful than Ashley and Brittany!
At that time, I could never have imagined...
That during our first semester finals at this community college, Sarah would be caught cheating red-handed.
And the bullying from those girls would only escalate from there.
