Looking at Snowie's triumphant face, I pointed at my roommate–Mandy Leigh–next to me.
"I've been reading. I didn't even open my mouth. Mandy is my witness."
Mandy nodded. "Pretty sure Ginny hasn't said a single word until now."
Eva was just about to calm down when Snowie sighed and said, "Of course you didn't say it, but I could hear your thoughts. I heard you calling Eva a disgusting fat pig. I know none of you will believe me, but I can prove it."
Snowie calmly pointed at my bag. "In your bag is a water bottle, a set of keys, and two packets of tissues. Oh, and also five dimes."
Before I could say anything, another classmate snatched my bag and poured the items out, counting them.
"Snowie's right. It's exactly as she said. Could she be for real?"
I calmly said, "I bring this with me every day. Anyone would find out if they observed me for a few days."
The class seemed to find my explanation valid. They were hesitating between siding with Snowie or me.
Snowie calmly said the exact same thing in my previous life, to get all of them to bring an item out for me to pick, and she'd guess.
I refused outright. "Who knows if you'd join forces and gang up on me?"
A few classmates with a temper sprang up and questioned me on what I meant by that.
I said nothing, merely looking at Snowie icily.
No matter whether it was my previous life or current life, I refused to believe in this 'mind-reading' shenanigan. There had to be some secret.
Snowie was a little annoyed that I was not taking the bait.
"Alright, then. Why don't you head to the canteen to get some food? No matter what you get, I'd know. That way, I can prove that I was right.
"Want to bet? Otherwise, it means that what I said was the truth."
Noticing Eva glaring daggers at me, I knew I had to agree to it.
Before leaving, I secretly turned on my phone's camera and hid it in a corner where it could film the entire class.
10 minutes later, I returned with a tightly wrapped doggy bag and placed it right in front of Snowie. It was so tightly wrapped that one could not even smell the food in it.
"Tell me, what did I get?"
Snowie snickered weirdly. "Ginny, did you pick up leftovers? There is half a piece of a chicken bacon sandwich, a few meatballs, and a piece of cheesecake, which someone had taken a bite from. Am I right?"
My classmates immediately snatched away the doggy bag and opened it, matching what Snowie said.
"Snowie is right again. She really can hear Ginny's thoughts."
Even though I was mentally prepared, hearing Snowie make the right guesses made my heart sink.
I picked up my phone and looked at the video that it recorded. Snowie had always been in her seat after I left. Not only did no one approach her, but she also did not even touch her phone.
My heart sank, and I started to doubt myself.
Could Snowie really hear my thoughts?
Eva glared at me. "Ginny, what else do you have to say for yourself?"
The entire class turned on me, demanding that I apologize to Eva.
Right at this moment, Snowie abruptly yelled, "Everyone, silence! I can hear her thoughts again."
"Ginny is saying, 'Why should I apologize to that disgusting fat pig? In her dreams! Who do they all think they are–the moral police? They're just spineless dimwits! As long as I don't admit to it, they can't do anything about it.'"
This infuriated the entire class.
"Ginny, how could you! We're just trying to stand up for Eva! Why did you insult all of us?"
Everyone glared at me.
"I didn't say any of that!" I tried to explain. "Snowie made it all up!"
No one bought what I said, so I turned to look at Mandy and said, "Mandy, don't you know what type of person I am? I really didn't say anything."
Mandy was just about to stand up for me when Snowie said, "Ginny just said, 'As long as that idiot Mandy believes me, no one else will suspect me.'"
Mandy's eyes reddened. "How could you say such horrible things? I know your family's situation isn't ideal. I always share my snacks and fruits with you. How could you think this of me?
"Consider me done with this friendship! Return all my snacks and fruits!"
I mumbled anxiously, "Mandy, please, you have to believe me."
Snowie said once more, "Now she's saying, 'Damn it! If Mandy doesn't believe me, where else am I going to find someone else to blame?'"
I boiled with rage, yelling, "Shut up! I've never thought that! You're just trying to stir stuff up!"
Snowie said with a sigh, "Since you don't believe me, let's do another experiment. I'll turn around. You can write whatever, and I'll know what you wrote."
I agreed, but also asked the entire class to turn their backs to me.
I wrote on a piece of paper and crumbled it in my fist. With her back still facing me, Snowie said, "You wrote, 'Man plans, and God Laughs.'"
I was secretly delighted by her mistake, but Snowie added, "But you deliberately wrote Nan instead of Man. If I hadn't heard your thoughts, I would've been duped."
I froze.
Snowie was right on point.
Eva walked over to me with reddened eyes and slapped my face. "Apologize to me at once!"
I bit my lip, saying nothing. Eva was about to hit me again when Snowie stopped her. "We're classmates. Let's just drop this. Now we know what kind of person she is, let's just stay away from her."
This firmly confirmed that I had insulted Eva.
Eva reluctantly lowered her hand and left. The others followed her, leaving me alone in the classroom.
I slumped to the floor, stumped and baffled. Why was Snowie doing this to me?
From that day onward, I was the most hated person in the entire class. Mandy had demanded that I return the things that she had given me. Then, she put in a request to move to a different dorm.
Soon, it was Ms. Honey's class. Halfway through, she brought up her husband and child.
Right at this moment, Snowie suddenly stood up. "Ginny, why did you say that Ms. Honey's class is pointless? You even called her husband and child a troll! Show some respect!"
Before I could say anything, the entire class told Ms. Honey how Snowie could hear my thoughts.
Ms. Honey's gaze darkened. "Ginny, how could you say that about me?"
I calmly said, "Ms. Honey, you're an educated person. Do you think there is such a thing as hearing someone else's thoughts?"
Ms. Honey said icily, "Why don't we do an experiment?" She flipped to a random page and got me to write down the first sentence.
[He who has a mind to beat his dog will easily find his stick.]
Hoping this time it might be different, I picked up my pen and wrote on a piece of paper.
Still, Snowie easily said what I wrote.
Ms. Honey slammed the table angrily. "I never pegged you to be this type of person, Ginny! I even nominated you as our star student!"
I froze. My face was as pale as a sheet. "I didn't do it, Ms. Honey."
Snowie interjected, "I can hear her thoughts again.
"Ginny said, 'If it weren't for that stupid scholarship, I can't be bothered with this old hag. Only she thinks her troll of a husband is handsome. How pathetic.'"
Through gritted teeth, Ms. Honey hissed, "Just you wait! As long as I'm alive, you'll never get your scholarship!"
I groaned and tried to defend myself, but Snowie said once more, "Ginny said, 'It doesn't matter if I don't have the scholarship. Luckily, I was smart enough to pretend to be poor to apply for financial aid. Once I have the money, I'll go and get the newest phone.'"
Snowie looked at me and said with surprise, "Ginny, the financial aid has a quota. How could you take away this aid from those who really need it, all just for a new phone?"
Ms. Honey looked murderous. Not only did she write me up for disciplinary action, but she even revoked my financial aid.
Without the financial aid, my life savings depleted quickly. I had no choice but to quit school and find a job.
Just when I was packing up, I suddenly thought of the three experiments that Snowie did to prove that she could hear my thoughts.
I thought about it over and over, finally realizing something was not right.
There was something that could prove my innocence!
I put my luggage down and turned to look for Ms. Honey. I asked for three days of absence from school to prove my suspicions.
…
Three days later, I had just stepped into class to see everyone looking at me loathingly.
At the front were the counselor and the college administrators, accompanied by several police officers.
One police officer walked up to me with a stern face. "You must be Ginny Sanders, right? Please come with us. You're under suspicion for the theft of confidential university documents."
I remained in the same spot. "What confidential documents? I don't understand."
Snowie walked over with a smile. "Don't play dumb. Those documents were the design blueprint for the latest security network. You stole it and sold it to a foreign nation.
"Ginny, what you did isn't just illegal. It's treason! You'd be despised by the entire nation and spat on for the rest of your life!"
I nodded. "Someone who committed such a crime should be despised and spat on by the nation. But when exactly were the documents stolen? What was the exact time? Where was it stolen?"
Snowie's gaze darkened. "Why are you asking so many questions? Are you just trying to stall the investigation and arrest?"
I ignored her and asked the police officer once more. "If you can't even answer such a simple question, how could you prove I stole them?"
The police officer cast Snowie a gaze. "Snowie told us. She heard your thoughts."
Snowie added, "You snuck into the labs to steal the designs on the third at 10 at night. An hour later, you passed it to the mole that was planted in our school."
I asked ambiguously, "Snowie, are you sure the time and place are correct?"
Snowie replied confidently, "I heard your thoughts. I'm definitely right."
The police officer retrieved a pair of handcuffs. "You heard her. Come with us right now."
I smiled and produced a document from my bag. A notice of release from criminal detention.
"On the third at eight in the evening, I was in Columbus City. I ate without paying, even injuring someone, so I was detained for 24 hours."