I Can Understand Cockroaches Chapter 1

Born in the slums, I accidentally unlocked the strange ability to understand cockroaches.

When I was little, my alcoholic foster father tried to sell me to an old man to settle his gambling debts. The roaches whispered in my ear, warning me to hide in the crawlspace beforehand.

When I grew older and shady drunks lurked near my doorstep, the roaches scurried over to tell me to deadbolt the doors and call the police.

Relying on this bizarre gift, I studied like crazy and got accepted into Grand Capital University. Around the same time, my biological parents, the ultra-wealthy Brendons, finally tracked me down and welcomed me back into high society.

Yet on the very first night of freshman year, I kidnapped the campus heartthrob and dragged him to the dorm roof, preparing to jump.

Why? Because my roach friends informed me that Emily, the fake heiress assigned to my dorm, was setting a trap to frame me for arson.

"The old roach living under your bunk sent me to pass the message," a little beetle-like buddy had squeaked to me earlier. "That fake heiress is hell-bent on framing you and putting you behind bars!"

I had fallen into deep thought upon hearing that.

Emily didn't just want me in prison; she wanted to alienate me from my biological parents forever. I needed an absolute, unbreakable alibi.

So, I did the only logical thing. I snatched the passing campus heartthrob, Nate, dragged him up to the roof, and started a live stream.

"Hey everyone, call the cops!" I yelled at my phone screen. "I just kidnapped Nate!"

…

The roof wind blew violently, stinging my skin. I kept an iron grip on Nate, dragging him all the way to the very edge of the concrete ledge.

"Why are you so insanely strong?!" Nate struggled against my grip, his eyes wide. "Let go of me!"

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't break free. I grew up in the slums doing heavy manual labor, building up brute strength that no privileged college boy could match.

He forced down his panic, trying to reason with me politely. "Willow, are you going through something terrible? Tell me, I can help you solve it. We don't need to take such extreme measures."

I tilted my head, letting out an unhinged smile. "Sorry, Nate, but my problem can only be solved by live-streaming a rooftop jump!"

Once my innocence was proven, I would apologize to Nate and accept whatever punishment he saw fit.

Just then, the squeaky chatter of several roaches reached my ears again.

"Boss! Emily is making her move! She conspirated with your other two roommates!"

"Yeah, she even managed to lift your fingerprints and installed a hidden camera beforehand! She's setting up an airtight frame-job!"

"I heard they hired a hacker to forge footage of you lighting the fire in the dorm!"

My heart sank, a wave of coldness spreading down my spine.

I should have guessed it.

Ever since the Brendons brought me back, Emily had been suspiciously sweet to me. She showered me with warm concern and insisted on rooming with me in the university dorms.

That fake kindness was merely a tactic to lower my guard.

After all, she was just an impostor occupying a spot that wasn't hers. She was terrified I would reclaim everything that belonged to me. So she decided to strike first, using an arson setup to destroy me completely.

Emily understood human nature all too well.

I was an unrefined kid from the slums. Most members of the Brendon family already assumed I possessed terrible moral character. Once the dorm caught fire, a girl like me would be unable to defend herself, disgraced, and thrown out of the family forever.

I exhaled a heavy breath.

With the help of my roach friends, I had managed to pull myself out of the gutter and survive against all odds. I was not about to go down without a fight.

I looked at my phone screen. The live stream's local viewer count was exploding.

The chat box flooded with furious comments.

Holy crap! Is she actually holding him hostage? Is this chick crazy? If she can't have the golden boy, she wants to destroy him?!

I know her! Her name is Willow! Word is she grew up in the urban slums! No wonder she's so unhinged and extreme!

Nate, don't be scared! We called the cops! They're on their way!

Is she trying to get famous? Streaming a fake kidnapping to gain followers is beyond disgusting!

If you want to jump, jump by yourself! Don't drag an innocent guy down with you and waste public resources!

I feel so bad for Nate! He's still trying to talk her down!

A tsunami of insults slammed into me through the screen, but I felt no hurt whatsoever. In fact, I felt immensely relieved.

The harsher they cursed, the higher the stream metrics climbed, and the more witnesses I gained. I was constructing the most rock-solid alibi imaginable.

My smile grew wilder as I yelled into the phone camera, "That's right! My name is Willow, student ID zero-two-one-four-six-two! I'm completely nuts!"

"Everyone listen carefully! The time is currently nine-seventeen PM!"