"What the hell are you doing here?"

Sonya steps inside the dorm, her suitcase rolling after her. "Mom keeps complaining about Dad, and I'm sick of Dad's new wife, and whenever Mom and Dad are in the same room, they're yelling— so I'm staying here from now on."

"And you didn't think of letting me know?"

"I let Sander know." She shrugs, then she pouts. "Right. You pretend he's invisible, so why would he tell you something like that?"

I sigh and rub the back of my neck. "This isn't a bloody hotel. You can't just show up without warning and—" I pause, gesturing at her suitcase. "What even is all that? Did you pack your entire room?"

"Just the essentials."

"Essentials?" I repeat. "What, are you planning to live here permanently now?"

After closing the door, she kicks off her shoes. "Maybe. Depends on how long it takes Mom and Dad to sort their crap out."

I grit my teeth and glare at her, but she doesn't flinch. Sonya's been a force of nature since the day she learned how to talk.

Groaning, I give in, grabbing the handle of her suitcase with more force than necessary. "Where am I even supposed to put this?"

"Your room," she says simply. "Let me."

"No—"

But she's already barging into my bedroom. "Oh."

I look past her, at... I don't know who. "Yeah."

"Hey!" Sonya bends closer to the sleeping girl. "Get out of his bed— no, get out of the whole dorm."

"Who the hell are you?" Her eyes flash towards me. "Is this another one of his—"

"I'm his sister. Now get out. This spot is occupied."

"Take the couch."

"Sorry?" Sonya tugs at the girl's shirt until she falls out of the bed, and I press a hand to my forehead. "Get out!"

Once she sees the look in Sonya's eyes, she hurries away, almost tripping as she hurries to put some pants and a pair of shoes on. Sonya's gaze follows her until she has disappeared, then she glares at me.

"I can't believe you." She shakes her head. "Go wash those sheets. Right now. I'm not sleeping in those."

"I think you should stay in Sander's room," I acknowledge, leaning against the doorframe. "Not mine. You're overreacting."

"Overreacting?" she snaps. "I just caught some random girl in your bed, Newt. Do you know how gross it is to hear your brother... sharing pleasure with some random girl?"

I chuckle, unable to hold it back. "Sharing pleasure? Who even talks like that?"

Sonya throws a pillow at my face. I catch it easily, grinning, which only seems to make her angrier. "This isn't funny, Newt!"

"Relax. You're acting like I bring someone home every night."

Her expression darkens. "Oh, so it's just, what? Once a week? Twice?"

"None of your business."

"It is when I'm staying here." She folds her arms. "You don't even know her name, do you?"

"And so what? You come here uninvited and I am old enough to make my own decisions. You ain't got a say in this."

Her mouth opens, but before she can start another tirade, Sander's door creaks open. He stares at us, hair messy, blinking at us like we've woken him from a coma.

"Can you two argue... quieter? It feels like it's three in the morning."

Sonya points at him dramatically. "See? Even Sander agrees you're insufferable!"

"Go back to your bed, twat."

"Excuse you?" My sister's mouth drops open. "Don't talk to him like that."

"Pf, you should've heard how he was talking to me."

He looks lost. "What did I do again?"

"You know what you did." I glare at him. "How dare you come in my room and ask me to participate in that interview—

Sonya huffs. "Stop being such a crybaby, Newt. You're unbelievable."

"Yeah, you've said that before," I reply dryly. "It's late. You're here. Fine. But stop making everything a bloody issue."

Sonya looks like she's about to argue, but Sander speaks first. "Uh... maybe we could all just, you know, go back to sleep? Sort this out in the morning?"

When she looks at him, her gaze softens. "You're too nice. You know that, right? He doesn't deserve it."

That's true, I think. Someone who's friends with my sister and Minho Lee can't possibly be this calm.

Sander gives a faint, uncomfortable smile. "I mean... it's not really a big deal."

"Not a big deal?" Sonya's voice rises. "He treats you like you don't exist, Sander. You don't need to defend him."

"Gosh, I've already agreed, haven't I?" I sigh.

Her lips press into a thin line, but for once, she doesn't push it. "Fine. But I'm not sleeping in your room anymore. And for the record, Sander deserves a lot better than how you treat him."

"Great," I say, letting the sarcasm drip. "Noted. Goodnight." And I retreat to my bedroom.

The bed is still unmade, the sheets tangled from last night. The faint scent of her perfume lingers, and I wrinkle my nose, suddenly irritated.

I strip the sheets off, tossing them into the laundry basket in the corner, and grab a fresh, gray set.

Peter Files

Mal: I'm bored stiff
Get off your ass
Meet at the spot

Kieran: sure

Me: I'll be there

Rico: See ya

Randy: yeah

I slip my phone in my jeans, along with a pocket knife and a pack of cigarettes.

"Where are going?" Sonya looks up from the couch the second I step outside my room, putting a jacket on.

"Can you stop bothering everything I do?"

"I was just asking," she grumbles.

"I'm just gonna hang out."

"With?"

"My friends." I zip the jacket closed. It's a worn, brown one. The inside is fluffy, as well as the collar. It's my favorite.

"Minho and Thomas?"

"Of course not. I barely talk to them— see ya."

"Be safe," she warns.

I make my way out of campus, through the streets of the town. Our local spot is near an abandoned tunnel, across from some stores that barely anyone enters. It's just Kieran who isn't there yet.

"Took your time," Rico comments, rubbing his red nose; the weather's getting cold.

"Must've been because you had to give yourself a speech before showing up in a jacket like that."

I look down at it, wondering if there's a stain or something, but there's not. "It's cold. I need a jacket."

"Don't tell me you actually fuck with that."

"Of course not." Swallowing, I light a cigarette. "It's all I could find. Think it might be my roommate's."

Randy looks around, unbothered. "He must be a faggot, then. Hey, there's Kieran."

"Yo." He claps us on the backs. "Did I miss anything?"

"The first glance at Newt's new jacket."

"I told you it's all I had, man." I roll my eyes. "What are we doing?"

"I wanna see you get a girl with a jacket like that," Mal dares.

"Easy."

"Go on, then," Kieran encourages impatiently. "There was a whole group right behind me. They can't be far away."

I chuckle to myself, flicking the cigarette to the ground and crushing it under my boot.

The cold pierces through my skin as I step over to the girls. My hands feel the objects in my pockets, and the warm insides of the jacket.

One of them, a brunette with sharp features, eyes me up and down. Her lips curl into a smirk. "You know we can hear you guys talking, right? With the jacket thing?"

I grin, pushing my hands deeper into the pockets of my jacket. "It's not the jacket. It's the guy wearing it."

"Well, you're definitely something," she mutters.

"You got a problem with that?"

I can smell her perfume when she steps closer—a mix of vanilla and something else that's too sweet. "Well, I'm not judging you. But what I do want to know is—"

"Yeah?" I ask, already half-bored with this conversation. It's not like I'm really interested in this girl— or any girl I have ever done this with before.

She licks her lips. "There's this party later. You'd be a fitting date."

I triumphantly glance back at Kieran, who's grinning like an idiot. "Sure."

Her friends are watching now. I shrug casually. "You might just be fun," she adds.

"Just send me the address."

Without waiting for a reply, she turns to her friends and gives a quick nod. They almost immediately walk off.

"Or we have a pregame."

I can tell what she means just by looking at her expression. "My sister's at home. She'll kick you out in no time. So not this time, sorry, darling."

"I have no sisters at home right now."

I have never entered another girl's bedroom before, and I won't. It's my room or nothing. "Let's just dive straight in the party. We'll see after that."

She doesn't look very disappointed. Rather excited. "Alright. Give me your phone."

Quickly, she adds her number to it, then she follows her friends.