The Recipe For Disaster

Mia Chen had exactly three rules for surviving college. One: never trust a roommate assignment without doing a deep dive first. Two: always have an exit plan for awkward parties. Three — and this was the big one — never, under any circumstances, fall for someone with main character energy and zero accountability. She'd broken rule one within the first ten minutes of move-in day. "Okay but hear me out," said the girl unloading a suspicious number of fairy lights from a U-Haul cart, "what if we did a whole cottagecore meets cyberpunk aesthetic for the room?" Mia stared at her. "That's... not a real aesthetic." "It is now." The girl stuck out a hand sticky with iced coffee condensation. "Priya. Pre-med. I overshare immediately and I will steal your snacks but replace them with better snacks. Personality trait." Mia laughed despite herself. "Mia. Undeclared. Deeply suspicious of people this enthusiastic before 9 a.m." It did not wear off — not through the disco ball, not through rearranging the room twice. By the time their door was propped open, Mia had quietly retired rule one. She was less sure about the hallway itself. "Oh, fantastic," muttered a voice from across the hall. "They put me next to the discount Pinterest board." The girl in the doorway looked effortlessly perfect and her smile didn't reach her eyes. "I'm Vanessa. Try to keep the noise down after ten." She vanished before Mia could respond. "Well," Priya said. "She's going to be fun." "She's going to be a problem," Mia corrected. Three days later, at a mandatory hall meeting, a guy dropped into the chair beside her. "You're in 214? Tell your roommate her disco ball's a safety hazard." "Are you registering an official complaint?" "A vibe complaint. Theo. 219. Also filing a complaint against someone named Vanessa, who told me my bike had bad energy." "She told me my room lacked curation." What Mia didn't know yet — what nobody on the floor knew — was that Theo and Vanessa weren't strangers. They'd dated for two years back home, on and off, ending messily right before college. Neither had mentioned it. Neither expected the other to actually be here. Across the room, Vanessa's gaze lingered on Theo and Mia laughing together one second too long before sliding away — like she was filing something into a folder she'd open later. College, Mia decided, might actually be fun. She'd eat those words later.