Brittany had one hand on the phone, the other on her best friend’s head.
But Securitas had come too late—Sarah was dead.
…
It was a cool February morning, the smell of love in the air.
Teddy bears and flowers roamed the Yard, but Sarah didn’t care.
A romantic dinner with roses, she’d dream and she’d pray.
But here she was, single on Valentine’s Day.
So she called up her girls and established a game plan.
Tonight’s festivities will commence, with or without a man.
Brittany was on candy duty, Jess on drinks.
Sarah on decor, all the reds, whites, and pinks.
Brittany had a boyfriend—Tasty Basty is where they met.
But he delayed V-Day plans until the next night.
He needed to finish his stat p-set.
Jess’s love life was more chaotic.
A guy on the water polo team, a drummer, and even her TF.
Her office hours are normally very erotic.
As for Sarah, she’d never had much luck.
She just sat in an Econ lecture and daydreams about how bad she wants to…be in love.
Sarah’s daydreams had always been particularly elaborate. The weeks leading up to the big V-day were no exception—her mind began to wander in every class. She dreamed about how her Harvard bachelor would pick her up on his electric scooter and take them all the way to the nearest Cheesecake Factory. After their Michelin star quality meal, they’d come back to campus and exchange gifts. He’d whip out a peanut-free heart-shaped box of chocolates. Going into anaphylactic shock would totally have been a buzzkill, so he paid attention when Sarah shared that she was deathly allergic. In exchange, Sarah would gift him the GenEd quiz answers. Then, they’d sit by the Charles River for the rest of the chilly night. True love.
But of course, this perfect night was just a dream. The only pieces of it that were reality were Sarah’s peanut allergy and that she was a selfless classmate who didn’t mind sharing her answers to just about anyone that asked.
One of Sarah’s roommates was Brittany. Brittany and her boyfriend Matt made eye contact in the basement of Tasty Burger during a “Mo Bomba” mosh pit, and it was love at first sight. It was only the second week of school, and Brittany had sworn she wouldn’t allow herself to get into any committed relationships in college so early on, but Matt just couldn’t be passed up. 5’8”, chocolate-brown hair, tennis team, from Greenwich, Connecticut, and an Econ-major charisma to him—he was perfect. He was the type to listen to rap music, act like he knew all the words to these so-called favorite songs of his, and then proceed to sing every word incorrectly. But as long as he was loyal, Brittany believed he could do no wrong.
Jess wasn’t looking for true love on this Valentine’s Day, or in general. She’d reward herself with 20 minutes of Tinder time after finishing each reading she had to do for her seminar. After abusing her Tinder swipes, she’d just move on to the next app she had in her phone. Although she came in with low expectations for the hook-up scene at Harvard, she realized she was in prime location to match with people from other schools. When her Mom called to ask why she seemed to be at so many different schools on Life360, she lied and told her she had joined the Club Basketball team, and games were held late so as not to interfere with class.
Sarah, Brittany, and Jess had a perfect friend group dynamic and believed that nothing could ever come between them. Their personality differences initially confused them because they thought Harvard put roommates together based on similarities. Then they realized that they had all put “Don’t know a thing about sports, but LOVE to watch sports games…Men’s Lacrosse, Football, Tennis…” on their roommate questionnaires. The confusion was quickly resolved.
It was 5:30 P.M. and already dark outside. Sarah got back to the dorm first and began her interior design process. She covered everyone’s desk with heart decorated table cloths and hung up a pin the arrow on the cupid game against the door. Jess came back next looking slightly annoyed, wondering how she had just spent $30 on Hawaiian Punch and pink lemonade at CVS. Brittany came home 20 minutes later, her forehead sweaty and her eyes bloodshot. She explained that she was just running, as she didn’t want to be late, and that the chill in the air caused her eyes to water. Brittany placed three red heart-shaped boxes of chocolate on her desk.
The girls sat around the common room and alternated between listening to Taylor Swift songs and watching episodes of “Gossip Girl.” Hours of TV will always get you in the mood for chocolate, so the girls decided it was time to crack into the candy. Brittany abruptly stood up and went to pass out the boxes of chocolate. They each thought it would be much more fun to pick out a chocolate without looking at the key that shows what each one is. So they ripped off the back of the box, also ripping off the ingredient list and throwing it out. Sarah quickly realized she forgot to check for peanuts, but Brittany reassured her that there were none and that as her best friend, she would never do anything to hurt her. Therefore, the only thing Sarah was truly scared of was picking the orange cream flavored chocolate. That one was disgusting.
As the chocolate touched Sarah’s tongue, she was relieved to discover that there was no taste of orange. As she began to chew, however, the crunch of what sounded like a peanut echoed throughout the room. Sarah tried to quickly spit it out, but it was too late. The allergic reaction had begun. Jess saw the fear in Sarah’s eyes and immediately ran to get the epipen, but it was nowhere to be found. She turned to Brittany for help as Sarah’s breathing couldn’t be heard. To Jess’s surprise, Brittany stood above Sarah, her eyes tearing but her mouth smiling. “I was with Matt the other night,” Brittany said. “He got up to use the hallway bathroom, so I took the opportunity to look through his phone that would not stop going off. You, Sarah, had been sending him the GenEd quiz answers. But it didn’t end there. He’s been secretly taking Sarah on scooter rides and was planning on taking her to The Cheesecake Factory. I wasn’t going to let that happen.”
Sarah was brutally murdered as a result of jealousy and vengeance. Still, she died happy knowing that her class daydreams were on the verge of coming true.
Ilana Feder ’26 (ilanafeder@college.harvard.edu) writes Arts for the Independent.