The Shadow That Wants to Replace Me

"I curiously asked my roommate, "Why are you changing rooms? Aren't we all getting along well?" She let out a dry laugh, "Well... another room invited me..." As she said this, she kept her head down, her voice trembling, not daring to look at me. In contrast, when she talked to other roommates, her body language was noticeably more relaxed. My heart sank, "Did I do something wrong that made you uncomfortable living here?" "No! Not at all! How could that be!" My roommate frantically denied, "Don't overthink it, it has nothing to do with you, really!" 1 When Wendy Xavier, our room leader, learned that Lily Nova was moving out, she wanted to organize a farewell dinner for everyone. Lily kept waving her hands in refusal, "No need, no need, don't be so polite, it's not like we'll never see each other again." I felt uneasy and asked Lily, "Why are you changing rooms? Aren't we all getting along well?" Hearing my voice, Lily's body trembled imperceptibly. She let out a dry laugh, "Well... another room invited me..." She kept her head down, pretending to be busy, not looking up at me. In contrast, when she talked to others, her body language was noticeably more relaxed... My heart sank, "Lily, did I do something wrong that made you uncomfortable living here?" Lily suddenly raised her head, looking at me with near terror, shaking her head vigorously, "No, not at all, how could that be!" "Aria, don't overthink it, it has nothing to do with you." "Really!" Lily moved out hurriedly that day. Forget about the farewell dinner, she didn't even want to talk to us much. "Don't you think it's strange?" I asked, "Why does Lily seem so afraid of me?" My roommate Sage snapped, "Don't mind her, she's so ungrateful, not even willing to have a farewell dinner with us, making it seem like we bullied her or something." Wendy also looked annoyed, "It's my fault for taking the initiative, she didn't even say she wanted a farewell dinner, why did I have to bring it up, now everyone's awkward." "It's not your fault," Sage comforted her, "Lily's the only one in our room with a different schedule from the three of us." "We sleep at 9, she likes to stay up late." "When we're all asleep, she doesn't feel comfortable turning on the lights." "Other rooms all stay up late, so there's no early sleep issue." "It's better that she moved out, everyone will be more at ease." 2 As Sage said, after Lily moved out, our room's schedule became more harmonious. Basically, by 9 PM, when other rooms were still laughing and playing around, we had already cleaned up and were ready to turn off the lights and sleep. However, one day, Wendy suddenly asked me, "Aria, what time did you come back last night?" "Huh?" I was confused by her question, "Didn't I come back right after dinner?" Wendy said, "I mean when you left the room later." I was completely baffled, "Later? I didn't. I went to sleep right after showering...