Chapter Text
It was a regular warm September morning.
The distant chatter of students and suitcases rolling were heard as soon as Sophia stepped in the dorm building, in a way it felt a bit reassuring since it’s the same sound she heard during the first day of school for two years in a row. She had her own suitcase next to her while her parents were behind her carrying cardboard boxes full of memories from home.
She was excited to see her friends again, two years ago she roomed with Yoonchae who had just moved to the United States right from Seoul. Her English was a bit hesitant but Filippini was more than happy to teach her. Then they met Lara and Megan in music studies during freshman year which had become one of Sophia's favorite classes. Lara and Megan were a funny pair, getting scolded by the teacher in the first class for laughing too loudly and breaking curfew at the dorm. And then there was Manon who transferred last year in November but instantly became popular, and eventually joined Sophia's little group.
Sophia was pulled out of her daydreaming by her dad’s steady voice. “Here's the dorm list, let’s see which room you're in.”
The metallic board stood proudly in front of the dorm building. The building was some kind of annex from the main university buildings where they had classes, however while the school buildings were renovated and had a modern design, the dorm building was actually still authentic from when the school was first opened. Sophia was no architecture student but the first time she saw the dorms she thought damn, that building was so beautiful. Back to the list, she searched her name intently, tracing her fingers as she read the many names.
Megan Skiendel - Yoonchae Jeong Lara Rajagopalan - Manon Bannerman…
Wait, what?
Sophia's mom spoke up first with a slight Filipino accent. “Didn’t you ask to be placed with your friends, Fia?”
Sophia squinted in confusion. “I did…there must be a mistake.”
Then she reached her name after some time.
Sophia Laforteza - Daniela Avanzini Room 222
That was weird, were there new students this year? It was a normal occurrence for every school but it was senior year of college, the one where teachers already know most people. It’s also the one where you don’t want to change schools since teaching methods vary with different establishments.
Sophia, albeit extremely confused, slowly started to walk inside the dorm building, her parents following close behind and talking among themselves. The walk upstairs was physically draining, the school didn’t have any elevator so hauling her suitcase up the stairs was the only way, it was annoying but on the bright side it made for a good arm workout.
Once Sophia and her parents reached the third floor, they started searching for her room number until a very familiar voice was heard behind them.
“Wait, is that the one and only Sophia Laforteza?” Megan’s voice rang out in the hallway as she walked hurriedly toward her friend. Sophia turned around and ran to Megan, giving her a hug. “Megan! God, I missed you so much!” Once they separated, Megan politely greeted Sophia's parents who were equally happy to see her.
Mr.Laforteza spoke first as he shook Megan's hand, “Ah, Megan, you should definitely come over again one day, it’s always good to see you.” “I will, sir. It’s always a pleasure to visit you.” They talked for a few minutes before Megan had to leave to help Yoonchae carry her boxes. Sophia was now in a relatively better mood than earlier, she walked slowly through the hallway, greeting students that shared classes or clubs with her.
Her parents were now engaged in a conversation about Megan. She had come over last summer before Sophia visited her family in the Philippines and her parents absolutely loved the cheerful girl. They got along quickly, Megan offered to help Mrs.Laforteza cooking and was always eager to go out with the family during the evenings. They were happy that Megan was invested in the activities they offered. Sophia came to a halt.
Room 222.
She was anxious but she reassured herself, she had no problem getting along with anybody in all her school career and she was not letting some random dorm assignment ruin her streak. Sophia let out a deep breath and slowly turned the doorknob. She pushed the door open and looked at the room. It was relatively small since there were hundreds of dorm students but it was cozy in a way. There were two desks on each side of the room and two sinks along with closets, the same layout that she lived in for 2 years now. But her attention wasn’t focused on the organization of the dorm room. No, it was directed at the girl in front of her that was accompanied by her mother. If Sophia had to describe her in one word she'd choose the word gorgeous, the girl had wavy hair that was most likely straightened this morning. She wore a white tank top with some baggy denim jeans, the most plain outfit ever but dear God.
But Daniela's mother said something that she didn’t fully understand. “-Quizás entonces aprenderás a manejarte a ti mismo y a tus problemas.” Sophia heard the other girl sigh before she turned her head.
Their eyes locked for a second and Sophia offered a bright smile. “Hi! I'm Sophia, you must be Daniela, right?”
Daniela simply nodded. “It’s nice to meet you too, Sophia.”
And then silence. No sound was heard.
What the hell.
Sophia had never been a victim of an uncomfortable silence this long in her entire life. Mr.Laforteza cleared his throat and offered his hand to Daniela's mother and Mrs.Laforteza soon followed her husband. They retreated to the hallway to introduce themselves leaving Daniela and Sophia alone. The left bed was already claimed by Daniela so Sophia didn’t have a choice which didn’t really bother her. The silence was unbearable, Sophia occupied herself by making her bed quickly and putting away her decorations and clothes.
Once she felt satisfied with her work, she noticed Daniela had already left the room. The Filippini sighed and pulled out her phone which had been buzzing with notifications for the past hour.
___________
school lovers😈✌🏻🥰
September 1, 2025. 10:23 a.m
megatron : yall im so excitedddd i already saw sophia n yoonchip🥰
manz : yeahhhh samee btw i have a childhood friend that js transferred and she's in the dorms🙏🏽🙏🏽
larz : new student? this year????
Soph : Wait i got a new student as my roomate
Soph : But she doesn’t talk much.
yoonchip : This will be interesting
manz : yeah well i'll introduce u to her tn i need to make my bed rn🙁🙁🙁
megatron : wtv im sure she'll like us anyway😈
___________
Sophia's parents had left two hours ago and now she was sitting in the quad with her friends who were all reunited now.
They were all sat at a picnic table, Lara and Manon next to each other in front of Sophia, Megan and Yoonchae. Lara was poking Manon to get a reaction out of her while Yoonchae and Sophia spoke about their summer break, Yoonchae ended up going back to Korea to visit her parents.
It was Megan, as usual, who broke the peacefulness of the moment. “So, Manon, about this mysterious friend of yours…Where is she?” Megan asked in a curious voice that reeked of mischief.
Manon blocked Lara's hands and looked at Megan. “Tonight I said. She's at the meeting for the new students in the dance department. That’s her major, by the way.” Megan's eyes lit up, “That’s the same as mine!”
Manon pulled out her phone and typed something on it. “I just sent her a message so she could meet us here.”
It was Yoonchae's turn to speak, her English had drastically improved since she first came into this school. “Can we at least know her name?”
“Yeah, her name's Daniela.”
Sophia snapped her head up in an instant, her eyes widened as she looked at Manon. “Wait- Daniela Avza- No, Avanizi?” The Filippini stumbled over her words trying to remember Daniela's last name. Manon cut her short with a giggle. “Daniela Avanzini, Sophia. And you know her?”
“She’s my roommate."
Megan nearly choked on her drink and Lara started laughing loudly. “Wow great start, did she talk to you yet?” The latter asked with a smirk. Sophia sighed and hung her head low, “Kind of? I mean not a lot, but she looked like she was arguing with her mother before I came into the room.” Manon raised a brow at this, “That’s weird…” She seemed a bit confused like the other girls.
“Her mom was scolding her in Spanish and I only understood the word problemas… What if she's some criminal?” Sophia was whining now and her voice was a bit louder.
“Soph-” Manon started slowly with a warning tone.
“I'm telling you, I have no intention to play therapist with her.”
“Sophia.” Manon’s tone was more insisting but was left unnoticed by the Filippini girl.
“Ugh seriously…why did I have to be paired up with her-”
“Sophia, don’t say that about her.” Manon sighed. Sophia simply sighed and the whole table turned quiet. “You're right.”
The earlier excitement of reuniting subsided and was replaced by silence except for the sound of students passing by. Sophia pondered about Daniela, she must be talented to enter this school during senior year. She was very curious but uncertain, Daniela didn’t look very open to talk, but maybe it was because of her mother scolding her. Moreover, Manon looked genuinely confused when she said that Daniela and her mother were arguing. This was going to be a long year, that’s for sure.
___________
Daniela was tired and angry. Her mother had woken her up at 6:00 a.m sharp to go to that forsaken school.
A school six hours away from her home in Atlanta. Six hours away from her friends. Six hours away from everything she ever knew. Safe to say she didn’t want to get up and stay in bed for a while longer like she was used to. But she knew that if she didn’t get up soon, her mom would drag her out of bed. Daniela knew she was already mad that she had to drive this far already, better not to enrage her any further.
Daniela wasn’t in a good mood this morning.
Her mom decided to argue with her right as her roommate entered and she took it out on the poor girl by being salty. She hated this day so far.
She went to the information meeting the dance major had organized, she found it a bit boring to be honest.
Daniela loved to dance, it was her passion since she learned how to walk, she made choreographies look easy to anybody. Daniela was talented and had passion.
But she didn’t want to be in this school, she didn’t want to be on California's seaside, stranded from everybody except Manon who was a childhood friend. The worst part was that she deserved to be shipped away in this school and she could not even deny it. The meeting was pretty long, some students presented the different classes and even did a small showcase with the senior students that volunteered, it was okay she thought. Her phone buzzed in her jean pocket.
___________
Direct Message.
dani → manon
Septembre 1, 2025. 2:53 p.m
manon : hey when the meeting’s done u can meet up with me and my friends at the quad
dani : sure
dani : the meeting is ending rn see u
manon : also everything good with ur mom?
dani : we're fine
dani : why?
manon : just asking
manon : see u bbg💋
___________
Daniela rolled her eyes at the last message but couldn’t refrain herself from smiling.
At least Manon was here.
“Thank you all for coming to this meeting, we hope you'll enjoy this year!” A senior student on the stage suddenly said on the microphone. A round of applause followed suit, she clapped too but quickly got up and walked out of the amphitheater.
Daniela walked at a quick pace in the hallway, the walls were empty for an art school which was weird but she didn’t question it further. It felt more homey in her old school, more familiar and reassuring but Daniela couldn’t linger on those memories longer. It was over anyway, no point dwelling on it.
She sighed through her nose as she reached the building's exit door, she pushed it open and immediately felt relieved upon breathing the fresh outside air. The front of the building was pretty crowded with students who attended the meeting, some smoked, some talked among each other, some even cried for some reason and some just left toward the destination of the dorm buildings.
Daniela debated going to her room and sleeping so time could pass but she remembered Manon’s message. She let out an exhausted sigh before finally heading toward the quad. The walk there was silent, which felt uneasy but she simply ignored it. A few students were walking alongside her, talking to each other while Daniela lagged behind to not get included in some pointless small talk. She reached the quad after a good five minutes and instantly spotted Manon along with her friends.
Daniela walked closer to them until she recognized another familiar face– Sophia, who was talking excitedly with the others.
She approached the table and a girl with pink bangs looked up at her with a smile as Manon turned around and stood up to greet Daniela. Manon pulled her in a hug which she returned. It felt nice. “Hey Dani, I missed you here.” The Latina pulled away and smiled softly at her.
The rest of the girls stood up, the first one to introduce herself was the one with the pink bangs, “I'm Megan, it’s nice to meet you!” She held out her hand and Daniela shook it. Another girl, a bit taller than her with jet black hair spoke up, “I'm Lara, can we call you Dani too?”.
Daniela nodded, “Sure.” Finally, the last girl looked at Daniela and smiled, “I'm Yoonchae.” She spoke with a slight Korean accent that Daniela immediately noticed but didn’t wish to comment on. Then there was Sophia, she was directly across from Daniela in the little circle they created. The latina smiled at her and looked away as if she was ashamed of something.
“Well, we can get back to talking on our table with Dani.” Manon smiled and led them back to the table. The earlier discussions resumed, Daniela was included in each one of them but she was a bit lost in thoughts. Sophia noticed, she always does, but calling her out felt wrong.
The flow of laughter was interrupted by a loud continuous sound of rumbling, the girls shushed and looked at each other in confusion because the rumbling wasn’t coming from the floor, no. It was coming from the sky.
Megan had her gaze fixed at the sky, “Guys, look up.” They all looked up and they all saw the same sight.
Three kaki choppers flew over their heads, not too close but alarmingly enough to realize that they were most likely surveilling the area instead of simply flying over to whatever military base they came from
. “That’s weird, I already saw military trucks on the road this morning.” Yoonchae's voice pulled them out of their sky-gazing.
Daniela tried to remember anything unusual that she saw on the road this morning. “I don’t remember anything…”
“Wait actually–” Lara started before getting interrupted by a loud sound.
Not just any sound. An explosion– way too close to their school.
They all flinched and stood up, Daniela felt her legs shake before Sophia yelled at them to run far away. So Daniela ran. She ran as fast as she could, as long as her legs could carry her. She ran with the others until they reached the front of the school. Most of the school was gathered here, thousands of students in plain sight.
Another explosion, too close this time and Daniela's world went black.