Final Board Update:
TYREL – FINAL SHORTLIST
LaTasha Williams Danielle Cruz Melina Vega (Wildcard activated)“We need to choose wisely,” Sarah said ominously.
“Oh, I won’t,” Tyrel replied.
“Now,” Marisol said, turning with a grin, “let’s move on to Ravi’s list.”
Ravi straightened his colr. “Okay. I am ready. Let’s be logical. Let’s be dignified.”
“You tried to flirt with a cashier at the campus bookstore by quoting Newton’s Laws,” Tyrel whispered.
Ravi gred. “They were accurate.”
Sarah spun her clipboard like a sword. “Alright. Our next victim-sorry, volunteer-is Ravi. Bachelor #2. Future corpse.”
Cami grinned. “Let’s see what beautiful disasters await him.”
Tyrel leaned over to Ravi, whispering, “Brace yourself, dawg. These women ‘bout to dismantle your hopes like Ikea furniture.”
“I am mentally prepared,” Ravi said, sitting cross-legged like a monk. “I have fasted. I have prayed. I have-”
“You tried to flirt with the cashier at Waffle House and called her a ‘data packet,’” Bharath reminded him.
“I have evolved since then.”
Marisol held up a profile sheet with tabs and sparkles. “Ravi’s matches are a special bunch. Equal parts cute, chaotic, and probably smarter than him.”
“Hey!”
Nandita Rao
Photo: Loose kurti, a ponytail scrunchie, and a Sailor Moon keychain peeking from her library badge nyard. She’s mid-ugh, slightly blurred, like the camera was afraid to interrupt her vibe.
“She’s an Electrical Engineering freshman,” Sarah began. “Works at the campus library part-time. That’s where we met her. Super sweet.”
“Helped us find a lost psych textbook,” Marisol added. “Also gave us snacks from her bag. Who does that?”
“Bollywood fan,” Cami chimed in. “And anime. She had a Sailor Jupiter sticker on her water bottle.”
“She’s too pure for Ravi,” Tyrel said solemnly.
“I will watch a Hindi movie every day if that’s what it takes,” Ravi decred.
“Her vibe is girl-next-door meets tech goddess,” Sarah added. “But she’s lowkey competitive. She beat a dude at Minesweeper and said, ‘No mercy in the algorithm.’”
Ravi clutched his chest. “That’s it. That’s the one.”
“You just said that about three people,” Jorge noted.
“I am spiritually flexible,” Ravi replied.
“I think she’s adorable,” Cami said. “But maybe too quiet for someone who literally narrates his own chess moves.”
“She deserves peace,” Marisol said.
“She also deserves someone who understands transformers,” Sarah countered.
“That’s me!” Ravi shot up. “I know resistors! I cried watching Transformers!”
“Not a resistor,” Marisol muttered, “but noted.”
Priya Singh
Photo: Cropped top, jeans, messy braid, bindi, and a suspiciously sarcastic smirk. She’s holding a chai cup like it’s full of secrets.
“Psych major,” Cami said. “Gemini. Born to judge.”
“Fluent in sarcasm and Bollywood fight scenes,” Sarah added.
“She has a pylist titled Songs to Psychoanalyze Your Crush To,” Marisol said.
“She once live-read a guy’s body nguage and correctly guessed his ex’s star sign,” Cami continued.
“I want her to ruin me,” Ravi said too quickly.
Bharath choked on his soda. “Macha. Control!”
“She’s the type to say ‘you’re projecting’ in the middle of an argument and be right,” Sarah said.
“She will therapize your childhood,” Marisol added.
“I need closure anyway,” Ravi whispered.
“She’s too smart,” Tyrel warned. “She gon’ diagnose you before the appetizers.”
“I’ll bring her a couch,” Ravi said. “First date, IKEA trip.”
“She’s a power move,” Cami concluded. “Could either stabilize you or destroy you.”
“I welcome both,” Ravi said with stars in his eyes.
Ami Banerjee
Photo: Big gsses, nose ring, green shawl, and a backpack shaped like a frog. She’s barefoot on a patch of grass, grinning like a kid on a field trip.
“She’s studying biology,” Marisol said. “Volunteers at the botanical garden and the herpetology b.”
“She once gave CPR to a samander,” Sarah added.
“She is the human equivalent of herbal tea,” Cami said. “And I mean that lovingly.”
“She helped create a frog-themed zine for Earth Day,” Marisol said.
“Her dorm smells like eucalyptus and rebellion,” Sarah added.
“Too crunchy?” Cami asked.
“She calls her menstrual cup ‘Moon Commander,’” Sarah said.
Ravi tilted his head. “So she’s thoughtful… earthy… a bit unpredictable…”
“She talks to pnts,” Cami said.
“So does my paati in Chennai,” Bharath muttered.
“I don’t hate this,” Ravi admitted.
“She’s chill,” Tyrel said. “You need someone chill.”
“I don’t know if I’m compostable enough for her,” Ravi said.
“She might try to detox your chakras,” Marisol noted.
“I have chakras?” Ravi blinked.
“Debatable,” Sarah replied.
Leslie Mendez
Photo: Short bob, leather jacket, smoky eye, and a book titled The Metaphysics of Doom Pop. The kind of girl who doesn’t smile, but somehow still flirts.
“Art history major,” Sarah said. “Leo. Writes reviews on cassette tape.”
“She carries five perfumes and changes them depending on who she wants to intimidate,” Cami said.
“She ghosted a guy by mailing him a postcard that just said ‘Later,’” Marisol added.
“She’s what happens when you major in vibes,” Sarah said.
“She once asked a guy what font he cried in,” Cami said.
“She has a conspiracy wall,” Marisol said.
“I think I love her,” Ravi whispered.
“She’s danger,” Sarah said. “Like, full spice rack danger.”
“She’d demand a pre-date mood board,” Cami said.
“I have a printer,” Ravi offered.
“She’d tell you she liked your potential and then not call for three days,” Marisol said.
“Worth it,” Ravi nodded.
“She scares me,” Tyrel said. “And I like scary women.”
Meghan Roberts
Photo: Messy bun, Discman clipped to jeans, arms crossed, notebook titled Things I’ll Never Forgive. Caught mid-side-eye.
“She’s a journalism major,” Cami said. “But not the nice kind.”
“She wrote an editorial titled Death to Glitter Pens,” Marisol said.
“She believes dreams are government propaganda,” Sarah deadpanned.
“She collects rejection letters,” Cami added.
“She will absolutely ghost you by quoting Sylvia Pth,” Marisol said.
“She sounds intense,” Ravi said.
“Okay, so maybe not that one,” Ravi admitted.
“She’d wreck your confidence, then gift-wrap the remains,” Cami said.
“Beautiful writing, though,” Ravi muttered.
“Absolutely not,” Sarah said. “You’d end up in her diary. As a metaphor.”
Wildcard Reminder: Melina Vega
Sarah circled the name in aggressive strokes and underlined it twice.
“She’s already haunting Tyrel’s dreams,” Cami said.
“She’s now on both boards,” Marisol added. “Floating like a beautiful time bomb.”
“She carries pepper spray in her purse and ambition in her blood,” Sarah said.
“I’d let her destroy my GPA,” Ravi said.
“Back off,” Tyrel growled.
“You can’t copyright a woman, man.”
“She’s not a startup,” Tyrel snapped. “She’s a phenomenon.”
Sarah stepped back from the whiteboard. “Alright. Decision time.”
Ravi leaned forward, fists clenched.
“Girls’ huddle,” Cami announced.
The three girls closed in around the clipboard, whispering, arguing, peeking at notes.
Ravi turned to Bharath. “I can’t breathe.”
“You said you were prepared,” Bharath replied.
“That was before Leslie. That was before Moon Commander. I wasn’t ready for all this nuance.”
“They’re taking too long,” Tyrel muttered.
“What if they eliminate Nandita?” Ravi whispered. “I’ll die.”
“What if they keep Leslie?” Jorge added. “You’ll still die.”
The girls finally broke formation.
Sarah turned to face the group.
“In the sacred spirit of petty chaos,” she said, “we present…”
She wrote them on the board.
Final Shortlist - Ravi
Nandita Rao
Priya Singh
Melina Vega (Wildcard)
Ravi gasped. “They live! My girls live!”
Tyrel exhaled. “I can’t believe you got Nandita.”
“She’ll probably help me with circuits,” Ravi said.
“Or cut your circuit if you annoy her,” Sarah said.
“She deserves the best,” Marisol added.
“I’m willing to become the best,” Ravi said.
“You better,” Cami said, capping her marker. “Because Club Zero’s only a week away.”
Bharath looked between the names and the panic on Ravi’s face. “What happens now?”
“Now?” Sarah smiled. “Now we prep you clowns for your debut.”
Jorge raised his soda. “To love… and potential wsuits.”
Ravi just stared at the board, mouth agape. “Melina is gonna kill me.”
“And we’re gonna dress you for it,” Cami grinned.