The dorm room was quiet, except for Zane balancing a pencil on his nose while lying upside down on his bed. Asher sat at the desk, flipping a dagger between his fingers with practiced ease.
"You do realize," Asher started, eyes narrowing, "that you just made enemies with upperclassmen who could probably squash you like a grape."
Zane snorted, the pencil slipping. "Relax. Grapes get turned into wine. Wine gets people drunk. In a way, I'd be doing them a favor."
Asher pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're unbelievable."
Knock knock knock.
Asher glanced at the door and started to stand. "I'll get—"
"Don't," Zane interrupted, rolling over lazily. His shadow stretched across the floor, like it was listening. "It's Mira. Don't open it."
Asher paused, one brow lifting. "Oh, right. Your shadow-seeing thing."
Zane sat up and pointed a finger at him. "Correction. Our little secret. Only three people know about it—me, you, and Mira. And I'd really, really like to keep it that way. Clear?"
Asher gave a casual shrug. "Yeah, no problem. But then why aren't we opening the door?"
Zane's expression soured instantly. "Because she didn't let me pick cafeteria food today."
"…That's it?"
"Yes, Asher. That's it."
The knocking grew more insistent.
Asher ran a hand down his face. "Bro, that was hours ago. We're a team. And if we let you pick, diabetes is knocking on our door instead." He stepped toward the handle.
Before he could reach it, Zane's shadow darted forward like liquid smoke, rising up in front of him. It shook its head slowly, almost human-like.
The knocking paused. Then Mira's muffled voice came through the door.
"Okay, I'm sorry! I'll let you pick our food for the whole week. No—two weeks. Anything you want!"
The shadow slithered back to Zane's feet. Zane sat up straight, a wicked smile crawling across his face.
Asher sighed and opened the door. Mira stepped in, fixing her uniform as if nothing had happened—only to stop dead at the sight of Zane, grinning like a lunatic.
"Anything?" he asked, his voice dripping with way too much glee.
Mira froze. "…Why do I feel like I just unleashed something terrible?"