The night air behind the dorms was thick with heat and the faint smell of cigarette smoke. Crickets chirped lazily in the distance, mixing with the hum of far-off music from some party Agatha had already gotten bored of. She leaned against the brick wall, fingers tangled in a stranger’s hair, mouths locked like it was the last Friday night on earth. Her heartbeat thudded in her ears, wild and careless.

She didn’t know the girl’s name—maybe started with an “M”? Melanie? Morgan? Didn’t matter. She kissed like she meant it, fast and hot, and that was all Agatha cared about tonight. Nothing serious. Just a distraction. Something to do with her hands, her mouth, her time.

The girl let out a breathy laugh as Agatha finally pulled away, her lipstick smudged, her face flushed. Agatha grinned lazily, that signature smug glint lighting up her dark eyes. She reached up, brushing her thumb along the girl’s cheek, dragging it slowly across her skin with the kind of touch that lingered.

“Thanks for the warm-up, cariño” she murmured, voice low and teasing, already stepping away and fishing a cigarette from her jacket pocket. The girl tried to say something—maybe ask if they’d see each other again—but Agatha didn’t give her the chance. She lit the cigarette with practiced ease, took a slow drag, and turned her back without looking back.

Her boots echoed softly in the stairwell as she made her way up, flicking ash over the railing. The buzz still clung to her skin, the adrenaline of the moment mixing with nicotine and something like anticipation. Her guitar case knocked lightly against her thigh as she walked, her mind already shifting to the chords she wanted to play—something loud, something raw.

The hallway lights flickered faintly as she reached her floor. Her dorm door stood slightly ajar, the way it always did when the cleaning staff had passed through. She rolled her eyes and pushed it open with her hip, cigarette dangling from her lips, her hand already reaching to pull the strap of her bag from her shoulder.

But then—

She froze mid-step.

There was someone there.

Someone new.

Agatha blinked once, then twice, heart stuttering for a moment as her gaze locked on the girl sitting cross-legged on the bed across from hers, surrounded by cardboard boxes and textbooks. A duffel bag sat half-unzipped on the floor beside her.

She hadn’t heard about a roommate transfer. No one had told her anything. Not that she would’ve checked her emails anyway.

The air in the room felt different suddenly. Warmer. Charged.

Agatha stood there silently, cigarette burning between her fingers, eyes scanning the girl like she was trying to figure out what kind of chaos had just walked into her life. And fuck—she was attractive. Not just in a casual “yeah, she’s cute” kind of way, but in that maddening, can’t-look-away kind of way that made Agatha’s pulse skip and her stomach twist.

“Well, shit” Agatha muttered under her breath, taking the cigarette from her mouth and crushing it in the ashtray by the door. “They really gave me a hot roommate. That’s just cruel.”