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The first thing Kira becomes aware of when she enters her dorm is that there is a boy in her room. This is new information to process - a boy in her room who is not immediately related to her and who is also, well, gorgeous, at least from what she can see of him. He's lying on the bed across from her, fiddling with something - a lacrosse stick, she thinks, and it looks like he's maybe retying the net - and illuminated in the soft afternoon light from the window. He shifts where he's lying to get a better angle and she's able to get a good look at his face. Holy shit. Her stack of boxes comes crashing down.
"Oh, hey there," the boy says, turning around and flashing her a thousand-watt smile. She flushes bright red, wishes the ground would swallow her whole right there. "You must be Alli's new roommate."
Oh, thank god. He's talking about a girl. A girl who is her roommate. Her roommate who is not him. She breathes an unintentional sigh of relief, but it either it goes over his head or he's too polite to notice. "Oh, okay. I was wondering if I maybe missed a memo on co-ed dorms."
She starts to bend down to pick up her boxes, but it's not necessary - the boy grabs all her things for her in one swift motion, moving them to her side of the room and then going for the rest in the hall.
"Nope, unfortunately not. Although I doubt any of us would get much sleep if that were the case."
Kira blushes again, trying to push a fleeting and very inappropriate mental image out of her mind.
"So I guess it's convenient to be gay in a non-co-ed situation, then?" she jokes, beginning to unpack the box marked 'sheets'.
He laughs. "Exactly. Or bisexual. We're unstoppable."
"So we're superheroes, then?"
"Exactly. College students by day, crime fighters by night."
She giggles, nervous from the sudden attention. She keeps her back turned to him as she methodically unpacks, wondering if he plans on staying. It's awkwardly quiet, and she can feel his presence behind her. She should probably say something, be social, but what? Maybe start with your name? Gosh, okay. The voice in her head can be kind of a dick sometimes, even if it is right.
"Hi," she says, spinning around and sticking out her hand, "I'm Yukimura. I mean, I'm Kira. Well, I'm also Yukimura, it's just that that's my last name. Kira's my first name. I don't know why I introduced myself that way."
He laughs again, not unkindly, and returns the handshake. His hand is firm and calloused, probably from sports, if the lacrosse stick is any indication. "No, I like it. It's like, uh...double oh seven."
"Does it lend me an air of mystery?"
"Definitely," he pauses, then wiggles his eyebrows, "I'm McCall. Scott McCall."
She giggles again. It's right then that she notices she's still holding Scott's hand, and right after that that the door slams open to reveal a gorgeous, perfectly groomed brunette with a look on her face like murder. Kira immediately jumps back onto her bed and pretends to busy herself with her boxes.
"Ugh," the girl groans, miming pulling her own hair out, "If I never have to ride with Dad and Gerard in the same car ever again, it's too soon."
"What was it this time?" Scott asks, looking completely unruffled by the girl's - Alli, Kira guesses - rage.
"The same thing it's been for the last six months. About how I'm breaking Gerard's heart by leaving by leaving the city and pursuing art instead of the family business. Dad telling him to shut up, I can make my own decisions, but not sounding like he means it. I'm pretty sure I heard him whisper that I'd 'come around eventually'." She uses air quotes there, rolls her eyes. "Come around to what? I don't even know what the fucking family business is! I've been asking for eighteen years and no one will give me a straight answer!"
Scott is quiet the whole time she talks, nodding and sighing sympathetically. It's clear he's heard this all before, but he also seems to be genuinely listening. A good boyfriend, Kira thinks.
"I need a drink. I think the art department's having something tonight. You wanna go?" She asks, rifling through a duffle bag she's set on her bed. She pulls out a little black dress with irregular geometric cutouts on the back - almost classic but slightly off, kinda weird - and a pair of boots and begins to strip down right there in the middle of the dorm. Kira's not sure if she isn't aware that she's there or if she's just very comfortable with her body, but she looks away anyway. The girl is wearing a matching black lace bra and panty set that's, um, really working for her, and she doesn't want to seem like a perv.
"That sounds good," Scott says, a lazy smile on his face as he admires her, "but will we be able to get drinks? We're underage."
"Please," she says, moving her hair out of the way so that Scott can zip her up, "they're a bunch of hippie liberal academics. We'll be fine."
"So you've found your people then."
She grins. "Absolutely."
She turns towards the door and, without missing a beat, extends her hand to Kira. "Hi, you must be my new roommate. I'm Allison."
Well, that answers that question.
"I'm Kira."
"Yukimura," Scott adds, grinning at her.
Allison arcs an eyebrow at him but smiles.
"Nice meeting you, Kira," she calls as she heads out the door.
"Bye, double oh seven," Scott whispers with a grin before following Allison out.
And then she's alone again. Her heart flutters in her chest and she's not sure in who's direction.
+ + +
The first month passes quickly - days in class, evenings studying in her dorm or down at the library. She feels productive, sure, more productive than she's probably ever been, and that's great, but she has to admit that things are pretty lonely. Sure, there are people in her classes that she's friendly with, sharing pencils and texting assignments and occasionally whispering jokes, but that's about the extent of it. She still doesn't have anyone to spend a Saturday night with, and frankly, she's a little embarrassed. Her only consolation so far has been that maybe no one's noticed her loner status, and then even that goes out the window.
Kira's lying on her bed with a stack of comics to her left and a bag of Doritos to her right, reading and eating mindlessly as she has been for the past hour when Allison pipes up from where she stands in front of their shared mirror.
"So, Kira," she says, smoothing out her skirt, "what do you do on the weekends? Who do you hang out with?"
"Um...I just...do this, I guess." She shrugs casually, avoids Allison's eyes, hopes she can't smell loser.
"And you're okay with that? You don't get lonely?"
"I mean," she sighs, knows there's no use lying, "yeah."
"Well, have you tried talking to people?" She sounds so concerned, like a well-meaning teacher, or worse - her dad.
"Yeah. Like, I'm friendly with some people in my classes in stuff, I just...haven't really clicked with anybody?"
Allison sighs and sits down on the bed across from her.
"Sometimes it takes some time. I pretty much moved around once a year until my sophmore year and it was...rough."
"But-" Kira sighs, "but you get along really well with everyone. Like, I can't imagine you going to school and not instantly making a ton of friends."
Allison shrugs.
"It's just a matter of luck. Sometimes you find your friends immediately, and sometimes you have to give it some time."
Kira sighs and rests her chin in her hand.
"I just wish...I mean, it's been over a month."
Allison smiles sympathetically.
"Well, you have me." Kira's stomach twinges. "And tonight I'm going out, and I'd love it if you came with me and met some of my friends. I think you'd really like them, and they'd really like you. I know Scott does."
The twinge expands into a fist-sized knot of butterflies.
"Who's coming with us where?" Lydia asks, hanging with one arm on the open doorway and making Kira jump.
"Why are you hanging out in the doorway like a vampire? Do you need to be invited in?" Allison jokes, then puts on a mock-Victorian accent, "Come in, Lydia Martin."
"Allison!" Lydia stage-whispers, "You're not supposed to reveal my secret!"
Then she winks at Kira, who laughs.
"Who's coming with us where?" Lydia repeats, sitting down on the edge of Kira's bed. She smells like floral perfume and clean laundry and a faint hint of weed.
Allison stands up and starts to get her things together.
"Kira's coming to Danny's party with us."
"Like that?" Lydia asks, cocking her head to the side and widening her eyes.
"Jesus, Lydia!" Allison smacks her on the arm.
"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Kira asks, pouting a little bit.
"Well, for one thing, your Spiderman leggings are covered in cheese dust."
Kira sighs.
"What kind of party is it? I don't think I have anything to wear."
Without bothering to ask for permission, Lydia yanks Kira's hair out of it's ponytail.
"Ouch!"
Allison nods her approval, then glances at Lydia.
"We'll figure something out."
+++
Fifteen minutes later Kira's riding in the backseat of Lydia's car, wearing her best skirt - leather, sticky on hot nights but Lydia says pain is beauty - and one of Allison's many artsy, revealing crop tops.
"It should be illegal for this outfit to be seasonally appropriate. Like, it's October. And it's night time. It shouldn't be hot still," she complains, fiddling with the air conditioning.
"That's California. I, for one, am grateful for the chance to wear short shorts in fall colors," Lydia replies, checking her lipstick in the rearview as they pull up to the curb.
"Yeah, well, in New York, it's, like, twenty degrees cooler right now," Kira says, pushing up her bra to keep it from sticking to her skin.
She thinks she catches Allison looking out of the corner of her eye, but it's probably just be her imagination. She can hear the music from down the street, a pulsing beat and heavy synths, and her heart rate picks up. Dancing. She's terrible at dancing. Will other people notice? They probably will. But if she doesn't dance and wanders off somewhere, then she has to make conversation with people, which she's really bad at, because she always gets nervous or feels left out or makes lame jokes or or or-
"Guys! Hey!" Scott moves through the crowd towards the three of them, a plastic red cup in his hand and his never-fail grin on his face.
He kisses Allison lightly on the mouth and Lydia on the cheek. Then he sees Kira and his grin widens, if that's even possible, and his eyes light up as he pulls her in for a tight embrace. He's warm, and he smells nice, and she can feel how strong and lean he is. She tries not to noticeably inhale but it's difficult. "I'm so glad you're here," he whispers excitedly into her hair, and then pulls back, turning to Allison, "You finally got her out of the dorm!"
"Wait, finally?" Kira squeaks.
So much for other people not noticing.
+++
So, Kira's never been high before. Ever. Not that she hadn't had plenty of opportunity, living in New York and all, she just hasn't wanted to.
Or, maybe she's always wanted to but has always been too scared about getting busted or feeling out of control to try. Whatever. It doesn't matter anymore because right now, she's sitting in Danny's spotless kitchen with a joint burning between her fingers while Lydia's roommate, Malia, shows her what to do in between sharing smoke with Lydia. Shotgunning, they call it, Lydia sitting in their lap, a tangle of dirty blonde and red hair. When she asks Malia, they say that if she's never been high before she'll never be this high again. When Kira questions them further, they have trouble describing the feeling, only that she'll "know it when you feel it". Maybe it's the anxiety or maybe it's the ADHD, but she has to admit, right now she's feeling better than she has in a long time. Normal, calm, social. Like her brain works just like other peoples'. She likes it so much it probably should worry her.
When she voice her concerns to the two of them, they seem unconcerned.
"Don't worry," Lydia says, pulling back from where she's been inhaling from Malia's mouth, "Malia won't let you form a habit. They're way too greedy for that."
"Please," Malia rolls their eyes, "You're the one stealing all my oxygen."
"That sounds like it's supposed to be romantic."
"Maybe in a stoner way."
"Do I have to reiterate the limitations of my sexuality for you?" Lydia asks, quirking an eyebrow.
"Yeah, yeah I know," Malia laughs, "Lesbian aromantic. No romo, full homo."
"But couldn't I always just get it from someone else?" Kira interrupts.
"I mean, you could," Danny says, sitting down next to her, "But you wouldn't want to. Malia grows best."
"Oh my god!" Lydia squeals at the pun.
"Dude!" Malia high fives Danny, "When California legalizes it, I'm developing a brand and that's gonna be my name."
Kira laughs, decides to let it go and save the anxiety for when she's sober. Right now, she's supremely enjoying herself. The gel lighting, the cute indie dance music, everyone too afraid of Danny's boyfriend to get more than reasonably rowdy. It all feels very coming of age movie, and like it's all better than it's supposed to be. It's nice.
She watches from the counter as, across the living room, Allison tugs Scott from where he's talking (and, it seems, and maybe without knowing it, flirting) with one of his lacrosse teammates to go dance with her. He resists playfully at first, but with a few nudges from his friend, he allows her to drag him out there.
The beat changes to something heavier and in another language - Spanish, it sounds like - and so does the way they dance, from flirty to playfully raunchy to she should look away but can't. Scott's mouth at Allison's throat, his hands in her jeans like they're not in public; impossible for them to be any closer, creating friction. Allison's glazed eyes, breathless laughter; she can't hear them over the music but she can read their lips and it's enough to make her blush. Can she smell his cologne? Does he taste cheap liquor on her mouth? She wants to be her, she wants to be him, she wants to be both of them or in between or a conductor for their heat.
And apparently, she's not doing a very good job of hiding it.
"Wow, stare a little harder," Lydia smirks.
Kira blushes, mortified and not quite sure what's gotten into her, and turns back toward the group.
"Sorry," she mumbles.
"Relax, we're just teasing," Danny assures her.
"So which one were you staring at?" Malia asks, wiggling their eyebrows.
"Huh?" she asks, pretending not to understand the question.
"Who were you staring at, Allison or Scott?"
"Um..." she trails off, not sure what to say.
She doesn't have to say anything; her silence is enough. Danny lets out a long whistle as Malia reaches out and high fives her.
"Guys, stop, we're making her uncomfortable," Lydia chastises, but it's clear that she's trying to conceal a smile.
"Does Allison even like girls?" Kira asks.
"She's bisexual, obviously. Do you really think we'd hang out with her if she was straight?" Danny asks, only partially joking.
"Hey, Argent!" Malia yells over the music, ignoring Lydia.
Allison glances over, winks at her.
Malia shakes their head, points to Kira.
"What?" Allison mouths, her eyebrows knitting in confusion.
"Dance with her!" Malia yells, pulling Kira to stand up.
Allison grins, waves her over. Malia grabs Lydia with one hand and Kira with the other and strongarms them both to the middle of the floor, a few feet from Scott and Allison. Lydia twists lazily, snaking her arms around Malia's neck, while Malia pushes Kira right into Scott and Allison's collective arms. She blows a strand of hair out of her face, blinks.
So, fun fact. Kira can't dance. She's tried, sure, alone in front of her mirror, but never, ever, ever in public. She figures it's best to just bite the bullet and tell them.
"I can't dance!" she yells, with a little shrug to say 'sorry'.
"That's okay!" Allison yells back, "We'll teach you!"
And they do. They get their hands on her in no time, Scott at her back and Allison at her front, and again they make that same jump - from fun to flirty and flirty to raunchy and raunchy to oh my god, this is happening. Hands in her hair, hands on her waist, hands in her skirt; lips at her neck, lips at her ear, lips at her mouth. The noises she makes, the way her heartbeat picks up with her breathing - under any other circumstances she might be embarrassed, but right now, she's too high to care.
+++
A few weeks after Danny's party, Kira's lying alone in her dorm when the power goes out. It's a Thursday evening and Allison is gone, as is probably everyone else in the building.
Don't panic.
It's almost November now, which means it's already dark outside.
Don't panic.
And now inside.
Don't panic.
At the top of this tall, cavernous building....
She's panicking.
Stumbling in the dark to find her phone, she opens up her contacts and immediately realizes she has no idea who to call. Is there a maintenance person or something to call? She tries to google it but can't figure it out. This is probably the kind of vital information someone told her when she first got here and that she missed because, thanks to the ADHD, she couldn't stop zoning out. Her first move is to call Allison, but the line just rings and rings until it goes to voicemail, so her second move is to call Scott. He, of course, answers on the first ring.
"Hello?"
Just the sound of his voice makes her stomach flip flop.
"Hey, um, Scott? I'm all alone in my dorm and the power just died."
"Oh...that's not good."
"I'm sorry, I just- I tried calling Allison and she didn't answer, and I don't know the number for, like, maintenance people or whatever, so..." she trails off, not sure what to say.
"It's no problem at all. I'm at the vet right now, but my shift ends in ten minutes and I can be there in twenty. Is that okay?"
"Yes, oh gosh, thank you so much," she says, breathing a sigh of relief.
"In the meantime, I'm sure it's pretty scary and lonely there right now. Do you want me to stay on the line?"
"Um..." oh god, he's so sweet, "I mean, I don't want to distract you from your work or whatever...."
"You won't," he insists, "I get kind of lonely here too, especially on slow days."
So for the next twenty minutes, from the vet to the quad to her front door, Scott chats with her about the animals he works with, his friendship with his boss, how much he hates emptying litter boxes. All she really has to do is listen, which she likes. She thinks maybe he's a good talker and she's a good listener.
When she she hears a knock at the door, she hangs up the phone, opening it to reveal a smiling Scott with pizza, flashlights, and candles in tow.
"Oh my gosh, you're amazing!" she exclaims, helping him set everything down, "When did you even have time to get all this stuff? I was on the phone with you, like, the whole time."
"I have my ways," he says simply, sitting down on the floor while Kira roots around for matches. "So, I texted Malia, and they apparently know the maintenance guy in charge of your building. They said he should be down here in about an hour."
"Cool," she says, trying to seem blase in the face of an hour alone in the dark with Scott.
They sit in silence, the striking of matches and clicking of flashlights the only sounds in the room. It makes Kira nervous, the quiet, makes her skin itch. She almost offers to play music but stops herself, worried that that would be approaching full on date territory.
"Do you mind if I play music?" Scott asks, and she's simultaneously relieved and terrified of what this is becoming.
It turns out they have similar taste in music, meaning anything and everything.
"Except country," they both say at the same time, and burst out laughing.
It's nice, comfortable - they find things to talk about easily, and never run out of topics. She finds out that his favorite superhero is Captain America and that he also totally agrees that Steve Rogers is bisexual. She learns some of his secrets, from the shameful - he's never seen Star Wars and still falls for Rickrolls every time - to the things he thinks are shameful - he gets chemistry tutoring from Lydia twice a week. As of right now, they're both undeclared, with only vague ideas of what they want to do for a living. Scott love his job at the vet, but worries about having a mind for medicine, and Kira's just lost period. All either of them really knows for sure is that they want to help people.
"I wish I was like Allison," Scott sighs, staring up at the glow-in-the-dark space stickers Kira's put up on the ceiling.
They're lying on her bed now - she's not quite sure when that happened - and just hearing Allison's name is enough to manifest a hornet's nest of guilt and a swarm of butterflies simultaneously.
"She at least has an idea of what she wants to do. I just feel...lost."
The candles are burning low now, and the light looks good on him.
"Well, I mean," she shifts so that she's lying on her side, looking at him, "We have ideas, too. We don't have a major, but...but I'm sure she feels lost, too. We're all just..." now it's her turn to sigh, "at that age."
She can't stand how sad, how lonely he looks. She thinks this might be the first she's ever seen him without a lottery winner look on his face. It disappears when he looks over at her though, notices her noticing.
"Thanks for listening," he says, a small smile creeping back onto his face.
"How do you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Go from so sad one minute to all smiles the next. I mean trust me, I'm glad you're happy, I love it when you're happy," WHAT? "but still..."
He shurgs.
"I don't like to let my mood bring other people down. And besides," he says quietly, lying on his side now facing her, "It's hard for me to feel bad when I look at you."
Wait, what?
"Me, too," she whispers.
Oh no.
His face is close to hers now - his everything is, really, on this tiny school-issued bed. She can feel the warmth of his body, smell that damned cologne again. There's a tightness in her chest that's making it really difficult to breathe, her heart drums out a panic-attack rhythm, and then it happens - he kisses her like they both knew he would.
It's a poem in her head.
Names of heat and names of light,
names of collision in the dark, on the side of the
bus, in the bark of the tree, in ballpoint pen
on jeans and hands and the backs of matchbooks
that then get lost.
It's gold. It's the sun. It's names of heat and names of light; fire.
AllisonAllisonAllison!!!
It's the name of his girlfriend, and it's fucked up.
She pulls away fast, nearly falls off the bed.
"Scott," she's out of breath and panicking, "Scott, your girlfriend. Scott, Allison!"
"Allison, what?" Allison asks, coming inside and flicking on the lights.
First, how LONG HAVE THOSE BEEN BACK ON? Second, oh shit.
"Hey, Alli," Scott says, completely unfazed.
Kira never would've expected this from him, but now she feels like she's going to throw up.
"Hey, guys," she says, totally oblivious.
Can she not feel the guilt and terror radiating off of Kira?
"I...uh...I..." her mind is blank.
And then she's out the door, running as fast as her feet can carry her away from her own shitty choices.
And straight into Malia.
"Woah, woah, what's wrong?" they ask, gripping Kira by the shoulders to steady her.
"I was- I- I-" she can't breathe, much less speak, and is starting to see sparks.
"Kira? Kira, are you okay?"
She can't answer, sits down heavily on the floor.
From far away, she hears a voice trying to calm her down, and within a few minutes Malia's dragging her into their dorm. Lydia's there, closes her book to tell her to breathe in through her nose, out through her mouth and give her a bottle of something she's got tucked beneath her bed. After a few minutes of breathing and sipping, she's able to calm down and work her from panic attack to regular, neurotypical melt down. Eventually, they get the whole story out of her.
"And I just," she's crying ugly, drunken tears (another major first time, but this one she's too upset to take note of), "I thought he was a good guy! I mean, he's so sweet and I trusted him and I feel so bad because I liked it so much but I would never wanna hurt Allison and I- I just- I don't know what to do!"
Malia holds her hands while Lydia rubs little circles on her back.
"I'm sure there's gotta be an explanation," Lydia says, "Scott's not that kind of guy, trust me. We were at a party back in high school and we got paired up for seven minutes in heaven. He was with Allison at the time and refused to even touch me. I mean, I'm gay, so it was a total relief, but still."
"But what possible explanation can there be?" Kira asks, watching as fat droplets of water land on her Aquaman pants but unable to appreciate it.
"Well...maybe they have an open thing," Malia suggests.
"They did seem pretty into you that night at Danny's. And obviously you're into them..." Lydia agrees.
"Didn't you guys kiss and stuff that night?" Malia asks.
"Well, yeah but that was different," she sniffles, "That was at a party, in the dark, and I was under the influence."
"Of queerness, maybe. Weed doesn't make you wanna touch anybody you don't already wanna touch," Malia shrugs, petting her hair.
Apparently, at some point, she ended up in Malia's lap.
"Can I sleep here tonight?" she asks, her voice sounding small and tired.
They say yes, tell her they'll set up a space for her on the floor, but they never get the chance; she falls asleep right where she is.
+++
When she wakes up the next morning, she's not sure where the pounding is coming from - her head or the door.
Boom, boom, boom.
Head?
Boom, boom, boom.
"Lydia? Lydia, is Kira in there?"
Door.
The other two stir but remain asleep - lucky heavy sleepers, she thinks bitterly - so she goes to open it herself. It's Scott and Allison, both with apologetic looks on their faces. Wait, what? Scott, sure, but Allison? What does she have to feel sorry about? Kira's the one who fucked up.
"Hi," Allison says, biting her lip nervously.
It's probably the cutest habit ever, and then there's that awful guilt-butterflies combo again.
"Can we take you out to breakfast?" Scott asks, hands deep in his pockets.
"Uh..." ohmygodno, "Sure."
Ten minutes later she's sitting across from the two of them at a greasy spoon off campus, the three of them flipping through menus and avoiding each other's eyes.
"So," she says, shocking all three of them by being the first to speak, "What's going on?"
Scott sniffs the air, wrinkles his nose.
"Kira...are you drunk?"
"Hungover, actually," she mumbles, graciously accepting the ice water that the waitress sets down in front of them.
She lets Allison order "hangover superfood" for her - eggs, toast, fruit, and tea - and it isn't until after their food is in front of them that she asks again.
"You guys? Seriously. What's going on?"
"Well...do you wanna start?" Scott asks Allison.
She starts planning escape routes.
"Uh, sure." She pauses, stirs her coffee before looking up at Kira. "So, last night, you and Scott hung out when the power went out."
The nearest exit is the front door. It's probably three hundred feet away. She could probably be out the door and on the street in just a few seconds.
"And he told me that you guys kissed."
But it doesn't matter anyway because Allison is gonna kill her and she deserves it.
"And I wanted you to know that I'm really glad."
What?
"See, the thing is, Scott and I? We really like you. Like, both of us. And we've been talking about it for a while now."
WHAT?
"So last night, when the power went out, while you and I were on the phone, I texted Alli and told her what was going on."
"And I told him that if something happened, it was okay, but that we should probably all three talk about it first."
At this point, all Kira can do is nod.
"I'm really, really, really, sorry Kira," Scott says, his eyes downcast, "For not telling you what was going on, or asking your permission. I know I should've communicated better, I just...I don't know," he sighs, "I guess I just got caught up in the moment."
She's almost speechless, has to force her mouth to make words come out.
"No, yeah, apology accepted. I mean, I totally kissed you back, and I really really liked it, even though I thought you had a girlfriend, which is super fucked up. I mean, you do have a girlfriend, obviously, but, like-"
"Kira," Allison says, almost giggling as she places a comforting hand on hers, "It's okay."
She has to take a minute to exhale slowly, release all the built up panic. They sit in silence for a few minutes, the only sounds their chewing, until finally Kira speaks up again.
"So, um, about that whole 'we both like you thing'?"
Allison and Scott both burst out laughing, and for a moment she's worried she's been punk'd, until finally Scott says, "Kira?"
"Do you wanna be our girlfriend?"
+++
(She says yes. None of them make it to class that day.)