Gavin sighed. "If I won the lottery, I'd be out celebrating with my girlfriend!"
Yeah, right!
Typical! Leaving his friends in the dust for a girl!
The guys ignored him and went back to what they were doing.
"I'm serious, I need to say something!"
Gavin said, his tone turning somber.
"Go ahead, we're listening,"
the guy playing video games drawled lazily.
"So, I was out of town traveling for the past few days, but my account got hijacked."
"A freshman from my hometown got scammed. Someone used my profile to post a fake job, collected her deposit, and ghosted her."
"Did any of you see anyone messing with my laptop?"
"The girl's roommate had a friend in the police department track the IP address, and
it traced right back to this room."
"I'm completely screwed here."
"But I really was out of town, so I rushed back to ask if you guys noticed anything."
"If it's just a massive misunderstanding, they just need the money back."
"I'd understand if one of you was in a tight spot."
"But if nobody here touched my computer, I'll have to let them call the cops."
"I just hope this is a mistake, because if it blows up, it's going to ruin our reputations."
"We're students at The Cabinda University. If anyone gets a criminal record, their future is over."
Gavin laid it all out, appealing to both their emotions and their common sense.
The ball was in their court now.
He still wasn't entirely sure if one of them had actually done it.
He finished speaking and carefully watched their reactions.
"Damn, Gavin, you don't actually think one of us did it, do you?"
"I certainly didn't touch your crappy laptop!"
The first to speak up was Finley Ashford, a wealthy student who definitely wasn't strapped for cash.
There was zero chance he'd bother with Gavin's computer, let alone scam a freshman out of a few measly dollars.
"Quinton, didn't you use Gavin's laptop?"
Another roommate called out to the guy aggressively mashing his keyboard.
The gamer's name was Quinton Hayes.
"Hell no! I mean, I used it to check my stocks, but why would I use his account to scam people?"
Quinton's character died on screen, and he kicked his desk in frustration.
"Why didn't you just use your own laptop to check your stocks?"
Gavin stared at Quinton.
He had suspected Quinton from the start.
Quinton had recently complained about taking a massive hit in the stock market, losing his entire living allowance.
They were all finance majors, eager to make a quick buck trading.
But Quinton was the most obsessed-and by far the worst at it.
Yet he remained stubbornly convinced that the market would eventually make him rich.
His head was completely in the clouds.
He was a junior, but instead of hunting for an internship, he spent
dorm
his days cooped up in the don playing games or trading stocks.
Even Finley was better at it; when he traded, he actually turned a profit.
"I had a game running on mine, so I just borrowed yours for a second. What's the big deal?"
"Your beat-up laptop lags like crazy
anyway. You think I actually wanted to use it?" Quinton snapped,
sounding entirely too arrogant for someone who had just used another person's property without asking.
The other two roommates exchanged a look, both thinking Quinton was crossing a line.
"Quinton, you used Gavin's stuff without telling him. That's already messed up, so why are you acting so defensive?"
"Yeah, did you actually use his computer to steal that girl's.
Quinton a fazy, evaluating look."
Finley Ashford drawled set
"Scamming someone over pennies. Pathetic."
Finley had never liked Quinton. The guy was a slob, constantly smoked in the room, and had terrible habits.
He stayed up all night gaming and screamed at his screen when he was losing.
Finley honestly had no idea how someone like him had gotten into The Cabinda University.
If Quinton hadn't been a local, he probably never would have made the cut.