When I started college, my new roommate secretly used my phone to take a selfie.

She sent it to the guy I was in an online relationship with and added the caption:

[Baby, do you think I'm beautiful?]

My boyfriend replied with a giant question mark, followed by a voice message full of curses.

"Just thinking about dating someone with that face makes me want to puke!"

"Let's break up, you ugly freak. Stay far away from me!"

By the time I got out of the shower and tried to explain, I realized he had already blocked me.

My roommate, holding her own phone, smugly told me, "The streamer I've had my eye on just added me. He says he wants to start an online relationship."

When I looked at the account, I saw it was none other than my ex-boyfriend.

After my shower, I grabbed my phone from the desk.

I turned it on, and my heart soon sank. My online boyfriend had sent a bunch of angry texts and was saying he wanted to break up.

Scrolling up, I saw the reason: a photo of my roommate, Sadie Ferguson. It was a disaster.

Her face was shiny with grease, and her forehead was a constellation of bright pimples.

Her smile showed off yellow teeth with a hint of a chili pepper stuck between them.

I almost dropped my phone, feeling sick to my stomach.

I tried to explain it was not me, but he had already blocked me.

Fuming, I turned to Sadie and demanded, "Why did you use my phone without asking?

"And who gave you permission to send that awful photo?"

Sadie just rolled her eyes and snapped, "As if your plain face could keep a guy's attention. I did you a favor by using my photo, and you don't even appreciate it!"

I was at a loss for words. My face might have been plain, but I had been listed among the top ten prettiest girls in middle school on a popular review site before.

Sadie had not always been this crazy. Ever since she started streaming to please her oddball viewers, she had been changing her appearance to look more and more outrageous.

They all praised her, calling her a beauty in her streams.

I needed to figure out how to explain this mess to my boyfriend.

Our relationship might have started online, but I knew who he really was.

His name was Carl Smith, and he was a junior at Future Tech University next door. He was a total heartthrob.

He was a music streamer on a popular platform, and his singing was amazing.

I moved to this city for him. After I shared a song online, he reached out to me.

He liked my voice, and we ended up talking all night. When he found out I was at a nearby college, we made it official the next day.

I had planned to surprise him at this month's university music festival.

However, he had just blocked and dumped me.

I was feeling pretty low when Sadie suddenly jumped up with a huge smile.

"My favorite singer just followed me back! He wants me to be his girlfriend!"

I peeked over, curious. Was that not the same guy who had just broken up with me?

Sadie's singing page did not have a profile picture to accompany her few songs. Her voice was sweet and cute, unlike my cool, calm voice.

Carl had just dumped me and was already looking for someone else? The surprise nearly knocked me off my feet.

Carl sure was lucky, finding the real person behind the picture.

Sadie took off her clothes, her body jiggling all over.

I thought she was off to shower, but she slipped into pajamas and headed out of the dorm.

She hid her underwear under her pillow. I was totally taken aback!

I knew she was about to sing in the hallway with that high-pitched voice of hers.

When Sadie got back, she asked Carl in a super sweet voice: "Did you like my singing just now?"

Out of breath, Carl said: "Sadie, your voice is so sweet. It's got this special pull on me.

"I'm gonna use your voice to help me fall asleep."

Then, I heard a groan from his end.

My ears felt like they were under attack!

They said goodbye on the phone, not wanting to hang up.

She sighed.

"Too bad Carl doesn't know I'm a huge online star.

"I'll surprise him at the music festival!"

I could not wait to see Carl's face when he found out.

Sadie started her live stream late at night.

It was just my luck that I was putting on a face mask when I stumbled upon her stream.

She was all dressed up in black, her body wrapped up like stacked layers of a swim ring.

Her cleavage was deep, but her skin was not looking too great.

I could not remember when she last showered.

Sadie wiggled around, using her sister's voice-changing gadget.

"Hey, everyone. It's super hot today.

"Even though it's boiling, I'm still here today to stream for you.

"You've got to send me lots of gifts if you want to see the show."

The chat was buzzing with so many people that people outside our dorm could probably tell what was going on.

Someone with a cartoon profile picture said: [The streamer's only six miles from me!]

[I'll take a screenshot and ask if anyone knows her.]

I checked the profile, and it had Carl's college in the bio.

Feeling grossed out by Sadie's stream, I closed it and decided to listen to some tunes.

Right away, I saw something new.

Two pictures from Sadie's stream.

The text said: [She's like the girl next door, and she's pretty fun to watch. By the address, I bet she's from the music college next door.]

[She might even be at the music fest!]

Carl gave a thumbs-up and commented, thinking Sadie was me.

[Don't let this ugly girl fool you. Sadie fans, she's got a music account too!]

The comments were mean: [That overweight girl is so gross.]

[I can't even look at her without feeling sick.]

[Good to know.]

Carl messaged me.

[Don't show up at the music fest or else…]

I unfollowed him and blocked him.

I smirked as I watched Sadie from under the bed, trying to win over her viewers.

She was still caught up in the live stream fun.

Anyone who called her gross or ugly got blocked and booted by the chat moderator.

Sadie saw herself as a unique beauty.

Then, a guy in the chat gave her a challenge.

[Sadie, honey, if you act like a bear crawling, I'll send you five gifts.]

Her eyes sparkled, and she started right away.

When she got down, her large behind stretched her black tights to the limit. They were translucent enough to see her two dark tattooed spots.

After crawling around the dorm all day, she was out of breath.

She had really impressed her top fan.

He promised her a big reward.

[Starting tomorrow, I'll tune into your live stream every day at ten, and you'll entertain me with a performance.]

Sadie nodded, her smile wide as she waved goodbye to her top fan and signed off.

Tonight, she had earned a ton.

Sadie boasted, "I'm not like some people who still need their parents to send them money for college.

"I'm gorgeous and hardworking!"

I just had to ask.

"Do you actually think you're that pretty?"

Sadie let out a cold laugh and said with a sneer.

"Are you suggesting that a twig like you is the definition of beauty? You're not even a real woman."

She patted her chest.

"See, I don't even have to try to show off my great figure.

"All those guys are totally charmed by me. Why else would they hang out in my live stream every single night?"

Her words left me speechless.

I quickly closed my eyes to sleep, hoping I would not have nightmares.

The next morning, I rushed to make it to my eight o'clock class.

The next morning, I was in a hurry to get to my 8 AM class.

Sadie was still lying in bed, sprawled out.

I paused for a second but decided to remind her.

"You've got class this morning. You'd better get up."

Sadie tossed in bed, releasing a weird smell as she did.

With her back to me and a tone full of annoyance, she said, "Just tell them I'm sick and get me an excuse."

I checked the time and left her be.

She hardly went to any classes this semester.

When I arrived at the classroom, my friend Mabel Chapman asked me.

"Summer, are you going to the music festival? I heard there are lots of cute guys from Future Tech University going."

I nodded, not interested in the guys. I just loved singing as an art form.

I would not miss a chance to perform.

Mabel asked, "Did you pick a song yet?"

Thinking about the few I had in mind, I replied, "I'll decide a bit later."

The song I had picked out to confess my feelings to Carl just did not fit me anymore. I had to find a new one.

I logged on to choose another song.

My account was flooded with over a hundred messages.

Among them was a message from a stranger's account.

[Seriously, ugly girl, you blocked me?]

[Just wait. I'll show everyone your account, and you won't be welcome in the music world anymore!]

It was Carl's secret account.

I looked through my old songs, and the comments were overwhelming.

[An ugly girl with no love life shouldn't be daydreaming with music.]

[You're always trying to get attention with your voice. Isn't that gross?]

[I thought a voice like that would belong to a gorgeous girl, but it's just a loud, obnoxious person. It makes me sick.]

I unblocked Carl.

I saw his latest posts.

[Here's the account of the ugly girl from yesterday. She's been sending me pictures, trying to bother me. Everyone, watch out!]

[She's from the music academy. If she shows up at the music festival, we've got to teach her a lesson.]

Carl was too embarrassed to admit we had had an online fling, so he claimed I was bothering him.

His mindless followers invaded my comments.

I tried to explain that Carl was mistaken, but they would not listen.

[Don't make my friend sick, okay?]

[Just get lost!]

More and more people were telling me to stay away from the music festival, or I would be sorry.

I was so mad I deleted the app.

After a long day of studying, I went back to my dorm to relax.

I opened the door and was hit by a terrible stink.

Trash was everywhere, and I could not even find a place to step that was uncovered.

I looked up and was shocked.

Sadie was sitting at her desk without any clothes on, doing her makeup.

I was so angry, I just blurted out. "Why aren't you dressed? And why is this takeout trash all over the place?

"Can't you clean up?"

Sadie scowled and snapped back.

"Why are you yelling? I'll take care of it later."

Her phone was on speaker, and Carl's voice came through. "Sadie, who's that? I know that voice."

Sadie quickly spilled her troubles. "It's my roommate Summer. She started picking on me the moment she got back."

Carl sounded confused. "Summer? Summer?"

Sadie, getting mad, banged on the table.

"Why are you speaking about some girl you don't know like she's a close friend?"

Carl rushed to explain.

"No, Sadie. I heard from my roommate about an ugly girl at your school named Summer.

"I've seen her pictures, and she's really not pretty!

"If it's really her, then she's not just unattractive but mean too. You should stay away from her."

Sadie finally relaxed.

"So, you think my roommate is pretty unattractive? Everyone knows that."

Carl let out a creepy chuckle.

"Sadie, that not-so-pretty girl told me you're not wearing clothes on this call.

"Do you think she feels bad about herself when she sees how pretty you are and gets jealous?"

Sadie was not bothered.

"She's probably feeling pretty bad about herself.

"If she's jealous of me, there's nothing I can do."

Carl's voice shook.

"Sadie, could you send me a picture of yourself right now?"

Sadie giggled, a bit embarrassed.

"You're such a tease, always thinking about things like that.

"Don't worry, I've got a huge surprise for you at the music festival."

Carl seemed a little let down.

"Okay, but I can picture how amazing you look from just hearing your voice, Sadie. It's really... hard to resist."

There was a sound of tissues being shuffled on the other end.

I was speechless. Had it even been three minutes?

I could not stand the mess, so I had already tidied up by the time she hung up.

Sadie gave me a look.

"It's not like I wasn't going to clean. You just didn't wait for me."

I just gave her a cold snort.

"I saved the mopping just for you."

She scrunched up her face and whispered to herself, "What's the big deal?"

I made her clean up.

"If you don't mop, I'll tell the counselor you lied about being sick to get out of school!"

She stamped her feet, really mad.

I saw Sadie grab the water basin from the floor to pour on the mop, so I quickly stopped her.

"What's in that water?"

Sadie answered.

"It's the water I used to wash my cute, soft little feet, of course."