Online Love Gone Real: All Three of His Roommates Called Me Baby

Move-in day. Hugh Matthews, the guy I'd been dating online for three months, came to meet me at the station.

Three roommates trailed behind him.

The first one took my bags.

Jess, is your grandmother out of the hospital?

The second handed me a bottle of room-temperature water.

You get carsick. Don't gulp anything cold.

The third one looked me in the eyes and smiled.

"First time away from home, crying till two in the morning last night. Can't tell today, though."

I'd only ever told Hugh those things.

I stopped walking.

"How do you all know that?"

Hugh slung an arm around his roommate's shoulder.

"We're close. I don't hide our chats from them."

The third guy blurted out,

"Hugh went to sleep at eleven last night. After that it was obviously me who"

Hugh shoved him hard.

"You've had too much. Shut up."

The whole group cracked up.

I took out my phone and pulled up the messages.

After eleven, Hugh hadn't sent a single voice note.

But that account had stayed with me until two in the morning.

Calling me baby, over and over.

I looked up at Hugh.

"After you fell asleep, who was on your phone keeping me company?"

...

The smile faded off his face.

Horace Donaldson rubbed his nose.

"I was just talking. Didn't mean anything."

"Who was it last night?"

Nobody answered.

Bernard Fox, standing at the back, dropped his head.

Hugh grabbed my hand.

"Jessica, you just got here. Don't make a scene at the station."

I pulled my hand back.

"I ask one question and that's making a scene?"

His face went dark.

"I was too tired last night. Bernard saw you crying and typed a few things back for me."

"He just didn't want you to feel bad."

Bernard nodded.

"Just a few lines. Nothing else."

I scrolled through the messages.

After eleven, that person had talked with me for three hours.

Asked about my grandmother, coaxed me to sleep, said once the term started he'd never leave me on my own again.

A few lines?

I held the phone out to him.

"Which lines did you type?"

Bernard didn't take it.

Horace laughed.

"His wife, come on, we all share a dorm. Does it matter who typed it?"

"Hugh calls you baby all day long. Our ears have gone numb from hearing it."

Bob Norris joined in.

"Relax, we're not laughing at you."

My stomach twisted.

Over three months I'd told him how scared I was checking my SAT scores, how helpless I felt when my grandmother was in the hospital, how much I couldn't stand leaving my parents the first time.

I thought Hugh was the only one who knew.

But they knew everything, right down to what time I'd stopped crying.

"Those were things I said to my boyfriend."

"Not entertainment for your dorm."

The laughing stopped.

Hugh shoved my bags into the trunk.

"Fine. From now on they don't touch it. Today's your move-in day. Don't get worked up over something this small."

I stood where I was.

He turned and looked at me.

"Weren't you the one who couldn't wait to see me?"

People were coming and going all around us.

Pushing it further would only draw a bigger crowd.

I got into the car.

The whole ride, Bob held up his phone, the lens swinging onto my face more than once.

I put a hand up.

"Don't film me."

Hugh laughed.

"Bob runs a campus account. He's just recording the welcome for new students."

"If you don't want your face in it, he'll blur it later."

At the school, a few students recognized Hugh.

"Hugh, new girlfriend?"

He pulled me in by the shoulder.

"Three months online. Met in person for the first time today."

Someone beside us instantly raised a phone.

I pulled away from him.

"I'm going to check in first."

Bob followed me all the way to the registration desk.

"Hey, freshman, did you apply to our school just for Hugh?"

"No."

I handed my acceptance letter to the staff member.

"This was my first choice before I ever met him."

Bob lowered the phone.

"That part's no good. Say it again."

I looked at him.

"What do you mean, no good?"

Hugh tugged at Bob.

"She just got here, she's shy. Quit teasing her."

He said it like he was rescuing me.

Everyone around us laughed anyway.

I finished the paperwork and went to the dorm alone.

My new roommate, Jemima Hughes, was making her bed.

When she saw me, she froze for a couple of seconds.

"You're Jessica Henson?"

"Yeah."

She picked up her phone.

"The campus gossip page just posted a video. That's you in it, right?"

I took the phone.

Small-town freshman crosses the miles just to meet her campus heartthrob in person.

In the video, Hugh wheeled my bags for me while three roommates crowded around me, grinning.

My line, "This was my first choice all along," had been cut clean out.

Bob had promised to blur my face.

Instead it was on full display from start to finish.

The comments were already in the hundreds.

Chasing a guy the second she moves in. Total love-brain.

Hugh sure goes through girlfriends fast.

She looks so meek, but she's got some nerve.

I gripped the phone and opened the second half.

The screen suddenly went black.

My crying came through it.

"Hugh, my grandmother's still in surgery."

"I'm really scared. Can you stay with me?"

That was a call from a month ago.

I'd never agreed to let him record it.

At the end, four phones appeared on screen.

On every one of them was that line I'd sent:

Baby, good night.

A line of text had been added below:

The same sweet nothing. Why is it sitting in four different guys' phones?

The comment section turned in an instant.

Two-timing four guys at once?

Worked her way through the whole dorm. Talk about knowing how to play.

Looks so innocent, but she's this wild behind closed doors.

I opened the comments.

All four phones had chat logs. How many guys was she actually seeing?

School barely started and we've already got a queen of multitasking.

Anyone who knows her, drop a warning so the rest of us can steer clear.

Below that, someone posted my major and my name.

Another reply came fast:

Jessica Henson, computer science. The one on the freshman rep list.

Jemima took her phone back.

Did you really talk to all four of them?

I only added one person. Hugh.

Then what's with the four phones?

I didn't have an answer.

The dorm door pushed open.

The other two roommates came in, dragging their luggage.

One of them recognized me and stopped in her tracks.

You're the girl from the gossip page?

She looked at me, then at her own bed.

The video says you were dating four guys at the same time. Is that true?

Jemima frowned.

Nobody's figured it out yet, so don't go asking.

The girl said nothing more. She just tucked the family photo on her desk into a drawer.

Quick about it.

Like she was guarding against me.

I took my phone downstairs.

Hugh had finally replied.

Activity room. Come talk.

When I pushed the door open, all four of them were there.

The screen on the wall showed the video's stats.

The view count had already passed a hundred thousand.

Horace watched the number climb.

At this rate it'll break two hundred thousand by tonight.

Bob was cutting the second video.

The frames were all my chat logs.

I rushed over and shut off the screen.

Delete the video.

Horace looked annoyed.

I spent all night editing it, and you just want me to delete it?

Who told you to edit anything?

Bob leaned back in his chair.

Jessica, you agreed to this yourself.

He pulled up a screenshot.

Hugh had asked:

From now on, let's record our couple moments, okay?

I'd answered:

Sure, as long as my face doesn't show and no one can recognize me.

The screenshot kept only the first half of what I'd said.

Where's the rest of that sentence?

Bob laughed once.

You already agreed, didn't you?

What I agreed to was not showing my face.

I pointed at the screen.

You put up my face, my name, my major, and the recording from when my grandmother had surgery.

That part isn't couple content. It's my private life.

Horace spread his hands.

It's not like we posted anything shameful.

Crying a couple of times counts as private now?

I turned to look at Hugh.

Is that what you think too?

He was quiet for a few seconds, then pulled out a chair.

Jessica, sit down and talk.

I'm not sitting.

Delete the video.

Hugh's face darkened.

The first one already blew up. If we delete it now, everyone's going to think you've got something to hide.

We wait for the second one to go out, explain everything clearly, and it's fine. Right?

Explain it how?

Bob turned the caption toward me.

The four phones were just for show.

Jessica Henson took part in the meet-up challenge willingly.

All the chats were planned out by both sides together.

I finished reading, and my fingers went cold.

You want me to admit this was all staged?

Hugh stood up.

It's just a different way of putting it.

The account signed a sponsorship. The videos have to run to the end.

You cooperate a little, and everyone gets a way out.

I stared at him.

So first you ruin my reputation, and then you hand me a clarification like it's a favor?

Bernard looked up.

Why don't we just hide the first one for now.

Bob shot back at once:

Hiding it counts as breaking the sponsorship deal. You going to pay them back?

Bernard shut his mouth.

Hugh stepped up in front of me.

Don't you like me?

Once we finish this series, I'll officially announce that you're my girlfriend.

I couldn't manage a smile.

And if I don't film it?

Horace waved his phone.

Then the second one gets cut from the footage we already have.

On the screen, the four phones appeared one after another.

Every one of them had my profile picture and my chat logs.

Then I finally saw it.

It wasn't four accounts.

It was one account, logged into four separate phones.

You've all been logging into Hugh's account?

No one answered.

My phone rang.

It was my counselor.

Jessica, what's going on with this video online?

The school had you slated to speak at the freshman assembly, and now people keep filing reports in the comments.

Come to my office first thing tomorrow with the chat logs.

The call ended.

Hugh looked at me.

See? It's blown up now, hasn't it?

We're the only ones who can help you clear it up now.

I gripped my phone tight.

The gossip page had posted another teaser image.

A chart that started back in summer break.

Monday: Hugh

Tuesday: Bernard

Wednesday: Horace

Thursday: Bob

The image had just one line for a title:

Freshman rep Jessica Henson's duty roster of four boyfriends.

That duty roster went around the whole freshman group chat.

Someone had lined up my photo next to the four of them.

Monday, Hugh. Tuesday, Bernard. Wednesday, Horace. Thursday, Bob.

Weekends off. Even a master of time management needs a break.

Underneath, nothing but laughter.

The nastiest comment got pushed to the very top.

A whole dorm taking turns dating her. Who knows if they're taking turns with more.

I reported one, and a new picture popped up.

On my way to the counselor's office, two guys came at me head-on.

One of them asked, loud enough on purpose,

"Jessica, can I book Fridays?"

The other laughed so hard he could barely stand.

I gripped my papers and walked past them.

The voices behind me got louder.

"What's the act for. You sounded pretty into it in that video."

I pushed open the office door.

The counselor had already seen the video.

"Did you bring the original records?"

I handed over my phone.

"From start to finish, I only ever added one account. Hugh's."

She scrolled back for a long time.

Every message came from the same person.

No Horace.

No Bernard.

And definitely no Bob.

The counselor frowned.

"Then why do all four phones have records?"

"They were logged into Hugh's account."

"Do you have proof?"

I opened my mouth.

I didn't.

All I could prove right now was that four phones had, in fact, been logged into that one account.

As for who set it up, Hugh and the others could just say it was me.

The counselor saved the material.

"The school will contact the account holder."

"But they submitted a statement saying this was a welcome video the whole group planned together."

"And you did agree to record your daily life as a couple."

"I never agreed to show my face," I said quickly. "And I sure as hell never agreed to them spreading lies about me."

"I know."

She pushed a cup of water toward me.

"That's why it has to be verified."

"The freshman assembly is the day after tomorrow. Until this is sorted out, we're giving the speech slot to the backup student."

My fingers went stiff.

I'd rewritten that speech more than a dozen times.

When my high school teacher heard about it, she'd called just to congratulate me.

Now, before I'd even sat through my first college class, I was already the joke of the whole campus.

I'd barely stepped out of the office when my phone rang.

My mom's voice was shaking.

"Jessica, is what they're saying online true?"

My throat tightened.

"No. I only ever dated one person. Hugh."

"Then what's this about four phones?"

Even my mom asked the same question.

I leaned against the wall.

"They used one account and took turns tricking me."

The other end went quiet for a long time.

My dad still hadn't said a word.

My mom lowered her voice.

"Someone at your dad's work sent him the video."

"He just got into a fight with a guy over it."

I heard my dad in the background.

"Tell her to come home."

"Classes haven't started yet. Come back and lie low for a few days."

I bit down on my lip.

"I didn't do anything wrong. Why should I hide?"

My dad didn't say anything else.

The call ended.

The campus gossip page put out a second video.

This time there were no images.

Just my voice.

"Hugh, Bernard, Horace, Bob"

Two seconds' pause, then another line,

"I like all of them."

The two lines ran together smoothly.

But the first one was me asking Hugh who was coming to the dorm's group dinner.

The second was him telling me to pick one gift out of four acceptance presents.

What I actually said was,

"Anything you give me, I'll like."

Bob had cut out everything in between.

The video title read,

Jessica Henson admits it herself: I like all four of them.

The comment section completely blew up.

Caught red-handed and still won't drop the act.

Do her parents know she plays around like this at school?

And someone like this gets to be freshman representative?

My DMs kept popping up.

Some people asked my price.

Some sent photos.

One asked me straight out,

How many can you fit in a night?

Jemima grabbed my phone and shut off the messages for me.

"Stop looking."

I sat in the chair, my hands shaking without stop.

She picked up the chat logs I'd printed out.

After a while, she suddenly asked,

"Jessica, did you ever notice that Hugh's typing habits change every other day?"

I looked up.

On Mondays, he liked to use periods.

On Tuesdays, he never used any punctuation.

On Wednesdays, he always called me Jess.

On Thursdays, he'd write grandma when he meant grandmother.

Those days lined up exactly with the roster.

I thought of the digital relationship scrapbook Hugh had given me.

He'd said he wanted to save every single day, from the day we met to the day we finally met in person.

The link was still in the chat logs.

I opened it again.

The main content had already been deleted.

But the version history was still there.

I scrolled back.

The deleted spreadsheets appeared one by one.

The earliest one was called,

Summer Online Romance Project Handoff Sheet.

The first row read,

June 10, Bernard.

Task: Keep her company while she waits for her acceptance results. Get her dependent on the account.

I opened the version history.

The second row was Horace.

Task: help her look into her major, get her family situation out of her.

The third row was Bob.

Task: build up the flirting, get her to bring up meeting in person herself.

The fourth row was Hugh.

Task: send voice messages on a set schedule, take the video calls, hold down the boyfriend role.

After that came an emotion-tracking sheet.

First time she calls me babe: ten points.

Says she misses me on her own: twenty points.

Cries and begs me to stay with her: thirty points.

Agrees to come to campus and meet in person: fifty points.

I read down it row by row.

The night Grandma went into surgery, the one on duty was Bernard.

The night I got my acceptance results, the one on duty was Horace.

The first time I lied to my parents because of Hugh, saying I was on the phone with a classmate, the one keeping me company that day was Bob.

Only the video and voice calls were Hugh's job.

No wonder every time I asked to video, he'd say he was out.

He'd only suddenly agree once he was back in the dorm.

Jemima leaned in.

"These people are insane, right?"

I didn't say anything.

For three months I'd thought Hugh was getting to know me, a little at a time.

It turned out they'd been writing my habits, my family, my moods into a table and handing them off to the next person.

I kept scrolling.

The last page was the filming plan.

Episode one: the in-person meeting, four phones to build the suspense.

Episode two: release the chat screenshots, steer viewers toward guessing the girl was dating four guys at once.

Episode three: reveal the duty-rotation truth, film the girl's breakdown reaction.

The longer the girl cries, the better the video performs.

At the very bottom it said:

Promotion earnings split four ways.

Jemima swore.

"Save it right now."

I recorded every page, then downloaded each version in the history.

The file creator was Bob.

The earliest creation time was seven days before Hugh confessed to me.

Four editors' names, every one of them there.

I sent the material to my counselor.

The message had barely gone through when Hugh called.

"Come to the activity room."

"No."

"The campus page is already live."

He lowered his voice.

"There are tens of thousands of people waiting for you to explain right now."

"You don't show up, they'll just decide you're admitting you dated all four."

"You don't care about your reputation anymore?"

I opened the campus page.

Hugh was sitting in front of the camera.

A statement lay on the table.

"Jessica's probably on camera for the first time, and the pressure's too much for her."

"We've already worked it out. As long as she admits both sides planned this together, the misunderstanding is over."

Horace laughed beside him.

"Don't roast the freshman, everyone. She just got too into it."

The comments were all pushing for me to appear.

Didn't she say she was the victim? Where's the proof?

All she can do is hide in the back playing pitiful.

Brave enough to date four, not brave enough to come explain?

I picked up my laptop.

"Jemima, come with me."

The hallway outside the activity room was packed.

Someone saw me and instantly raised a phone.

"The time-management master is here."

"All four boyfriends are here. Who are you picking tonight?"

I pushed the door open.

Hugh stood up and reached for me.

"Sit down first."

I stepped around his hand and set the laptop on the table.

Bob killed the screen share.

"This is our account's livestream. Don't go putting your stuff up."

I looked at the camera.

"Didn't you want to hear me explain?"

The livestream went quiet for a few seconds.

Hugh slid the statement over.

"Read it out."

It said:

I, Jessica Henson, took part in the campus online-dating challenge of my own free will.

I had flirtatious exchanges with Hugh Matthews, Bernard Fox, Horace Donaldson, and Bob Norris alike.

The four boyfriends' account of events is not a lie.

I set the statement down.

"I did talk to all four of them at the same time."

A stir went up outside the door.

Horace smiled.

"Hear that? She admitted it herself."

The comments flooded in.

Confirmed!

All four admitted.

Someone like this needs to lose the freshman rep spot, fast.

I opened the laptop.

"But from start to finish, I only ever added one account. Hugh's."

Bob's face changed. He lunged to grab it.

Jemima blocked him.

I connected the projector and pulled up the first table.

June 10, Bernard on duty.

June 11, Horace on duty.

June 12, Bob on duty.

Hugh handled voice and video.

The activity room went dead silent.

I flipped to the file creation time.

"This table was made before any of them ever confessed to me."

Then I turned to the last page.

Final task: tell Jessica Henson the truth, film her breaking down in front of everyone.

"Hugh, you told me you got me through the whole summer."

"But you people even put a duty roster on liking me."

"I wasn't dating four boyfriends at once."

"It was four of them, all pretending to be one person, deceiving me."