2
I had just helped him recently, so he should know what kind of person I am. Even if someone had spread rumors, he probably wouldn’t believe them.
As it happened, the RA and I had checked almost every room, except for the very last one. I had given up hope by then and didn’t bother checking. Who would have thought Zack was in that final room?
I waited expectantly for Zack to
- od.
But to my surprise, as soon as he heard I wanted to be his roommate, his
Slon changed completely.
“No way. Our room is already full,” he said coldly. “They definitely won’t agree to room with you.”
Zack’s friendly smile vanished, replaced by a wary look.
“Zack, why? Why won’t you room with me?” I asked desperately. “You know I’m not a bad person!”
M
I grabbed Zack’s arm, no longer hoping to be his roommate. I just wanted to know the reason – I could change if I knew what was wrong.
what was wrong.
But he yanked his arm away forcefully.
“There’s no reason. We just don’t want to room with you.”
Feeling helpless, I could only turn to the internet for advice. Why wouldn’t a single classmate accept me as a roommate?
Helpful netizens quickly offered many possible explanations.
“Maybe someone said you have a contagious disease?”
I stared at this comment, suddenly enlightened.
Recently, many schools had announced they would be admitting some HIV–positive students. To prevent discrimination, they wouldn’t disclose who these students were.
Could it be that someone had spread a rumor implying I had a contagious disease?
I immediately made an appointment for a full medical checkup at the hospital. I got tested for every possible infectious disease.
After anxiously waiting a few days, the test results finally came back. They showed I was negative for everything – I had no infectious diseases at all.
Excitedly, I projected the results onto a big screen. To prevent anyone from suspecting I had photoshopped them, I even logged into the hospital system on the spot to show my electronic medical records again.
I thought this would clear up the misunderstanding and someone would finally accept me as a roommate.
But to my dismay, after asking every classmate, still not a single person was willing to room with me.
“Maybe they think you have mental health issues?” someone suggested when I posted about my situation online again.
Orice more, I went to the hospital and underwent a psychological evaluation.
The results showed my mental health was perfectly normal, with no issues whatsoever.
Again, I displayed the results to my classmates. I even got several of my childhood friends to record video testimonials, affirming that I was truly a good person with no problems.
Yet despite all this, still no one was willing to be my roommate. At the mere suggestion of me moving in, they would react with vehement refusal, saying they’d rather drop out.
At this point, even the internet commenters couldn’t come up with any more explanations. Some even started to suspect I was hiding part of the story.
The comment section went from actively trying to help solve the mystery to various taunts and mockery.
“This has to be clickbait. OP must be selling something.”
“Why only tell the parts that make you look good? How could everyone dislike you for no reason? You must be leaving something out.”
something out.”
“I’ll painlessly gain $100,000 the next time I see a post like this.”
My inbox was also flooded with insults. Feeling utterly defeated, I deleted the post.