Karma for My Roommate

My roommate, Delilah, kept a vividly patterned pet snake in our dorm.

Out of kindness, I bought a terrarium and explained to her that many girls in the dorm were terrified of snakes. If it got out, it would scare people.

Instead, she lashed out, Ophelia! Can you not be so disgusting? This is a living creature, and you want to lock it in such a tiny box?

"It's just a pet snake; it won't bite anyone. Even if it did, it's just a small scratch, not poisonous. I don't know what you're so scared of."

In the middle of the night, her so-called pet snake slithered into the adjacent room and bit the girlfriend of a wealthy young man.

By the time we arrived, the girl had already passed out. Luckily, I managed to suck the venom from her arm, saving her life.

The incident sparked endless online condemnation. Delilah and two other roommates colluded, claiming I was the snake's owner.

The young man, consumed by rage, simply waved his hand, and my family was ruined.

When I woke up again, I was back to the moment Delilah brought the snake into the dorm.

I pulled out the glass terrarium I was holding, which Id repurposed into an aquarium teeming with Water bead figures. "Don't worry, this is just for my Water beads."

I pulled a package from under my desk and began to open it. Delilah, sitting nearby, immediately peered over. "Ophelia, what did you buy? It's so huge!"

That familiar tone, those exact words, brought a cynical smirk to my lips. Still as irritating as ever, I thought. Tearing open the box, I replied, "I saw someone online with Hello Kitty-shaped Water beads the other day and just loved them, so I bought a small glass cabinet to keep some."

Hearing this, Delilah visibly relaxed, patting her chest with a sigh of relief. "Oh, that. I thought you bought it specifically to lock up 'Noodle'."

Noodle, as in her pet snake, which was, in fact, highly venomous.

"Don't worry," I assured her, "this is just for my Water beads."

She seemed relieved but still looked unconvinced. She walked over, watching my movements closely. "Do Water beads need heating?"

Then, picking up the nearby shipping box in a huff, she demanded, "You're not lying to me, are you? You still want to lock up my Noodle?"

Lily, who was close with Delilah, poked her head around, looking suspicious. "Ophelia, you wouldn't actually try to lock Noodle up, would you?"

"Even though it's a snake, it's been in the dorm for half a month. You've seen it; it doesn't bite. Why are you still so fixated on this?"

Lily's challenge bolstered Delilahs confidence. She glared at me, demanding an explanation.

"Noodle isn't a caged animal by nature; it has a right to freedom! Don't you think what you're doing is disgusting, Ophelia?"

A right to freedom? Then why dont you release it into the wild? So ridiculous.

Though I scoffed inwardly, my face remained impassive. I swiftly picked up another package at my feet and opened it. Right in front of them, I poured water inside, then dumped a whole bag of Water beads in.

The already small glass cabinet was instantly packed. "See? It really is just for my Water beads. There's no room for Noodle, right?"

"Besides, it's such a gentle, adorable creature. I'd sooner lock myself in than lock it up, wouldn't I?"

Only then did the two back down. Delilah watched my every move as she returned to her spot.

It was tonight, in my previous life, that the snake had slithered into the adjacent room and bitten someone.

I carefully placed the glass cabinet, snapped a photo, and updated my status on various social media platforms, asking when my Hello Kitty Water beads would grow bigger. Content, I climbed into bed.

When we started freshman year, Delilah cultivated an image of an animal lover.

Initially, she and Lily, who also loved animals, would discuss them in the dorm.

I wasnt very interested and never joined in, which led them to label me as cold-hearted.

By sophomore year, our dorm was a constant chaos of stray cats Delilah brought back out of "kindness," dirty puppies leaping onto beds, leaving muddy paw prints.

There were even chirping sparrows, rescued and flying wildly around the dorm, leaving droppings everywhere.

She claimed she loved animals more than anything; they were so much easier than dealing with people.

Lily echoed her, saying she wished to be a carefree kitten in her next life, mentioning her own incredibly cute Ragdoll cat at home. They hit it off instantly.

In the second semester of sophomore year, Delilah mentioned her pet snake, and the two immediately agreed it was quiet, wouldn't attract the resident advisor, and wouldnt leave messes, making it easy to keep in the dorm.

I initially thought she was just bringing it to show us, figuring such a rare and valuable small snake wouldn't be easy to keep in a dorm, and shed take it away in a couple of days.

But the next day, Delilah brought frozen mice for the snake and even laid a pad by her bed to sleep with it.

Noodle seemed to become a permanent resident, always appearing in unexpected places around the dorm, startling us.

Delilah and Lily, however, didn't care. They constantly played with the little snake, even mocking our other roommate, Scarlett, who was so scared she barely came back to the dorm.

I spoke with Delilah once, suggesting she get a terrarium to keep Noodle contained, preventing harm and making Scarlett less afraid.

She immediately flipped out, yelling at me, calling me disgusting, heartless, someone who disliked animals, and a cold person. She spent days in the dorm, cradling Noodle, making snide remarks about me being unable to tolerate them.

Anyone who dared to say anything negative about Noodle would be met with a barrage, as if she wanted to dig up their ancestors to prove they were cold-blooded.

It wasn't until the snake started appearing everywhere near my bed, even on it, that I really started to worry.

I wanted to discuss buying a terrarium with her, at least to keep it somewhat managed.

Instead, I was met with Delilahs verbal abuse and ostracization. And because of that very terrarium, they later accused me of being the snake's owner.

This led to me suffering cyberbullying and being tormented half to death by that rich young man.

Not only was my good deed repaid with malice, but I was maliciously slandered, ultimately leading to a tragic end where my family was destroyed.

This time, I wasn't getting involved in their mess.

It was that very night, in my past life, that Lily, feeling hot, left the balcony door open. Delilahs snake slithered out and bit Anastasia, a beautiful girl in the adjacent room, who was on the phone with her wealthy boyfriend.

Anastasia's piercing scream echoed through the hall, and Delilah immediately realized her snake was gone.

The neighbors knocked on our door, asking if the snake had come from our room. Anastasia lay unconscious on the floor, her phone still buzzing with her worried boyfriend's calls.

Her roommates were frozen in shock.

Delilah was utterly terrified, muttering, "This can't be... Noodle is just a pet snake..."

Lily frowned deeply at the scene, while Scarlett shrieked and ran back into our room.

Anastasias arm was visibly bleeding black.

I rushed forward and used my mouth to suck the venom from Anastasias arm. The thick black blood made Delilahs eyes widen in horror.

Students from the neighboring rooms gathered, filming snippets on their phones. These videos were uploaded online, and rumors spread like wildfire.

Delilah was too scared to respond.

That night, our dorm was as silent as a tomb.

The snake was immediately killed by Anastasia's wealthy boyfriend when he arrived.

The next day after classes, the four of us were taken by the young man.

To my shock, all three of them stood united, and under their combined accusation, I was mistakenly identified as the snakes owner.

My explanations were weak and useless. The young man, furious, yelled at me:

"I'm not stupid! You were the only one who dared to suck the venom from Anastasia; if not you, then who else?"

"Still trying to argue! They all say it was you; are they all against you?"

"You hurt Anastasia; I'll make you pay!"

The young man locked me up, unleashing various snakes on me daily.

When I was finally released, barely clinging to life, I discovered that Delilah and the others had jointly reported me for keeping a snake in the dorm and harming someone. I received a disciplinary warning, and all my chances for academic honors were gone.

Online opinion, manipulated by Delilahs deliberate explanations and smears, turned entirely against me. I became the snake's owner, subjected to personal attacks and insults.

They even specifically posted photos of the terrarium I had bought, leaving me speechless, unable to explain, and with no one believing me.

My father lost his job at the young mans behest, my mother fell gravely ill with no money for medicine, and soon after, both passed away.

The pain and hatred from my previous life felt like a gaping, bleeding wound in my heart.

This time, I was prepared with recording and audio devices. We'd see how they tried to pin this on me now.

That evening, I was interacting with friends online when I suddenly heard a scream.

It was Anastasias voice.

Delilah, who was playing a game, jumped in fright and immediately cursed, "What's her problem, screaming so late at night? Does she really think she's a princess just because she snagged some rich guy?"

Then she shrieked, "Ah! Wheres my Noodle? Lily, is Noodle with you?"

Lily and Scarlett both said no. Delilah immediately called out to me, "Ophelia, did you take my Noodle?"

"No," I replied.

Just then, there was a frantic knocking at our dorm door. Delilah opened it to a neighbor, whose face was pale. "Is that snake from your room? Get over here, now!"

Delilah hadn't expected things to turn out this way.

Anastasia lay motionless on the ground, her brow furrowed, lips blackened.

And biting her arm, refusing to let go, was Delilahs Noodle.

"Call an ambulance, quickly!" I urged.

Delilahs face instantly went white; her feet seemed rooted to the spot.

Lily snapped out of it and pulled Delilah. "Delilah, grab the snake! It's your snake!"

Delilah glared at Lily, shaking her head in terror and backing away. "How could it bite someone? I don't know what to do!"

The wound was black, clearly indicating potent venom.

I stepped forward, grabbed the snake, and then sucked the venom from Anastasias arm.

Delilah claimed to be a kind-hearted girl who loved animals, insisting her Noodle was just a pet snake that couldn't possibly bite, and even if it did, it wouldn't be venomous.

But Anastasia's condition hardly looked like a non-venomous bite.

Soon, a commotion erupted outside the dorm. It was the young man.

He stormed into the room, first glancing at me, then swept Anastasia into his arms and left.

More and more students gathered, filming videos and posting them on various social media platforms. The dorm snake bite incident went viral overnight.

Students at our university were shocked, and the school administration was furious, vowing to severely punish the snake's owner.

Online, netizens were equally outraged:

"Keeping a snake in the dorm? Oh my god, how disgusting! Glad I never had roommates like that."

"Keeping a snake secretly is bad enough, but not keeping it contained, and it turns out to be venomous? Now what? Going to have to pay millions?"

"Just seeing a snake makes me scared. How could they bring it into the dorm? Aren't their roommates scared?"

A blizzard of insults and attacks flew online. Seeing the endless negative comments searching for the snake's owner, Delilah finally grew afraid.