“Go, go, go, go, go!”

“Stop flapping your damn wings, I can’t hold this damn thing if you’re in the air!”

“I got the door, go!”

The instant the door was open wide enough, Soledad Caballero dropped her half of the couch and flew to the other end. She pushed the older girl to the side and shoved as hard as she could; the legs of the couch screeched in protest against the hardwood flood, but scraped its way into the dorm regardless. As soon as it was in, she whirled around, yanked the other in, and slammed the door shut.

With a cheer that echoed between the walls, Soledad threw a hand up.

“Victory! Team Prevail’s first battle of the Furniture Wars has been won!” she yelled. “Sister dearest, you were an invaluable asset! High five me!”

Her sister crossed her arms and quirked an eyebrow. “Glad to have helped, but maybe next time, you can ask your teammates?”

Soledad winced, dropping her arm. “Mayra, come on, I told you they’re busy…”

“So do it later?”

“Carlito’s team would be back by then!” she shot back. Then, she paused. “Well… They would have been there before we could start, anyway.”

Mayra let out a sigh and turned to look deeper into the room. Soledad felt a prick of shame, but her pride was quick to replace it with annoyance. She put her hands on her hips and fluttered her wings.

“What’s the big deal? I know Furniture Wars are supposed to be a team-building thing, but why can’t it be a family thing, too?”

“Sol…”

She shook her head. “C’mon, didn’t you miss us last year, being the only Caballero on campus? Lupe might be the calmest of us, but I know you had to be lonely with him graduated. Don’t you want to spend some time with your baby siblings?”

“Sol—”

“I know, I know, we had the whole summer,” she sighed, “But isn’t it different without parental supervision? Being somewhere a little more civilized than—”

“Sol!”

Mayra grabbed her by the shoulders and whirled her around; when the world stopped spinning, it came to a complete halt.

A girl stared back at them with wide eyes and a set of bedsheets in her hands.

For a moment, the room was silent. The girl was frozen like a deer in the headlights, and Soledad wasn’t sure she looked much different. Embarrassment crawled up the back of her neck as she realized she’d been present for the whole outburst.

Mayra—a godsend, that woman –took a step forward, leaving one hand on her sister’s shoulder. “You must be the new team leader,” she said. “Terra, right? I think one of my buddies was your RA.”

Soledad’s heartbeat sped up as her brain caught up to Mayra’s. Right… Right, Tali had gotten all of her stuff out this morning (loud and rudely, for doing so before any of the others had woken up). Which meant that the swap was happening today.

Oh, god. This was their new leader’s first impression of her.

Terra hesitantly nodded and curled in on herself, making herself look smaller, and wow, this girl was strikingly tiny. Even with the thick soles of her boots, she was barely tall enough to reach Soledad’s shoulder. She was thin—not nearly as bone-thin as Adela, but a lot more than Chika or even her own muscular body type. It looked like most of her weight was in fat instead of muscle, anyway, but there wasn’t even much of that. Sol started to worry if this girl was eating enough.

She was yanked out of her thoughts by a not-so-gentle shove, and Mayra raised her eyebrows and jerked her head towards Terra. Letting out a noise of realization, she scurried over and held out a hand.

“Yes—Yes! I’m Soledad,” she introduced, flashing a big smile. “Forgive my lack of greeting; I didn’t realize you were here!”

When Terra made no move to shake her hand, Soledad reached down and took it on her own, shaking it firmly.

“Truly, it’s an honor to meet you,” she continued without waiting for a response. “We had trouble with our previous leader, but let me assure you, I have no plans on repeating the past. I will follow your lead and guidance wherever it may take us… As long as you’re kind, that is. The right thing over loyalty, and all that, you know.”

Terra only stared at her with big, blue, frightened eyes; her mouth opened and shut, not unlike a fish out of water.

“Oh my god, you’re so dramatic,” Mayra groaned. She walked over and pulled their hands apart, keeping hold of Terra’s as she shot a glare at Soledad. “Don’t mind her,” she said to Terra, “And don’t let her freak you out about being team leader. There’s no pressure, especially when you’re first starting out. And you can’t be any worse than the one they had before.”

“I would be shocked if you managed it,” Soledad added.

Pulling her hand away, Terra clutched the sheets to her chest and looked at the floor. “Um… Thanks,” she said, voice shaking ever so slightly. “It’s nice to meet you, too. I, uh… I like your wings.”

Soledad blinked, and then she pushed one out to look at it. Its black and red scales glinted in the early afternoon light pouring in from the window, sending specs of light all over the bunkbeds and couch that sat between.

“Oh, thank you! I inherited them from our grandmother!”

Terra smiled a bit and glanced up and away. “Well… They’re pretty.”

Oh, Terra was going to be such a nice change for Team Prevail.

“Thank you, I appreciate that,” Soledad sincerely said. “Would you like some help unpacking? I have nothing else to do today, and I’m sure Mayra would be willing to lend a hand, too.”

Mayra glared at her. “What have I told you about volunteering me for things without asking?”

“Oh, come on! You’re not gonna say no, are you?” Soledad took Terra’s face in her hands and turned her to show her off to Mayra. “How can you deny helping this sweet face?!”

“No, it’s okay!” Terra exclaimed. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to; I’m okay on my own!”

Mayra stared her down for a long moment, hand on her chin. Soledad leaned down and put her face next to Terra’s. She put on her best puppy dog eyes and waited.

Finally, Mayra sighed and shook her head. “Alright, alright. Not because of you—” She jabbed a finger into Soledad’s forehead. “—But because I like you, Terra, and because you’re forced to take care of my little sister. It’s the least I can do.”

Terra stared at her for a moment, mouth slightly parted open. “Oh… Really?” she quietly asked. “Are you sure?”

Soledad looked at her and stood up straight. “Of course we are,” she said with a smile. “We’re teammates now, right? It’s what we’re here f—”

Someone pounded on the door, startling all three of them.

“Sol! May!” a voice cried. “Give us our damn couch back!”

The Caballeros beamed and stepped in front of Terra, moving into defensive stances.

“You want it so bad, little bro? Come take it!” Mayra called.

“Two against one, though! Sure you’re up for it?” Soledad added.

The door slammed open, and there stood a boy with matching scars and dark, curly hair as the other two. Unfortunately, he wasn’t alone; three girls stood behind him, all ready to leap into action.

“Who said I was alone?” Carlito sneered.

Soledad threw a hand up, and a wall of light covered the open door just as the four charged forward; they slammed into it and tumbled to the floor.

“Hey!”

“Unfair!”

Mayra whacked Soledad’s arm with the back of her hand, ignoring the yelp she got in reply. “You can’t use Abilities like that in Furniture Wars, idiot!”

“Why not?” she shot back. “There are no official rules!”

“It’s not any fun if you just block us out like that!” Carlito exclaimed.

“Especially when it’s our couch.”

Soledad huffed and rolled her eyes. “Fine. But…” She turned to look at Terra. “You have to help!”

She blanched. “W-What?!”

“Oh, immediate team bonding! Good idea!” Mayra said.

“But I don’t even know what’s happening!”

“Okay, okay, proper time out,” Carlito ordered. He got to his feet and started helping his teammates up. “Let’s get everyone up to speed before we break the sound barrier.”

“We’ve been doing Furniture Wars since the first day,” Soledad pointed out. Regardless, she waved a hand, and the barrier fell.

The shortest (and prettiest) girl of Carlito’s team— Nova, was her name? –shrugged and leaned on the door frame. “Team Slayers hasn’t been participating in anything that’s not mandatory. They’ve just been holed up in their room.” She looked at Terra and winked. “Except you, at the party. You’re cool.”

Terra forced a weak smile and looked away. Mayra put a hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t worry; Furniture Wars is pretty simple,” she started. “It’s a long running tradition at Schesi. Everyone’s participated at least a few times before they graduate.”

Soledad grinned at her. “You pretty much just steal furniture from each other’s cabins and see what you can get. Anything is fair game: beds, couches, dressers, and so on.”

“But you’re not allowed to take personal belongings,” Carlito said. “And you can’t use Abilities to directly prevent people from getting things, like Soledad did. But if they help you otherwise, they’re free to use. So, like, if you have telekinesis, you can move the furniture with it. But you can’t move other stuff to completely block someone in to keep them from getting it.”

“And it’s typically BM to take stuff from people who aren’t playing,” Mayra said, “But most teams are in. It’s fun, and it keeps everyone on their toes!”

“You wanna give it a shot?” Carlito asked.

Terra’s eyes flicked between everyone, and then she took half a step back. “I do, but… Not if I’m going to be in the way. I don’t know if I’ll be any help…”

“Nonsense!” Soledad exclaimed. “Everyone has something unique to bring to the wars!”

“We’ll even go a bit easy on you,” the tallest girl said.

For a moment, Terra was quiet. Soledad braced herself for rejection when she lowered the sheets.

“…Okay,” she quietly accepted. “I’ll try.”

The Caballeros all let out triplet whoops of joy, throwing their fists in the air. Soledad grabbed her hands and held them to her chest.

“You will not regret this, dearest leader!” she exclaimed. “This is going to be the most fun you’ve had all week!”

“Sooo, does this mean the time-out is over?” one of the other two girls asked.

Mayra and Soledad looked at each other and shrugged. “Yeah, I think so.”

“Great!”

In an instant, she and the other hoisted the couch into their arms and booked it out of the room. Mayra squawked and rushed after them, shoving Nova and Carlito away as they tried to hold her back.

Soledad dropped one of Terra’s hands and used the other to drag her along into battle.

“Let the games begin!”