ROLEPLAY HQ - unlikely-roommates

Alex grunted quietly to herself as she struggled with her key in the lock of the flimsy dorm-room door, muttering quietly under her breath. "Oh come on you piece of crap door...". Pausing she steps back a moment, reaching both hands up to push back through her curls that had grown steadily more insane atop her head the more stressed she had gotten. She had complained just prior to the summer about the door lock sticking and had hoped once she got back it would have been fixed. Sighing she stared at the door, like meeting an old foe. Preparing herself she rolls her shoulders back, clicking her neck side to side and moving a few steps even further back. "Well now you've done it..." she hisses towards the door. Taking a slight run up she jumps from the floor, twisting to ram her shoulder right against the lock. Sure enough, the door gave way and swung open with a bang. Alex managed to keep her balance, just about, looking through into the dorm room. They were basic, but she was used to it after the previous years. It had even began to feel like home. Picking her luggage up from the hallway she pushed her way through the door and into the intimate 2 bed 1 bathroom student dorm. On the left the wall was littered with posters, sticky-notes and polaroid photo's documenting her last 2 years in university. The otherside... welll. Alex stopped for a moment staring at the blank wall alongside the second bedroom in the small room. Her room-mate, Suzanne, had unfortunately had to drop out following some family trouble back home. She was a foreign exchange student but Alex and her had always been close since they had been matched up for a dorm room in their first year. This was her first year without her, and Alex couldn't help but think it would be a lonely one. She had asked around her circle of friends for anyone who would be willing to put themselves forwards to fill the space, but once she had found someone they had been informed that the room was already rented out. Al

10:43 AM

ex propped her luggage up at the end of her bed, deciding she would unpack in a little while. It took a few hours of travelling to get from her family home to the university and she was fairly exhausted. In addition, she had no doubt there would be some first-night parties happening later she was keen to be re-energised for. Alex dropped herself down onto her bed, laying back on it and staring at the cieling a moment. Her mind kept drifting to who could possibly be filling the empty second bed in her room. What would they be like... were they a current student? A new student? Would they be friends or would it be some insufferable know-it-all coming in to dull her sparkle. Only time would tell... and as she dwelled on that, she allowed herself to doze off into a slight snooze. @Deleted User

“I promise, I’m fine!” Mason had his cell phone tucked on his shoulder as his hands were both full, trying to haul luggage out of the trunk of his car. His mother was on the other line of the call. She tried to insist that he needed some kind of help settling in- but this wasn’t new to him. This would be Mason’s third year. The routine was familiar by now. “I have to go. Talk to you later.” Mason was lucky to have a vehicle this year. He worked tedious summer jobs serving food at a restaurant to save money just for this reason. His roommate, Andrew, from the last two years wanted to have an off-campus apartment but it was ultimately decided to be too expensive for what they could both afford and were meant to stay together in a dorm again. It didn’t bother Mason any- he hardly spent much time there as he preferred to study in a library or coffee shop. There were designated parking spaces that students had to pay for prior to arriving, and it was not very far from the entrance to the building. Mason dragged his rolling bags toward the sidewalk and ignored the stares of other students passing by with empty hands. His black boots scuffed along the pavement and he finally made it to the entrance. It was quiet. The lights that lined the painted walls of the hallway were bright, and the tiles didn’t creak. The staircase was empty and he began to find the designated room. Upon approaching the closed door, he sighed in relief. Finally. He pulled the ring of multiple keys out of his jacket pocket and fumbled for the correct one, and stuck it into the door handle before pulling it open entirely. There he was met with the sight of a stranger napping, who had belongings everywhere. Mason was stunned. He didn’t know what to say. “I’m so sorry- do I have the wrong room?” He frantically looked at the key again, and at the university student ID card with a piece of paper that had his information printed on it, and the number matched the one on the side of the door. *Did this

8:22 PM

stranger have the wrong room?* @👯 Bunny Dancing through Life 👯

Hearing a voice in the room with her Alex groaned slightly, reaching her arm up to cover over her head, clearly unwilling to wake up in that specific moment. She wafted her hand in the direction of the bed on the other side of the room, calling out a sleepy "That ones yours" to whomever it was that had joined her - she hadn't actually listened to what was said or the voice, and just figured whoever had come into her room must be the new room-mate. It would take several more minutes before she would finally blink open her eyes and sit upright on her single bed. Her curls on the side she had been laying on were pressed flat and standing almost upright on their own. Her bleary eyes blinked a few times to try and clear that sleepy daze and she looked over towards the figure in the room. Almost instantly, Alex's brows furrowed as she took in the sight of Mason stood there, looking somewhat confused it seemed. "Wha.... what the fuck do you want?" She grumbled, reaching her palms up to rub the last of the sleep from her eyes. "Look, I told Andrew last time he contacted me that I'm not interested anymore, so if he's sent you to plead on his behalf just save your breath. I blocked him for a reason and at this point it's just getting pathetic" Sighing heavily Alex finally stood from her bed, reaching up to ruffle free the flattened curls as she peered around at her luggage she had yet to unpack.... and at the luggage at Mason's side. The sight if it made her freeze in place, and she glanced between the suitcases and Mason a few times. "Please tell me you're just dropping those off for my new room-mate." @Deleted User

Mason stood with a blank expression on his face. He took a few small steps into the room, surprised of the acceptance the woman had. It wasn’t until she sat up that he realized. Oh. This wasn’t a stranger. He felt his heart pound in his chest as he listened to her voice- he disliked confrontation. “Andrew has nothing to do with this. Actually, he’s supposed to be here. Right where you’re sleeping.” He was certain that this had to be some sort of misunderstanding. “No, no. Look.” Mason quickly knelt down to one of his suitcases and unzipped it, reaching for a folded piece of paper that sat on top. He unfolded it and glanced at it quickly before reaching over to pass it to her. Surely enough, the text written at the top of the sheet in bold print had his full name and the number of the room. In smaller print below, it had the name of the building and directions on how to get there. He held out his hand which had a singular gold key. “Either you’re in the wrong room, or.. well, I think you have the wrong room.” His eyes narrowed, and he stood firmly in his place. “While you figure it out, and find out where you’re supposed to be, I’m going to start unpacking my crap.” Mason pulled each of his suitcases to the side of the room and opened one of the closet doors. It wasn’t very spacious but it would be suitable for his jackets and button-downs. He began to pull the neatly folded clothes out of one of the bags. A part of him wanted to call Andrew and figure out exactly where he was, and why he was not at the room yet. @👯 Bunny Dancing through Life 👯

Alex let out a snort-laugh at the comment about Andrew meant to be in the room, she couldn't think of any face she would less like to see at that very given moment. "Look... Andrew has been here, right here, right where I'm sleeping.... and it will be a cold day in hell when I allow that to ever happen again." she crossed her arms tightly under her chest, glowering in Mason's direction. Her foot tapped annoyingly on the hardwood floor of the dorm room as she watched him unzip his suitcase, her face screwing up and she was about to yell at him not to bother unpacking as he wasn't staying when he pulled out the paper. Her eyes stared at it in his hand for a moment before reaching out to take it, scanning over it. Sure enough, the confirmation of the dorm room was her buidling and room number. Someone in the administration office either made a terrible mistake or was trying to have some fun of their own. "Look, I don't have the wrong room. This has been my dorm room for the last few years I've been here and I had confirmation that I was here again before the end of last term. Suzie may have left but it was confirmed I wasn't going anywhere." with a flick of her wrist she tosses the letter back in his general direction before marching across the room over to him, coming to stand at his side and pressing her hand on the closet door he had opened to quickly slam it shut again, not caring if his hands were inside it or not in that given moment. "What do you think you're doing?! You can't stay here!" she attempts to step between him and the closet, pointing angrily to the door. "You're gunna go and find out who's cock-up this is and get them to fix it. I can't spend a year in this room with you. Andrew will probably try and get you to record me sleeping or something else messed up... and absolutely I am not going to have anything here that gives him a reason to visit" @Deleted User

Mason just continued to hum to himself and carry on unpacking his belongings. This wasn’t his problem. Three more shirts, another jacket, and some jeans. The shirts had small wrinkles throughout the fabric but it wasn’t something a simple iron later on couldn’t fix. He pulled out a plastic bag containing shower products. Nothing had spilled. He tried to ignore the prolonged complaints but it wasn’t happening. Mason stood up, dusted himself off and looked at Alex. “I’m going to say this, one more time. You look intelligent, sweetheart. Read the paper. Read the numbers. This is the right room. Do you have papers?” How would he know that she wasn’t in the wrong room instead? At that moment he wished that he had spent the extra money for one of those single-bed suites. Mason felt a familiar hum in the pocket where his phone rested. Missed call: Andrew. One new voicemail. He sighed and swiped the screen to unlock it, and held the phone by his ear to listen to the voicemail. It was about damn time that he had an answer. A message began in his friend’s familiar voice. ’Hey, it’s Andrew. Obviously you know that because it’s my number. Anyway. I guess some plans changed and I’m not going to be staying on campus this year. My parents are paying for me to stay at an apartment on Fifth Street. It’s not far from you at all. Sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner, man. Good luck and maybe we’ll have drinks sometime.’ Beep. End message. Mason sighed. What a friend to ditch him. Now he was stuck in this predicament. A heads up weeks ago would have been polite. Without a word, he began to flip through some more paperwork to find a phone number of someone who was in charge of dormitory pairings. @👯 Bunny Dancing through Life 👯

The fact that Mason was not acting like he was as equally stressed by the current situation as she was did little more than drive her even more insane and he seemed to be merely unpacking his stuff around her rather than letting her get in the way. For a moment, Alex just stood looking bewildered at him before taking a deep breath and a huff just as he stood and actually acknowledged her. Though... that didn't go quite so well. "SWEETHEART?!" Alex's face practically caught fire with how red it got from his statement, and instead she pulled back open his wardrobe door and reached in to grab everything inside, all at once, yanking it back out the wardrobe and tossing the clothing right up at him. Following that she marched straight past him, attempting to bump his shoulder as she went and opened her bedside drawer. The contents were of course in no way organised or sorted as she rummaged through, throwing various items like nail varnish and files, headphones, random pieces of paper and condoms across her bed. "Fine, here, as you don't believe me!" she pulls out a 3-folded letter, sending it flying at Mason with a flick of her wrist. Should he choose to read it, the letter would be a confirmation of Suzie's departure and Alex's renewal, confirming the building name and room number clearly in the text, concluding with how happy they were for Alex to be staying another year. Of course it was generically written, but it confirmed she was in the correct place either way. As Mason put his phone to his ear, Alex heard a familiar voice echoing from the phone. Her face screwed up and she rolled her eyes when she realised he was listening to a voicemail. "God, you know what? I can see why you and Andrew are friends. You're both Jackass's." she turns back around to her bed, starting to throw everything back away in the drawer in no orderly fashion before moving to sit in the middle of the bed, cross legged and looking at Mason expectantly. @Deleted User

Mason just stood and watched in disbelief, with his brows furrowed and arms crossed. His eyes scanned the thrown clothes and he wasn’t sure what to say. The clock kept ticking by and all he wanted was just a place to rest and get comfortable after his travels from home. “Clearly.. it was sarcasm.” He muttered and snatched the paper that was thrown to him. He read it briefly and handed it back over. Sure enough, the details were the same. How could this be? He was already irritated by the lack of commitment from Andrew. Mason sighed and didn’t move an inch from where he stood against the wall. “I’m not a jackass. I was the one who got abandoned,” he stated, “and I can’t call someone a friend who would do that. But I doubt you care. Anyway. Let’s just resolve this.” The sun flickered through the edge of the curtain to the window and soon it would be late afternoon. “Neither of us are at fault here. Obviously it’s some kind of mistake. If this was your room first, then it was. Just tell me who to call. Or you do it, if you don’t trust me.” Mason felt defeated, and didn’t want to make the argument worse. @👯 Bunny Dancing through Life 👯

As Mason's energy seemed to deplete rather quickly following Alex' sudden outburst she let out a heavy sigh, throwing her head back and leaning back on the wall. How was it she went from full on rage one moment to feeling sorry for the guy the next? Maybe it was because she, too, had been on the receiving end of dealing with Andrew's last minute changes of plan or drop-outs. "look, I'm sorry, I just wan't expecting all... this... today." she gestured around the room at the situation in general. Leaning forwards on her knees, legs still crossed, she took back the letter and smoothed it out on the bed, before reaching for her phone. She said nothing else as she scanned the letter for the phone number of the residency office and tapped it in. Rising from the bed she moved and walked out the room just as the person at the other end answered, her voice fading as she closed the door behind her... Minutes later the door would burst open as she storms back in, clearly her rage dialled all the way back up to 10 as she screams into the phone. "Well thanks for nothing Larry! And don't think I won't be speaking to the dean about this!" hanging up she throws her phone into the pillow on her bed before following it, face first, to scream into the fabric. After a moment of silence she finally looks back up, taking a deep breath and throwing her hands up. "Apparently, some moron just saw my name and that there was a space available and assumed I must be a guy so put you in here. They've said that they are at full capacity this year in the dorms and there's no where they could move either of us to, so the only option would be for one of us to find a private rental off campus." her eyes narrowed as she peered at Mason, almost expecting him to come up with some sort of solution that would remove him from the vicinity. "Where has Andrew swanned off to anyway? Found himself another girl to mooch off of and tried to move in with her?" @Deleted User

Mason continued to lean with his hands in his pockets, nodding in agreement - the situation was frustrating. “There’s no way they could move one of us? That’s ridiculous. Private rentals are insanely expensive…” Mason didn’t have a job near the campus yet. He worked throughout the summer to store some cash in his savings but it wouldn’t be enough to leave yet. He planned on searching as soon as he settled in. Which didn’t appear to be happening any time soon. He shuffled over to the unoccupied bed and took a seat before explaining the voicemail he received from Andrew. “The original plan was for us to dorm together, just like the last two years. Andrew said he wanted to move off campus and I guess he ended up actually doing it. His parents are paying for it. It’s a single bed studio apartment. Never mentioned anything about a new girlfriend,” Mason sighed, “It’s shitty. He didn’t invite me, or tell me. What kind of friend does that?” Mason ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it back flat. He supposed he couldn’t rely on someone else for a solid plan for too long. “Who ever was in control of organizing this was an idiot. I can only assume that the office hours are closed by now. It’s getting late.” Mason began to panic in his thoughts, wondering what he could do. There was no way he would be able to sleep here. That would be weird. What was he supposed to do? Get a hotel room? No, that was too expensive. Pack up and go back home? That would take too long. Classes begin the following Monday. This time was supposed to be for unwinding and planning ahead. @👯 Bunny Dancing through Life 👯

Rolling over, Alex sighed looking at the ceiling above her before finally sitting upright again, turning to lean her back against the wall alongside her bed as she watched Mason shuffle to the other bed. It caused a twitch in her lip, wanting to scream at him again to not dare get comfortable but... even she had realised they were out of options for resolving the situation that day. The moving trucks had left, most people were already settled and indeed, the offices would be shutting up around now too. Alex brought her knees up a little infront of her, draping her arms over them as she would listen to him talk about the agreement with Andrew. She scoffed a little, rolling her eyes as explained what had happened. She felt sorry for him and, them having something relatable to each other in getting screwed over by the guy, made her warm to Mason. Just a little. "That sounds just like him. He's the kind of guy whose only with you whilst you're of use to him. Show him you're good on your own, or he gets a better offer, and he's out of there. Guys a Selfish Prick... you should probably stop calling him your friend." Slowly she would shuffle back off the bed, moving to her own luggage she hadn't yet unpacked. It wasn't much, as most she had left behind, just some everyday clothes and a few new outfits. Lifting it to the bed she opened it up, starting to sort her stuff into her wardrobe. "You know if you wanted to upset him you could probably send him a picture or something to show you're with me..." She would laugh quietly, shaking her head. "He was still trying to blow up my phone over the summer at least so it would probably get under his skin. You know... teach him a lesson for being a dickhead." Finally she would turn, peering at Mason, then his stuff. "We should probably come up with some ground rules yeah? Tie on the door if you have company and don't want me walking in, no using each other's beds for anything, and... probably have to change in the bathroom

1:45 PM

? This is going to be a nightmare." @Deleted User