She dropped her luggage on the floor and let herself fall on the closest one of the two beds the room hosted. Tired of the journey and of an awfully stupid conversation with her mother on the phone, Josephine didn't have any trouble at falling asleep almost inmediately.
She was so stressed, she didn't give herself an opportunity to appreciate the room. It was small, yes, but it was comfortable and wel illuminated. Each of the two beds with white sheets had a small chest in front of it, meant to store the owner's belongings and they shared a nightstand with a small lamp on it. There was also a desk, a closet and the door to the shared bathroom, and, what Jo would like the most, a small shelf on the wall with a couple of old, dusty books that seemed not to have been touched in ages.
Never would Jo have imagined she'd find herself working for an Aisle. She thought she would only be a doctor, maybe a recognised neurologist, but Aisles weren't something she aspired for. Aisles were great underground communities. Its' population could vary from the population of a small city to the numbers of Portugal. These underground "countries" were built in a way similar to the ant's colonies, and they were characterized for being auto-sufficient and almost isolated from the world on the surface. The goal of such communities was the isolation of a certain groups of humans in order to observe future development of evolution variations between the aforementioned groups and those living "normal" lives. This project had been launched recently and, given that each Aisle had its own system, they needed several services and professionals in the political, scientific, educational, etc. fields. The newborn Aisles sent individuals to observe and recruit these professionals, and were often selected from those outstanding students exiting college. That's Jo had been chosen. A formal invitation was sent to her, and she couldn't but accept such an opportunity. She had never dreamt of working for an Aisle, but there she was, in the room 83A from the British dorms, divided by age section, from the Aisle AIC21-05, also called "The Polivanov" because of its founder's surname. She wasn't going to be the only one in that room, but she wouldn't choose her roommate. She only knew that he or she would be related to her work. A colleague, possibly. Nonetheless, she wouldn't come to realize who this would be, until a bag hit her head and woke her up abruptly.
-Hey! Watch out!- she said as she sat down after her quickly improvised nap
-Sorry! I meant to throw it that way!
Jo looked at the person that had just entered the room that was now rushing towards the backpack to get it off her bed. Nice dark hair, tall, glasses and a not-so-dark-and-yet-not-light skin. Weird voice and silly walking. However, what really caught her attention was the fact tha he was a guy.
-Whoa, Joe, you have a pretty high pitched voice.- he said as he turned around
-Ehh... thanks? No offense but... Why are you a boy?
-... well I guess I was born that...- the guy turned around and finally locked eyes with Jo. - For God's sake you're a girl!
-Yes, pretty much so. Aren't these dorms divided by gender?
-I'm almost sure they are, because they told me I was sharing the room with...- he took out a bunch of papers and looked for something written on them- ...Joe Prescott- he said when he finally found it
-Oh no, please don't tell me they wrote Joe again.
-Yeah, they did.
-It's Jo! From Josephine! Dear Lord how does this happen everytime?!
-Mmm maybe you should have said Josephine Prescott instead of Jo Prescott
-I hate Josephine. It sounds awful.
-Mmm good point
-Hey! You're mean!
-Also your hair is short as hell, no surprise you were mistaken for a guy
Jo felt the impulse to wiggle her boobs in front of that guy just to show him how much of a woman she was, but luckily her conscience let her see how inappropriate that would be before she actually did anything. However, she started to develop harsh feelings for that nerdy guy who was now lying on the other bed.
-Well, I am going to fix this right now, and for your information, I am more of a woman than your mom is. -she next left the room and went to the "lobby" of that section's zone, and asked for a change. Nevertheless it seemed like they didn't want to make any changes, because no one helped at all. The only person who she could actually get to listen to her denied her as a girl, and said that he'd only believe her if she gave "physical proof" that she was. <<I'm sorry, but I ain't no slut>> she thought and had no alternative but to go back to her dorm and assume that she was stuck with that awful roommate.
-You're back man!
-Do not call me man, thank you
-Sorry man. I didn't know it bothered you.
-Fuck you
-No thanks, I think that's physically impossible
-Just don't get in my side of the room okay?
-Mhm, why would I touch that shit?
-Okay. Thank you. Now let me sleep, it's almost two in the morning
Jo lied back and slowly fell asleep. She didn't know if that guy whose name she hadn't even asked was going to work with her too. She certainly hoped not.
The guy just sat back on his bed, put on his headphones and opened his lap top willing to play Mass Effect 3. <<Welcome, Nye Keighley>> he heard his laptop say. He proceeded to play, and analysed how, deep inside, he was intimidated by that short-haired girl sleeping in front of him.
