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THE DARE THAT BACKFIRED

Ruggie Bucchi leaned back against a cushion, tail swishing lazily as he flipped through his phone – scrolling through a list of "ultimate dorm dares" that had been circulating the magicam feeds of Night Raven College students. Beside him, Leona Kingscholar was sprawled across the largest couch, one arm draped over his eyes as he napped lightly, his phone resting face-up on the coffee table just within reach of his outstretched hand.

“Man, all these dares are lame,” Ruggie muttered, tapping his finger against the screen. “‘Steal a professor’s chalk’? ‘Sing in the cafeteria at lunch’? Pfft – we Savanaclaw do way better than that.”

A third student – a fellow Savanaclaw who’d joined the group earlier that evening, let’s call him Kael – perked up from where he was playing cards with two others. “Oh yeah? What’ve you got in mind, Ruggie?”

Ruggie’s ears twitched as a mischievous grin spread across his face. He glanced over at Leona, still dozing peacefully, then back at Kael. “How about this one – ‘Take someone’s phone, send their partner a break-up text, then see how they react’.” He nudged Kael with his elbow. “You think you’ve got the guts to do it to Leona?”

Kael paused, cards hovering mid-air. “Are you crazy? That’s asking for trouble!” But even as he said it, his eyes flickered toward Leona’s phone – sleek, black, and unlocked, since Leona never bothered with passcodes around his dorm mates. The other students had stopped their game, all eyes now on the two of them.

“C’mon, you’re always saying you’re not scared of anyone in this dorm,” Ruggie goaded, his voice low enough not to rouse Leona. “Plus, it’s just a text – we can delete it right after! He’ll never even know.”

After a moment of hesitation, Kael set his cards down. “Fine. But if I get my head bitten off, it’s your fault." Quietly, Kael slipped off his seat and crept toward the coffee table. The room had gone almost completely silent, every student holding their breath as he reached out and picked up Leona’s phone. His hands were slightly shaky as he pulled up the messages app, scrolling until he found your name – the contact was saved simply with a heart emoji next to it, a small detail that made Kael pause for just a second before tapping to open the conversation.

Ruggie had moved to stand behind him, whispering over his shoulder. “Just type it – ‘we need to break up.’ That’s all.”

With one last nervous glance at Leona, Kael typed the words and hit send. The message whooshed away, appearing as a blue bubble in the chat thread. Before he could even exhale in relief, a heavy hand clamped down on his wrist, fingers wrapping around it like iron bands.

“What do you think you’re doing with my phone?”

Leona’s voice was low and dangerous – no trace of sleep left in it. His crimson eyes were narrowed to slits as he stared down at Kael, who’d frozen solid in place. The phone was still in Kael’s grasp, the break-up message glaring up at them both from the screen.

In a single, fluid motion, Leona snatched his phone back. His thumb flew across the screen, finding the message and hitting delete before Kael could even stammer out an excuse. The blue bubble vanished in an instant, but the damage – or at least, the attempted damage – had already been done.

Leona stood up to his full height, and the entire room seemed to shrink around him. “So you not only thought up this stupid stunt, you egged him on too?” He tossed his phone to another nearby Savanaclaw student, Jomo – “Record this. Take photos too. I want them to see this."