Chapter Text
Sophia hated group projects.
She hated them in theory, hated them in practice, and hated them even more when Professor Kim decided that the semester-long songwriting collaboration would be worth forty percent of their final grade.
“Partners were assigned randomly,” Professor Kim announced.
A collective groan spread through the classroom. Sophia crossed her arms. Media and Theatre students already had enough work. Between rehearsals, directing assignments, script analysis, and production meetings, she barely slept. The last thing she needed was somebody unreliable dragging down her grade.
The projector flashed with names. Sophia scanned the list and then stopped.
Sophia Laforteza — Daniela Avanzini
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.”
A laugh sounded from three rows away. Sophia looked up.
Daniela was already staring at the screen. “You’ve got to be kidding me too.”
Perfect. Absolutely perfect. Out of everyone at NYU’s prestigious School of the Arts, she’d been paired with Daniela. The girl she’d been arguing with for nearly two years.
It wasn’t even a real drama-filled rivalry. Those at least had entertaining stories. No, their feud had started because Daniela was annoying. Or, according to Daniela, because Sophia was annoying.
The details depended on who was telling the story. Sophia remembered exactly when it started.
Freshman year - an interdisciplinary performance showcase. Theatre students and dance students had been forced to collaborate.
Sophia had suggested cutting a dance sequence because it slowed down the narrative. Daniela had informed her that not everything revolved around dialogue. Sophia had informed Daniela that storytelling required actual story. Daniela had informed Sophia that she sounded insufferable. Sophia had informed Daniela that she wasn’t wrong.
They’d been sniping at each other ever since. Now they were partners for four whole months.
Sophia contemplated dropping the class. Unfortunately she needed the credit. Daniela apparently did too, because neither of them disappeared after class. Instead they approached each other with identical expressions of suffering.
“This is terrible,” Daniela said.
“You don’t say.”
“We should establish ground rules.”
Sophia narrowed her eyes. “Ground rules?”
“So we don’t kill each other.”
“Fair.”
Daniela nodded, looking mildly annoyed. “We only communicate about the project.”
“Fine.”
“No unnecessary comments.”
“Great.”
“No criticism unless it’s constructive.”
Sophia raised an eyebrow. “That’s specifically directed at me.”
Daniela smiled sweetly. “If the shoe fits.”
Sophia immediately regretted agreeing to this partnership.
x
Their first work session lasted twenty-three minutes. Sophia knew because she’d checked the clock - twice.
The assignment seemed simple enough: write and perform an original song by the end of the semester.
They were going to be graded based on their lyrics, composition, presentation - easy enough, except Daniela wanted one thing. Sophia wanted another and compromise apparently wasn’t a language either of them spoke.
“The melody should come first,” Daniela said.
“The lyrics should come first.”
“How are you supposed to write music around words?”
“How are you supposed to write words around random notes?”
Daniela stared at her. Sophia stared back, arms crossed, challenging her. The silence stretched.
Around them, students worked peacefully - laughing, brainstorming, and actually accomplishing things. Sophia envied them.
“Maybe this is why nobody likes working with you,” Daniela muttered.
Sophia blinked. “What?”
Daniela’s eyes widened slightly. Apparently she hadn’t meant to say that out loud. Unfortunately for her, she had.
Sophia leaned back, and gave her look Daniela couldn’t read. “Nobody likes working with me?”
“That’s not what I said,” the dancer replied, not meeting the Filipina’s eyes.
“That’s literally what you said.”
“I said maybe.”
“Interesting distinction.”
Daniela groaned. “Oh my God, will you just drop it?”
Sophia crossed her arms. “You brought it up.”
“You are impossible.”
“And you’re dramatic.”
Daniela pointed at her. “See. That’s exactly what I mean.”
Sophia pointed right back. “That’s exactly what I mean,” she parroted back, mocking her.
By the time they left the library, they’d accomplished absolutely nothing.
x
That evening, Sophia complained about Daniela over dinner. Yoonchae, her roommate, listened patiently. Manon - her childhood best friend - listened less patiently.
“You’ve been talking about her for twenty minutes,” Manon said.
“I’m not talking about her,” Sophia replied quickly.
“You literally are.”
Sophia stabbed a french fry. “She’s frustrating.”
Manon raised an eyebrow. “You say that every week.”
“Because she is.”
Yoonchae hid a smile. Sophia pointed at her. “Don’t encourage this.”
“I’m not encouraging anything,” Yoonchae said, raising her hands.
“You smiled,” Sophia accused her.
“I always smile.”
“Biggest lie I’ve heard today.”
Manon exchanged a look with Yoonchae. Sophia hated that look. It was the look people gave when they thought they knew something she didn’t.
“Stop doing that,” Sophia called them out.
“Doing what?” Manon asked innocently.
“The thing.”
“What thing?”
“The look.”
Neither Yoonchae or Manon answered, which only irritated Sophia more.
x
Across campus, Daniela was having a remarkably similar conversation.
Lara nearly choked on her drink. “You’re partnered with Sophia?”
Daniela groaned. “Unfortunately.”
Megan laughed. “That’s hilarious.”
“It’s not hilarious.”
“It kind of is.”
Daniela buried her face in her hands. The worst part was that Sophia was talented, so no one was taking the dancer’s complains seriously. If Sophia had been incompetent, Daniela could’ve written off the entire project, but she wasn’t.
She was smart, creative, and dedicated. Sophia Laforteza was good at everything she cared about, which somehow made Daniela even more irritated.
“Maybe you’ll finally become friends,” Megan said.
Daniela looked horrified. Lara looked delighted.
“No,” the Latina said, mouth in a straight line.
“Why not?”
“Because she’s Sophia.”
Neither Lara nor Megan seemed convinced.
Daniela wasn’t sure why.
x
The weeks passed and the project remained unfinished - not because they weren’t working, they were - constantly. They simply spent half their time arguing.
Sophia would write lyrics. Daniela would critique them. Daniela would create melodies. Sophia would critique those. Neither appreciated being critiqued.
One rainy Thursday evening they found themselves alone in a practice room - again.
The campus had mostly emptied. Students had gone home. Outside, rain battered the windows. Inside, Daniela sat at the piano. Sophia sat beside her with a notebook.
For once, neither was speaking.
Daniela played a short sequence of notes and Sophia listened. Daniela played them again - a third time.
There was something different about it. It was softer than the Filipina had expected, and the melody was hauntingly beautiful.
Sophia looked up from her notebook. “That one’s good.”
Daniela paused. “What?”
“That melody.”
Daniela stared at her, suspicious. “You’re not making fun of me?”
“No.”
“You actually like it?”
Sophia shrugged. “It’s good.”
For some reason Daniela looked genuinely surprised. Sophia wasn’t sure why. She wasn’t incapable of compliments. She just didn’t hand them out often.
Daniela turned back toward the piano. A small smile appeared before she could stop it, then she quickly hid it.
Sophia noticed anyway and strangely, she felt something loosen. Something shifted slightly between them, but she wasn’t entirely sure what. She guessed that the shift was her realizing that maybe Daniela wasn’t so bad after all, but not enough to call Daniela a friend.
Definitely not that, but it was enough that for the next hour they worked without fighting. By the time they packed up, they actually had progress.
They made real progress - they had a rough melody, half a chorus, and several actually usable ideas.
It wasn’t much, but it was more than they’d managed in weeks.
Daniela slung her bag over one shoulder. “I’ll send you the recording.”
Sophia nodded. “Okay.”
Daniela hesitated, then said, “The lyrics weren’t bad either.”
Sophia blinked. “Thanks.”
The compliment sounded awkward coming from Daniela, almost painful in a way. Daniela looked equally uncomfortable receiving Sophia’s gratitude.
For a moment they simply stood there. Rain tapping against the windows, the hallway empty, and neither quite sure what to do.
Daniela cleared her throat. “See you Monday.”
“Yeah.” Sophia blinked at her, their eyes locked longer than necessary.
Daniela walked away. Sophia watched her disappear around the corner and frowned, because for the first time since they’d been assigned together, she hadn’t wanted the conversation to end with an argument.
x
The first person to break the news was Yoonchae. Sophia found out on a Tuesday afternoon while eating a stale blueberry muffin outside the theater building.
Yoonchae sat down beside her. She looked nervous which was unusual. Yoonchae was generally the least dramatic person Sophia knew.
“Can I tell you something?”
Sophia immediately became suspicious and concerned. “Why do you sound like that?”
“Like what?” Yoonchae asked.
“Like you’re about to confess to a crime.”
Yoonchae laughed. “I’m dating someone.”
Sophia brightened instantly. “Oh.” That was significantly better than crime. “Who?”
Yoonchae looked down and then back up and then down again.
Sophia narrowed her eyes. The hesitation felt familiar - like a child caught destroying a family heirloom, or like a friend about to betray you in a board game.
“Yoonchae.,” Sophia said.
“What?”
“Who?”
Yoonchae smiled sheepishly. “Megan.”
Sophia nearly dropped her muffin. “What?”
“Megan.”
“Daniela’s Megan?”
“There isn’t another Megan important enough around us,” the Korean said, blinking owlishly at the Filipina.
Sophia stared. Yoonchae stared back and Sophia groaned loudly enough to attract several curious looks from passing students.
“No.”
Yoonchae laughed. “Why are you reacting like this?”
“Because this affects me.”
“How?”
“It just does.”
Yoonchae’s smile widened. “You’re being dramatic.”
“I learned from the best.” Sophia threw her hands up and groaned.
“Manon?”
“Daniela.”
Yoonchae laughed so hard she almost fell off the bench.
x
The problem became apparent immediately. Yoonchae and Megan wanted to spend time together, which was normal because “young love” and all that.
The issue was that Yoonchae spent most of her time with Sophia and Manon while Megan spent most of her time with Lara and Daniela.
As a result, the two friend groups began colliding against some people’s wills. Mostly Sophia’s and Daniela’s.
The first group outing happened three days later.
Sophia arrived at a café near campus and immediately considered leaving. Everyone else was already there - including Daniela.
Daniela looked equally unhappy to see her. “You’re here.”
Sophia sat down. “So are you.”
Lara rolled her eyes. “Oh my God.”
“What?” both girls asked simultaneously.
The table immediately erupted into laughter.
Sophia hated all of them.
x
To her immense frustration, the merged friend group kept happening. They had movie nights, study sessions, lunches, coffee runs, and parties.
Somehow every week featured a new social event where Daniela existed in her vicinity.
Sophia complained constantly. Nobody listened.
“You’re surviving,” Manon said.
“Barely.”
“You literally spent four hours with her yesterday.”
“Exactly,” Sophia huffed.
“And nobody died.”
Sophia glared. “You’re missing the point.”
“What point?”
“I don’t enjoy it.”
Manon raised an eyebrow and Sophia immediately regretted speaking, because that expression meant Manon was about to become annoying.
“Do you not?” Manon asked the Filipina, a wry smile forming on her lips.
“Don’t.”
“I’m just asking.”
“Don’t.”
“Interesting.”
Sophia shoved her shoulder and Manon laughed.
x
Meanwhile, the songwriting project continued slowly and painfully, and weirdly enough - successfully.
They still argued. Of course they argued (that part seemed permanent), but the arguments felt different now. It was less hostile, less personal, and more familiar. Like they’d accidentally learned how the other person’s brain worked.
One afternoon they occupied a rehearsal room for nearly three hours.
At some point Daniela threw a crumpled piece of paper at Sophia’s head. Sophia threw one back and then another.
Soon the room looked like a battlefield. Daniela laughed and Sophia froze, not because Daniela laughing was unusual but because she’d never really noticed it before.
The sound was warm and contagious. The kind of laugh that made other people start smiling too.
Daniela caught her looking. “What?”
“Nothing.”
“You were staring.”
“I wasn’t.”
“You absolutely were.”
Sophia looked away. Daniela continued smiling, which was somehow worse.