Ashley was still sipping her coffee when the knock came. Not a polite knock. A cocky one. Three slow bangs—like the person on the other side already owned the room.
Cleo opened the door and immediately stepped back with wide eyes.
Standing there was a girl in a red varsity jacket, tall, toned, and glowing with smug confidence. Her eyes were sharp, pupils like crimson slits, and her hair was dyed black with deep red ends, tied in a messy braid. She had a backpack slung lazily over one shoulder and a silver thumb ring that dripped with tiny red beads.
"Heya," the girl said. "I'm Ava. Just got transferred. Looks like I'm your new roommate."
Ashley blinked slowly. "No."
"Yes," Ava said without missing a beat. She walked in like she belonged, dropped her bag next to the counter, and gave Sera a finger-gun. "Sup, Lightning Barbie."
Sera raised an eyebrow. "Circuit queen, thank you."
Ava smirked. "Close enough."
Cleo bounced. "Wait! Wait wait wait—Ava? As in THE Ava? Number one in Nevada?!"
Ava winked. "Guilty."
Ashley's eye twitched.
Cleo looked between the two with horror and joy mixed together. "Oh my god. There's two Number Ones in the same dorm."
Ava grinned and turned to Ashley. "So you're the fire girl, huh? Heard you got issues."
Ashley stood up slowly, coffee mug still in hand, and stepped forward until they were only a foot apart. Her smile was sugar-coated venom. "I don't do roommates who bleed."
Ava's smile widened. "Oh honey. I don't bleed. I infect."
---
Sera leaned in from the couch. "So...what is your ability?"
Ava raised her hand, bit into her finger without flinching, and flicked a drop of blood onto the floor.
It sizzled. The wooden floor blackened around it like rot spreading.
"My ability's called Blood Virus."
"I can infect anything organic with my blood. Once it's in, I can rot you, paralyze you, or hijack your motor functions. But here's the fun part—if I infect your blood and don't kill you, it actually makes your immune system stronger. Like a living upgrade. Most people can't handle it."
Cleo blinked. "So...you're a walking plague doctor?"
"I'm a healer," Ava said, shrugging. "Just...aggressive."
Ashley's smile dropped. "You think you're better than me?"
Ava stepped even closer. "No. But I think we're gonna be fun together."
Sera sighed. "Oh good. Another person who might set the dorm on fire."
Cleo clapped her hands, practically vibrating. "I am living for this arc!"
Ashley and Ava stared at each other like wolves sizing up territory.
Eventually, Ashley broke the silence.
"You can stay," she muttered. "For now."
Ava grinned, walking past her. "Thanks, Fire Princess."
"Okay, but like—what if we all got matching jackets?" Cleo said, hanging upside-down off the couch like a bat. "Dorm squad. Girlboss brigade. Elemental lesbians with attitude."
Sera didn't look up from her soldering project. "Cleo, you short-circuited your own alarm clock this morning trying to make it play anime intros."
"And yet," Cleo said, finger in the air, "I still woke up feeling fabulous."
Ashley was sat on the kitchen counter, stirring a mug of oatmeal like it had personally offended her. Ava leaned against the fridge, eating a raw bell pepper like an apple. No one knew why. No one wanted to know.
"I'm not wearing a matching anything," Ashley muttered. "I'm not a Powerpuff Girl."
Ava smirked. "You're definitely the Buttercup, though. Angry. Punchy. Secretly soft."
"I'm going to set your pillow on fire."
"Hot."
Ashley choked on her oatmeal.
Cleo squealed from the couch. "You guys are so married already."
Sera finally looked up. "Please. If they were married, the apartment would've already burned down and we'd be living in a FEMA tent full of scorched sarcasm."
"Do those tents have Wi-Fi?" Cleo asked seriously.
Ava pushed off the fridge and sauntered over to Ashley, who stiffened like a cat seeing a cucumber. "You know," Ava said, voice dripping with faux innocence, "if we shared a bed, we'd save on heat."
Ashley's eye twitched. "I don't need heat. I am heat."
"Oh I know, Fire Princess." Ava reached over and tapped the edge of Ashley's mug. "But just imagine: your fire, my blood—steam room vibes."
Cleo actually screamed into a pillow.
Ashley narrowed her eyes. "Touch my mug again and I'll cook your blood like soup."
Ava grinned, whispering, "I love soup."
There was a long, charged pause.
Sera set her tools down. "Alright, that's it. Time for the roommate compatibility quiz."
Ashley and Ava blinked. "Seriously?"
Sera stood, holding her phone like a sacred text. "Buzzfeed. Twenty questions. If your answers align, you'll probably survive sharing oxygen."
Cleo grabbed popcorn from somewhere. "This is peak TV."
"Question one," Sera read. "How do you express affection?"
Ashley: "I don't."
Ava: "Choking someone in a training match until they admit I'm hot."
Sera didn't even blink. "Compatible. Moving on."
"Question seven: Ideal date location?"
Ashley: "Alone. Somewhere flammable."
Ava: "Graveyard. Midnight picnic. Red wine and passive-aggressive flirting."
Cleo gasped. "That's literally my fanfic."
"Question thirteen," Sera went on. "Pick a fruit."
Ashley: "Dragonfruit."
Ava, smirking: "Ashley."
Ashley turned bright red and dropped her oatmeal on her legs.
Cleo lost it. "I KNEW IT. GAY."
Ava leaned in. "You gonna eat that?"
Ashley growled. "Get away from me or I swear to god—"
Ava just grinned. "Love you too, roomie."