The guy who assigned me to East House is still in the housing office. I march up to his desk and put my hands on my hips, hoping a power stance will give me some confidence. “You gave me a room that has someone living in it.”
The guy looks up from his computer and frowns at me like he has no idea who I am.
I exhale. “Aleeza Kassam. I was here this morning. You gave me a room in East House, but there’s a guy’s stuff in it. It’s against school policy to room me with a male student, isn’t it?”
The housing guy shakes his head. “No, that room is empty.” He does something on his computer, not even looking at me. “The previous resident isn’t coming back.”
“You should tell him that. He told me on ResConnect not to get too comfortable because he’s not supposed to have a roommate.”
The housing guy suddenly freezes. His face goes a little whiter than it already was. “What did you say?”
“He messaged me in ResConnect,” I say. “The residence app?” Considering this guy works at campus housing, he should know about ResConnect, shouldn’t he?
The guy still looks incredibly confused. “We’ve had this conversation before, haven’t we?”
“Yeah, earlier today when you assigned me the room. But you told me it was empty.”
“No, I mean about the room being taken.”
I raise a brow. “It’s Jay Hoque’s room. The guy in second year who went missing? He just messaged me on ResConnect.”
The housing guy shakes his head. “He’s not returning to the school. This morning the registrar informed us that he’s been unenrolled. That’s why the room was available today. Maybe ResConnect hasn’t updated your room assignment, and it was your former roommate messaging you. Let me check the system.”
I wait for him to do his thing, but I know he’s wrong. It wasn’t Mia. The message clearly said it was from someone named Jay. After a few seconds, he looks up at me. “The system’s fine. You are the only assigned resident to East House 225. Could’ve been a glitch—a leftover message from when he was in the room.”
I pull out my phone and open the app. “I’ll show you.” When the chat opens, it’s empty. No messages at all. Definitely not one from Jay Hoque. I frown. “I swear, the message was here.”
“You’re a first-year student, right?” the housing guy asks.
I nod.
“Moving away from home can be a challenging transition, and—”
“What does that have to do with the message on ResConnect?”
“You’ve had some recent interpersonal struggles too. Plus, talk of the missing student has affected many on campus.”
I raise a brow, incredulous. “You think I’m making this up?”
His expression doesn’t change. “The university has resources you can take advantage of. Individual counseling, plus support groups. I urge you to connect with the student life—”
“I’m not delusional. Iswearthere was a message from Jay here.”
The guy shakes his head and points to his screen. “Jay Hoque hasn’t been seen in months. I apologize for his things being left in the room. His mother hasn’t returned calls to pick it up. But it’s not possible that he messaged you in the app. Even if he’s back, no one else is assigned to room 225 in the system, so no one can message you on ResConnect. The room-chat function only allows people assigned to the same room to communicate.” He turns his monitor so I can see the room 225 information on his screen. “See? You’re the only one in the room. It’s a single room. Eliza Kassam.”
I roll my eyes. “It’s pronounced A-lee-za. Just like it’s spelled.” He doesn’t say anything to that. “If it’s a single room,” I ask, “why are there two beds and two dressers?”
He turns his screen back to face him. “It used to be a double, but a few rooms in East House were redesignated as singles in Septemberdue to their size. If you want, I can have operations remove the extra furniture. Most students opt to keep it for storage.”
This is ridiculous. Isawthat message. But the housing guy is right about one thing ... Iamstressed. The whole Mia situation could be messing me up more than I realize.
“What do I do with his things?” I ask. “Can’t someone come get it?”
He shrugs. “I’ll put in a call, but campus security is a little short-staffed right now. Maybe you can box up his personal effects until we reach the next of kin?”
Personal effects. Next of kin. Just like Mia, the school is assuming the guy is dead. His poor mother.
“This can’t be the only empty room in the whole school, can it? I don’t mind a roommate. As long as it’s a ... you know. Girl.”
