Again, with the daydreaming. You barely catch what your roommate says in retaliation. 

“Whatever. I said what I said," $!{roommate_name} replies as ${roommate_he_she} rips off ${roommate_his_her} coffee bean scented apron. Your roommate works at Lox’s finest coffee shop, Lox Brew, the perfect job for your often energetic roommate. 

The free pastries ${roommate_he_she} brings home from time to time is certainly a plus. 

Sensing that your roommate is about to fall into ${roommate_his_her} typical after work pattern of warming up a cheap microwavable meal for dinner, you turn back around on the couch and yawn, preparing to stretch out and maybe get a quick nap in. Your roommate was so obsessed with your love life. Apparently in the city of Lox, if you’re not joined at the hip with somebody, it’s weird.

How would you describe your love life at the moment?
*fake_choice
    #I’m going through a dry spell, for sure.
        Hey, it happens.
    #Whenever I’m ready for a relationship, I’ll get into one. No rush.
        *set formal %-5
        That’s the spirit. Don’t feel pressured. Lox is full of single people!
    #I’m single at the moment, but usually I can’t keep people away!
        *set charisma %+5
        *set fame %+5
        *set charming +1
        Ooh, well look at you, Casanova. 
    #Single and not really looking.
        *set friendly %-5
        *set aloof +1
        Gotcha.
    #That’s none of your business.
        *set snarky %+5
        *set bold %+5
        *set friendly %-5
        *set rude + 1
        Well then.

No matter what you tell your roommate, ${roommate_he_she} won’t listen to reason. Why did ${roommate_he_she} care so much about who you were tangling tongues or sheets with, anyway? It's pretty funny, given how $!{roommate_name}'s been single for as long as you could remember.

Say…have your feelings for your quite supportive roommate ever been more than friendly?
*fake_choice
    #Not at all. $!{roommate_name} and I have always been just friends and probably always will be.
        *set roommate %+10
    #Maybe...I've been too afraid to explore them because I don't want to ruin anything between us. 
        *set roommate %+10
    #No way. $!{roommate_name} is nowhere near my type.
        *set roommate %-5
    #Yes. Not that I would ever admit that though. 
        *set roommate %+10
    #Yes, and I wonder if ${roommate_he_she} has ever realized...
        *set roommate %+15

No matter what your feelings for your roommate are, $!{roommate_name} always had your best interests at heart. $!{roommate_name}'s convinced you need to be with somebody, which is why ${roommate_he_she} made a bet with you recently. If ${roommate_he_she} could come home with the numbers of every single regular at the coffee shop in a week, you would have to sign up for a dating website and go on a date.

If $!{roommate_name} couldn't get all of the numbers, ${roommate_he_she} owed you $50 in cash for each number ${roommate_he_she} wasn't able to get. Simple enough.

You easily accepted the bet. Though $!{roommate_name} was very outgoing around you and other close friends, ${roommate_he_she} often got tongue tied and overwhelmed at work, especially during rushes. Your roommate was a good worker, but sometimes ${roommate_he_she} would freak out over the littlest things. Therefore, you knew you really didn’t have much to worry about. 

$!{roommate_name} would maybe get two numbers, tops.

The microwave beeps, signaling dinner time for $!{roommate_name}, while you would likely pick a random delivery app to order off of and call it a night. As you’re mentally deciding between your favorite pasta place and your favorite fast food place, you hear your roommate snickering.

“What?” You ask, sitting up from the couch to face your roommate yet again.

*page_break

“Oh nothing,” $!{roommate_name} says in a sing-song voice. “Just looking through my contacts. Did you know that Ethel, Bax and Ryan all have the same area code?”

Your eyes widen a bit and your roommate takes this as an invitation to continue talking.

“Cici, Rebekah and Omar were very talkative today too. So much so, I ended up getting their numbers to talk more after work.”

The microwave suddenly goes off and $!{roommate_name} takes ${roommate_his_her} sweet time taking out ${roommate_his_her} food. Probably waiting on you to realize the implications of ${roommate_his_her} words. 

“So, you ready to make an account on that dating website? You know, seeing as I've very obviously won our bet?” $!{roommate_name} finishes, holding ${roommate_his_her} meal, a lasagna, in one hand as a huge smirk crosses ${roommate_his_her} face.

*fake_choice
    #“Uh, what?”
        ‘The, uh, bet?” $!{roommate_name} mocks, smirk growing even wider as ${roommate_he_she} pulls out ${roommate_his_her} cell phone and hands it to you.

        You scroll through your roommate’s messages, seeing that sure enough, ${roommate_he_she} got all of the regulars that typically came through the shop. 
        
        You also know this isn’t a fluke because ${roommate_he_she} chats about them animatedly almost daily. You might as well meet them at this point. 

        “Well, damn,” you say as you hand the phone back to $!{roommate_name}. "Guess you're right."
        
        "Always am," $!{roommate_name} says with a wink. 
    #“You’re kidding?”
        “Nope!” $!{roommate_name} says cheerily, whipping out ${roommate_his_her} cell phone to prove it.

        “Jubilee, mocha frappe with soy milk and extra chocolate chips. Ascot, large black coffee. Ricki, strawberry lemonade with five pumps of raspberry, so I guess a raspberry strawberry lemonade…”

        “Alright, alright. You won, I get it,” you grumble.

    #“Ha, very funny.”
        "Isn't it? I remember when we made the bet!” $!{roommate_name} exclaims, leaning back against the kitchen counter. $!{roommate_he_she} closes ${roommate_his_her} eyes and coughs slightly before beginning to imitate your voice.

        ‘Oh $!{roommate_name}, please. You're not going to get all of those numbers. I'm looking forward to getting all that cash from you!’

        $!{roommate_he_she} opens up one eye and looks in your direction. 
        
        "Well, I'm looking forward to your new dating profile, Roomie!"
        
        The only thing you can think of to say in retaliation is, “I don’t sound like that.”

        Your roommate rolls ${roommate_his_her} eyes and starts on ${roommate_his_her} lasagna. “Whatever,” ${roommate_he_she} says in between bites. “We shook and you're signing up. Get over it.”

    #“Hell no.”
        “Hell yes!” $!{roommate_name} exclaims. “We shook hands on it and everything. Don’t get mad at me because you’re forced to go have a life now.”

        You huff and cross your arms in front of your chest, knowing you probably resembled a little child at the moment, but you didn’t care. You already had a life. Sure, it was mostly working and binging the latest shows on your television, but still, a life.
        
*page_break

Faced with the fact that no matter how much you begged, groaned, or moaned about the bet, there would be no getting around signing up on the dumb website, you pull yourself off of the couch and head into your bedroom. Hopefully, your laptop was somewhere in there.
           
You manage to find your laptop underneath your bed and yank the charger for it out of the wall. By the time you get back from your room, $!{roommate_name} is sprawled out on the other end of the couch, napping away.

Good. You can complete this damned thing in peace.

Settling back into the area you were in before your roommate got home, you log in and head to the website address $!{roommate_name} sent to you in an email a few weeks ago. You sigh, cringing at how bright the home page is.

It did everything in its power to attract people around your age and a bit younger and older. There were stock photo like models near the header of the page, grinning with their arms around one another.

You keep scrolling down the page, skimming through testimonials about happy couples, awesome dates and even a few marriage proposals. For a website that had really only been around for a short while, you thought it was pretty impressive, even if some of these stories were likely exaggerated.

*page_break
 
After signing up for an account and answering a series of questions, the website would match you up with a list of people that you’d be most compatible with, according to your roommate.

“Odessa Dates,” you read, “Find your royally amazing match here!” You roll your eyes at the slogan, but start to register anyway.

You get through the initial registration easily enough, signing up with a username and password you could easily remember, and are soon shown another screen with more detailed instructions. 

A voice, which doesn't appear to belong to any gender, plays all of a sudden. 

“Welcome to Odessa Dates. In the next few screens, you’ll be answering a series of questions regarding yourself, your dating preferences, as well as a series of scenarios to make sure we match you with the most perfect of matches! This will take a minute, so please make sure you are comfortable before you begin.”

“Here goes nothing,” you say as you begin the first series of questions.

*page_break
*goto_scene chapter1_datingprofile