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“Even though none of that was true?” Hannah reminded her.
“So you say!" Bellamy shot back acidly, and for the first time, Hannah could see where the venom to commit this act had come from.
“Keep going,” she replied as calmly as she could, realizing it was a tactical mistake to interrupt someone who was confessing.
"I saw the pain he was in, so I looked up the person who had done that to him," Bellamy explained. "I saw that she was coming to school here. I had gotten in, too. My parents really did want me to go somewhere different from what I was used to, so I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone by making them happy and punishing her for her betrayal.”
Hannah fought the intense desire to slap the girl across the face. Instead, she focused on getting information.
“But like you said, this is a huge school,” she said, confused. “How did you manage to become her roommate?”
“That was easy,” Bellamy told her with a tone of pride that was sickening. “I studied all I could about her online, then when it came to finding roommate matches, I did what I’m sure you did too.”
“I don’t know what that was,” Hannah said. “I was a little busy when roommate matching was being done and I was assigned one randomly.”
She didn’t mention that “a little busy” meant dealing with a crazy woman who had kidnapped her sister on her wedding night. It also meant subsequently nearly getting murdered by a hitwoman.
"Oh," Bellamy said, surprised that anyone would leave the process to chance. "Well, most incoming freshman were in a Facebook group where you could list your interests and find others who might be a fit. I made sure to match all of Lizzie's interests, from music to movies to sleep schedule and study habits. The algorithm gave us a 97% match. Then, when we talked on the phone, I did everything I could to win her over. It worked. She loved me. So we decided to pair up.”
“And she had no idea that you were related to Daniel?”
“None,” Bellamy said, clearly impressed with herself. “And once we were here, I waited a while before doing anything so that she would trust me. Then, when all this stuff started happening, it never occurred to her to look at her roommate, who seemed like a random but happy match.”
“Well, that’s very impressive, Bellamy,” Hannah told her, not lying though she couldn’t hide her disdain.
Bellamy picked up on it, and her face dropped.
“You promised you wouldn’t say anything,” she said.
Hannah reached into her pocket and turned off her phone before replying.
“And I’ll keep that promise,” she assured Bellamy. “Even though you are a truly awful human being, I won’t share what I know with the powers that be. You’ll be free to re-start your academic life elsewhere. I just want Lizzie to be happy.”
That last part was completely true. But the first part, maybe not so much. Hannah had decided that she would keep her word and not share anything she’d learned with the UC Irvine administration or with Lizzie.
But that didn’t mean she’d stay completely silent. Bellamy Betancourt was clearly ill. Anyone who would select her college just so she could insinuate herself into someone’s life and then terrorize her was a long-term threat to others. What was to stop her from doing something similar if she fixated on someone new?
No, Bellamy had to be dealt with. So, at some point, her new school would learn about what she'd done here. So would Bellamy's parents. They needed to know the truth if they were going to understand who their daughter was and find her help. Maybe they would all get a copy of the voice memo—edited to protect Hannah's identity, of course—that she'd secretly recorded. That would depend on how much of a fuss Bellamy put up.
It wasn’t the same as the justice she was tempted to dole out. That crucifix on the wall, gleaming brightly, was almost calling out to be weaponized, to be bloodied. But that was an itch that Hannah would have to leave unscratched.
Just then, Lizzie walked into the dorm room. She looked surprised to find Hannah there.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“Oh, we were just chatting, getting to know each other better, isn’t that right Bellamy?” Hannah said.
“Uh-huh,” Bellamy agreed.
“Oh, that’s cool,” Lizzie said, satisfied,
“What are you doing back already?” Hannah asked. “I thought you had class until 12:30.”
“The professor let us out early for the holiday,” Lizzie said happily. “That was my last class before break so I’m officially free!”
“That’s awesome,” Hannah said. “We should have a celebratory lunch.”
“I love that idea,” Lizzie said, looking as upbeat as Hannah had seen her in weeks. “You up for it, Bellamy?”
