He said, she said...coed? [Zoe]

[OoC: Zoe Imagining something like this with a bathroom and kitchen area added]

It was a she. A girl. A female. Jude had certainly not expected to be paired with a roommate of the opposite sex. This school had seemed too strict for that to be allowed. "Er... can I help you?" The girl asked. She seemed to be right at home in a big sweater and shorts. Jude gulped and began to speak, "Hey...Jude. I mean, you're not Jude. I'm Jude. Hellonicetomeetyou." He stopped to breathe and continued. "I'm supposed to be moving into this room today? Not sure if there's been a mistake." Jude took another glance at the number on the door. It was definitely the right room. After looking at the room number, Jude noticed a small camera mounted on the far window, pointed right at him. It was indeed strange but it wasn't a pressing issue at the moment--that is, as long as he didn't say anything embarrassing while being recorded. Was it just him, or was it getting hot in here?

[Zoe]

”Hi Jude... Uh, I'm Zoe.” The girl's speech had slowed down significantly compared to her initial query. Fantastic. Now she thinks I'm stupid. Jude's inner self facepalmed. Thankfully, Zoe turned around to sit at her table and started to type, allowing Jude to actually facepalm a split second later. Jude recovered slightly and followed Zoe into the room, closing the door behind him. He noticed that Zoe was extremely comfortable with her laptop. It was hard not to be impressed by those quick fingers. She was probably some sort of tech enthusiast, what with the cameras and all. Besides those, there didn't seem to be many belongings in the dorm. Jude imagined that perhaps Zoe and he could go shopping for appliances, accessories, and such. He would have to round up some cash, first, though. Poor and dumb...not a great impression to make. Soon enough, Jude's wild imagination carried him into la la land, causing him to miss what Zoe would do next.

[Zoe]

Oh, what a wonderful time. Imaginary Jude was having a blast setting up imaginary DIY furniture together with Imaginary Zoe. Something was in the way, though...it was blurry and moving. It was Real Zoe's hand. Jude snapped to his senses as Zoe coughed and informed him that they were indeed assigned as roommates. "When's your stuff supposed to get here?" She asked casually. Obviously Jude was going to have a much longer adjustment period to this new living situation. "Yeah, yeah definitely, sorry I spaced out. Temporary housing was packed so they must be making an exception to the rules. As for my stuff, you're looking at it." Jude plopped his backpack to the floor and gestured to it. Now that he thought about it, he probably did look like some ignorant kid off the streets. Brushing the now irksome dust off of his jacket, Jude tried to change the subject, "Anyways, just wanna let you know that I'm pretty quiet and I clean up after myself. I can help you with homework if you want--not that you need it or anything, I bet you're super smart. A-and if you like rice, I'm really good at making it...really good." Jude nodded profusely while biting his lip and looked expectantly at Zoe.

[Zoe]

Jude died a little bit inside when Zoe looked at his paltry belongings and whistled. On the bright side of things, at least she had sort of offered to go shopping. Although, Jude doubted that there would be any furniture assembly in the near future. This hypothesis was confirmed when Zoe turned back to her computer and started typing away again. Jude didn't mind that she didn't seem to be engaged in the conversation. After all, there was no way that anyone could be as happy about Jude moving in as he himself was.

When Jude mentioned cooking rice, Zoe swung around, looked straight at him with a serious expression, and said, "Are you for real?" He froze. Had he said something wrong? Before Jude could apologize, Zoe suddenly broke into a smile. She said, "That's wonderful! Do you know how cheap rice is? If you're good at making it, that'll save us a lot of money! I personally can't make rice without burning the bottom of the pan!" Jude let out the breath that he had been holding in this entire time. Who knew that meeting a roommate would be such an emotional roller coaster ride? Or maybe it was Jude's inaptitude around girls that made him so nervous. In any case, Jude was happy and relieved to see the smile on Zoe's face.

He laughed and responded, "I used to burn rice all the time too, but I've had lots of practice since then. It's not so hard once you get the hang of it." By 'lots of practice,' Jude meant every day for the last few years, and he knew very well how cheap rice was. He had nearly grown sick of the taste of rice, and of the taste of loneliness that came with eating each bowl on his own. Looking back at Zoe, Jude felt a glimmer of hope that his rice might one day taste sweet again. He wiped his nose with the back of his hand and continued to speak, "So, Zoe, tell me about yourself. If we're gonna be living together, you should probably tell me what you like and don't like so I can try not to get on your nerves." As he said this, Jude walked over to the vacant side of the room and plopped down on the bed.

[Zoe]

...Out of hand? Jude had experienced bad cooking, but he wondered how exactly Zoe might have trouble cooking with electric appliances. Strangely enough, she also didn't seem to have any issues with her laptop, which had to be powered by electricity. Jude would have to ask Zoe about this strange electrical affinity (or lack of one) later on. For now, he simply said, "I don't mind cooking for two. Wouldn't want us to set off the smoke alarm or have you get electrocuted...yeesh. Hope you really do like rice, though, 'cause I'm not used to making other foods. Anyways, you might be surprised, but cooking perfect rice isn't the only thing I do all day. I sleep and study a lot, like you, but I read instead of going on the computer--partly because I don't have one." Jude grinned bashfully and placed his arms behind him to lean back slightly. A cheeky line that went something like 'You like to sleep? Me too, let's do it together sometime,' came to mind, but Jude decided that it was probably better to lay off the risque humor for now. He was already living dangerously on the line between nice new roommate and idiot with no money.

[Zoe]

"Shopping, huh? That sounds great. We should make a list together." Jude replied. He meant those words in earnest, but that didn't stop him from thinking about the amount of money that he had in his wallet. It must have been something like 5 or 6 dollars. Jude resigned himself to the fact that he was going to have to dig a little deeper. There wouldn't be any way to avoid getting some necessities for the dorm. Jude typically didn't care much of what people thought of him. But since Zoe was: 1. His new, hopefully long-term roommate, 2. Someone who actually seemed nice, and 3. A girl (Jude was fully aware of his sexist social impediment but knew no way to fix it), Jude sorely wanted to maintain a good impression of himself.

Jude found himself staring into Zoe's brown eyes. With a brisk cough, he quickly shifted his sight to other areas around the room. Jude imagined that he was slipping away into the 'poor dumb guy who also is creepy' category when he noticed a pair of white gloves on Zoe's desk. Maybe she was a budding scientist? Magician? Michael Jackson enthusiast?