ROOM 7
Chapter One: The Assignment
---
The email came three days before freshman year.
Dear Ms. Mariano,
Due to unprecedented enrollment, you have been assigned to Room 7, Mariano-Watson International Dormitory. This is a shared suite with twelve (12) occupants. We trust you will make the best of it.
Welcome to the university.
Jay read it twice. Then a third time. Then she set her phone down very carefully, as if it might explode.
"Twelve," she said flatly.
Across her bedroom, Lyra looked up from painting her nails. "Twelve what?"
"Roommates."
Lyra's hand slipped. Nail polish streaked across her thumb. "Twelve people? In one room?"
"Twelve beds. Twelve desks. One bathroom." Jay's voice was eerily calm. The calm of someone who was about to commit violence. "This is a mistake."
"It's the Mariano-Watson dorm," Lyra said slowly. "Your families built it together, remember? The big peace offering after the shipping war last year?"
"I remember." Jay pinched the bridge of her nose. "I didn't think they'd actually put anyone in it."
Lyra grinned. "Well, congratulations. You're anyone."
---
Three thousand kilometers away — actually, just across the city, because Manila wasn't that big — Mark Kiefer Watson was having the opposite reaction.
"Twelve people?" He stared at his phone, then at his best friend Yuri, then back at his phone. "This is going to be amazing."
Yuri didn't look up from his gaming console. "You say that about everything."
"Because everything is amazing."
"Your father fired three people last week."
"Amazing for the people who got their jobs."
Yuri finally looked up, unimpressed. "You're impossible."
"And yet you're still here." Kiefer flopped onto his bed, grinning at the ceiling. "Twelve roommates, Yuri. Twelve new friends. Twelve new people to annoy."
"Twelve new people who will want to kill you by the end of the month."
"That's the dream."
From the doorway, a small voice interrupted. "Kuya Kiefer?"
Kiefer sat up immediately. His youngest brother, Keiran, stood in the doorway clutching a stuffed shark. His eyes were wide, his hair a mess, and he was wearing pajamas even though it was three in the afternoon.
"Hey, little man." Kiefer opened his arms. "What's wrong?"
Keiran padded over and climbed onto his lap. "Are you really moving away?"
Kiefer's heart cracked a little. He'd been dreading this conversation for weeks. "I'm moving to the dorm, yeah. But I'll come home on weekends. And you can visit me anytime."
"Promise?"
"Promise promise."
Keiran considered this. Then he said, "Can I have your room?"
Kiefer stared at him. Yuri burst out laughing.
"You little traitor," Kiefer said, but he was laughing too. "Yes, you can have my room."
"And your computer?"
"Absolutely not."
"And your shark collection?"
"The sharks are coming with me."
Keiran gasped. "You can't take Bruce!"
"I can and I will. Bruce is my emotional support shark."
"Bruce is mine!"
Their argument was interrupted by Keigan, the middle brother, who appeared in the doorway with his phone in his hand. He was eighteen, wild-haired, and wearing a shirt that said "I survived the Watson family dinner."
"Mom says you need to pack," Keigan announced. "Also, Dad wants to know if you've seen his good tie."
"I haven't seen Dad's tie."
"Also also, Ate Serina said to tell you that Jay Mariano is in your dorm."
Kiefer went very still.
Keiran tugged his sleeve. "Who's Jay Mariano?"
"Nobody," Kiefer said.
"His mortal enemy," Yuri supplied helpfully.
"Also his parents' favorite person," Keigan added. "Mom literally bought her a birthday gift last week. She showed me. It was expensive."
"She's not my mortal enemy," Kiefer said. "She's just... annoying."
"You've been competing with her since you were fourteen," Yuri said.
"Because she keeps winning."
"Which makes her your rival. Which makes her your mortal enemy."
Kiefer threw a pillow at him. Yuri caught it without looking.
Keiran tugged his sleeve again. "Is she pretty?"
Kiefer hesitated. Just for a second. Just long enough for Keigan to notice.
"OH MY GOD," Keigan shouted. "You think she's pretty!"
"I do NOT—"
"You hesitated!"
"I was thinking about something else!"
"You were thinking about her FACE."
Keiran tugged his sleeve again. "Kuya, your face is red."
Kiefer buried his face in his hands. "I hate everyone in this family."
"No you don't," said Keigan, Keiran, and Yuri in perfect unison.
---
Across the city, Jay was having a similar conversation.
"He's in my dorm," she said flatly.
Her mother, Jeena, didn't look up from her phone. "Who, dear?"
"Kiefer Watson."
Jeena's face lit up like Christmas morning. "Oh, that wonderful boy! He's so polite. And those dimples!"
"He's insufferable."
"He sent me a thank-you note for the care package I gave him last Christmas. Handwritten, Jay. Hand. Written."
"He's trying to manipulate you."
"He's trying to be nice. There's a difference." Jeena finally looked up, eyes sharp. "You know, his mother and I are very close."
"I know. You text her every day."
"We do not text every day."
"You have a matching phone case."
Jeena had the decency to look slightly guilty. "That's beside the point. The point is, you and Kiefer are in the same dorm. The same room, apparently. This is an opportunity."
"An opportunity for what? Homicide?"
"An opportunity for friendship."
"We're not friends. We're not even friendly. He's annoying, he's loud, he never takes anything seriously, and he laughs like a dying seal."
Jeena raised an eyebrow. "You've noticed how he laughs?"
Jay opened her mouth. Closed it. Opened it again.
"That's what I thought," her mother said sweetly.
From the doorway, Percy appeared. He was twenty-one, chaotic, and holding a bag of chips like it was his emotional support snack. "Who are we talking about?"
"Kiefer Watson," Jeena said.
Percy's face split into a grin. "Oh, the boyfriend!"
"He's not my BOYFRIEND—"
"He's not yet," Percy corrected. "Give it a semester."
"I will literally transfer schools."
"You won't. You're too competitive. If you transfer, he wins."
Jay hated that he was right.
From behind Percy, Aries appeared. Twenty-two, serious, already wearing a law school hoodie even though classes hadn't started. "Stop bothering your sister."
"I'm not bothering her. I'm encouraging her."
"You're eating chips on her bed."
"It's a free country."
Aries ignored him and looked at Jay. "Do you want help moving in?"
"Yes. Please. Take me away from this madness."
Percy crunched his chips loudly. "I'm coming too. I want to meet the roommates. Especially the Watson boy."
"You've already met him. You've met him a hundred times."
"And I want to meet him again." Percy grinned. "Someone has to intimidate him."
"You're not intimidating. You're wearing a shirt that says 'I ❤️ Chaos.'"
"Chaos is very intimidating."
Jay grabbed her pillow and screamed into it.
Jeena patted her back. "There, there. You'll thank me later."
"I will never thank you. I will die angry."
"That's the spirit."
---
Move-In Day
The Mariano-Watson International Dormitory was a strange building.
It had been built two years ago, after the Great Shipping War of 2023 — a bitter legal battle between the Mariano and Watson families that had nearly bankrupted both. The building was meant to be a peace offering: a shared project, a shared legacy, a shared reminder that the next generation didn't have to repeat the mistakes of the old.
Jay thought it was an expensive joke.
She stood outside Room 7 with her brothers and stared at the door.
"This is it," she said. "The worst place on earth."
"It's a door, Jay," Aries said.
"It's a door to hell."
"Very dramatic. I like it." Percy pushed past her and threw the door open. "HELLO, ROOM 7! YOUR QUEEN HAS ARRIVED!"
The room was massive. Converted ballroom. High ceilings. Industrial fans. Twelve beds arranged in clusters, each with a desk and a tiny closet. Sunlight poured through tall windows. The floor was scratched hardwood that had seen better days.
It was, against Jay's will, kind of beautiful.
"Oh," she said softly.
"Told you," Aries said.
"I didn't say anything."
"Your face said it."
The room was empty except for a few boxes in one corner. Someone had already claimed the bed by the window — the best spot, with the best light and the best view of the city.
Jay walked over to inspect it. The bed was neatly made. There was a small stuffed shark on the pillow.
A stuffed shark.
"No," she whispered.
"NO," Percy echoed, looking over her shoulder. "Is that—"
"Bruce," came a voice from the doorway.
Jay turned.
Kiefer Watson stood there, carrying a duffel bag and grinning like he'd just won the lottery. He was taller than she remembered. Broader. His hair was a mess, his shirt was wrinkled, and he looked entirely too pleased with himself.
"That's Bruce," he said, pointing at the shark. "My emotional support animal. Please don't touch him."
"I wasn't going to touch your weird shark."
"You were staring at him."
"I was staring at the audacity of you taking the best bed."
"It's the best bed because I'm the best roommate."
"You're not even a roommate yet. You're an intruder."
"I live here now, Mariano. We both do." He dropped his duffel bag on the bed and extended his hand. "Mark Kiefer Watson. But you can call me Kiefer. Or 'the love of your life.' Whatever's easier."
Jay stared at his hand like it might bite her.
Percy snorted. Aries pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Hello, Mariano brothers," Kiefer said, waving. "Nice to see you again. Percy, love the shirt. Very on-brand."
"Thanks, future brother-in-law."
"I WILL KILL YOU," Jay shouted.
"No you won't," Kiefer said cheerfully. "Your mom would be sad."
"My mom loves you and it's disgusting."
"I know. She sent me cookies last week. Want one?"
He pulled a cookie out of his pocket.
Jay stared at it. Then at him. Then at the cookie.
"You keep cookies in your pocket?"
"I keep everything in my pockets. It's a talent."
"That's not a talent. That's a hygiene violation."
"And yet." He took a bite of the cookie. "You're still talking to me."
Jay turned on her heel and walked to the farthest corner of the room. She threw her bag on the bed there — the worst bed, by the bathroom, where everyone would hear everything.
"Jay," Aries said carefully. "You don't have to—"
"This is my bed. I'm claiming it. Don't talk to me."
From across the room, Kiefer's voice floated over. "COWARD!"
"ENEMY!"
"BORING!"
"ANNOYING!"
"LOVELY WEATHER WE'RE HAVING!"
Jay screamed into her pillow.
Percy gave Kiefer a thumbs up. Kiefer gave him a thumbs up back. Aries looked at both of them like they were the reason civilization was collapsing.
And somewhere in the hallway, the other ten roommates were approaching, completely unaware that the war had already begun.
---
The Rest of Room 7 Arrives
Lyra arrived first.
She burst through the door with a suitcase twice her size and a smile that could power the sun. "JAY!"
"LYRA!"
They crashed into each other like they hadn't seen each other in years instead of hours. Lyra was Jay's best friend — had been since they were kids, since before the feud, since before any of this mattered. She was sunshine in human form, warm and bright and impossible to hate.
"I'm so glad you're here," Lyra whispered. "I heard Kiefer Watson is in this room."
"He's already here. He took the best bed. He has a stuffed shark named Bruce."
Lyra's eyes went wide. "A stuffed shark?"
"His emotional support animal."
"That's the cutest thing I've ever heard."
"It's not cute. It's weaponized charm."
"Same thing."
Behind Lyra, a familiar face appeared. Alex — tall, quiet, Lyra's childhood best friend. He nodded at Jay, then looked across the room and spotted Kiefer.
"Kiefer!"
"ALEX!"
They did the bro-hug-handshake thing that Jay pretended to hate. She didn't actually hate it. She just hated that Kiefer had friends who were nice.
"You two know each other?" Lyra asked.
"Kiefer and I went to summer camp together," Alex said. "He's a good guy."
"He's a menace," Jay corrected.
"He's both," Alex said fairly.
More people arrived.
Mica came in with Calix, their fingers intertwined. Mica was calm, steady, the kind of person who made everyone around her breathe easier. Calix was golden — golden hair, golden smile, golden everything. They'd been together for two years, proof that a Mariano-adjacent person (Mica) and a Watson-adjacent person (Calix) could make it work.
"Hey, everyone," Mica said softly.
Calix kissed her temple. "Told you we'd get the good room."
"This isn't a good room. This is a ballroom with beds."
"It's character."
"It's a fire hazard."
"You love it."
Mica didn't deny it.
Care and Cole arrived at the same time, which was either a coincidence or a curse from the universe. They spotted each other immediately and immediately started arguing.
"You're in my spot," Care said.
"There are no assigned spots."
"There are now. I'm claiming this one."
"You can't just claim—"
"I just did."
"That's not how physics works."
"That's how I work."
Cole opened his mouth to argue, then closed it. Something in Care's expression made him pause. Jay filed that away for later.
Freya came in with her camera already around her neck, Erdix trailing behind her with his phone out. Freya was an artist, a photographer, someone who saw beauty in everything. Erdix was her willing subject, always posing, always laughing, always documenting.
"Say cheese," Freya said, snapping a photo of the chaos.
Erdix grinned. "This is going on my story."
"Everything goes on your story."
"Exactly."
David arrived last, carrying two suitcases that weren't his. He'd helped an elderly neighbor carry groceries up three flights of stairs before even introducing himself. He set the suitcases down, looked around the room, and smiled.
"Hi," he said. "I'm David. I brought snacks."
Everyone loved him immediately.
And Yuri — Kiefer's best friend, his ride-or-die, his partner in crime — came in backwards, talking to someone on his phone, and immediately tripped over a suitcase.
"I'M OKAY," he announced from the floor.
"Your shoelace is untied," Kiefer said.
"That's why I fell."
"That's one of the reasons."
Yuri got up, brushed himself off, and looked around the room. Twelve beds. Twelve strangers. One very angry girl in the corner glaring at his best friend.
"Let me guess," Yuri said. "That's Jay Mariano."
"She's staring at me," Kiefer said.
"She's staring daggers at you."
"I know. It's great."
"You have a problem."
"I have a type."
Yuri sighed. "I'm too young to be this tired."
---
The First Night
By midnight, Room 7 was chaos.
Beds were claimed. Boxes were unpacked. The bathroom already had a schedule (Care had made one within an hour of arriving). The window had been claimed by Bruce the shark, who sat on the sill looking out at the city.
Jay lay in her bed — the worst bed, by the bathroom — and stared at the ceiling.
She could hear Kiefer breathing from across the room. He was two beds away, but in the silence, it felt like he was right next to her.
She hated that she noticed.
"Hey, Mariano."
His voice was soft. Quiet. Not the loud, annoying voice from earlier.
"What."
"Can't sleep?"
"No."
"Me neither."
Silence.
"Why not?" she asked, against her better judgment.
"Too much noise. Too many people. Feels weird."
"You're the one who wanted twelve roommates."
"I wanted twelve friends. There's a difference."
"You don't even know these people."
"I know Alex. I know Yuri. I know Calix. That's three."
"That's not twelve."
"I'm working on it."
Jay rolled onto her side, facing the wall. "Go to sleep, Watson."
"You go to sleep, Mariano."
"You first."
"No, you."
"This isn't a competition."
"Everything's a competition."
Jay almost smiled. Almost. She caught herself just in time.
From across the room, someone snorted. Percy, probably. He'd insisted on sleeping over "for moral support." He was currently sprawled on a beanbag chair he'd smuggled in, pretending to be asleep.
"You're not subtle," Jay muttered.
"Never said I was," Percy whispered back.
Kiefer laughed. Soft. Quiet. Almost gentle.
Jay closed her eyes and pretended she didn't like the sound.
---
The Morning After
Jay woke up at 5 AM. Her usual time.
She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and looked around Room 7.
The morning light was golden, filtering through the tall windows. Bruce the shark sat on the sill, casting a tiny shadow. Someone had left a snack wrapper on the floor. Someone else had hung fairy lights across their bed. The room smelled like coffee and chaos and something that felt like home.
Across the room, Kiefer was still asleep.
His face was softer in sleep. Younger. Less annoying. His hand hung off the bed, and Bruce was tucked under his arm like a child.
Jay stared for exactly three seconds too long.
"See something you like?" Percy murmured from his beanbag.
"I'm going to kill you."
"Love you too, little sister."
Jay got up, grabbed her notebook, and walked to the window. The city was waking up below her. The sun was rising over Manila. And somewhere behind her, Kiefer Watson shifted in his sleep and murmured her name.
Just a dream, she told herself.
Just a dream.
She wrote it down anyway.
---
End of Chapter One