The Roommate Rulebook

The Art Show

POV: ZOE

It was Maya's idea.

I want to make that very clear before I get into what happened because if I had known how the evening was going to go I would have thought about it a lot more carefully before opening my mouth.

But I didn't, so here we are.

It started on a Tuesday afternoon.

Maya and I were sitting in the campus café after our afternoon class sharing a plate of fries and talking about nothing important when she slapped her hand on the table so suddenly that I nearly knocked over my drink.

"The art show!" she said loudly.

A few people at nearby tables looked over.

"What art show?" I said.

"Fletcher's end of first week art show.”

It's tonight, in the main hall.

All departments are invited but it's mostly art students showing their work.

She was already pulling up something on her phone.

"I submitted two pieces last week. I totally forgot to tell you about it."

I leaned over to look at her screen and it actually did look really good.

Fairy lights and displayed artwork.

People dressed up and walked around with drinks in their hands looking at the paintings.

"That looks amazing," I said.

"Right? You should come, it starts at seven." She paused. "Bring your roommate."

I looked up from her phone. "Liam?"

"Yes, Liam." She gave me a look.

"You talk about him every single day Zoe."

"Because he does annoying things every single day."

"Uh huh." She did not look convinced. "Just bring him. It'll be fun."

I don't know why, but I feel like he won't come.

I got back to the room that evening and found him at his desk as usual.

His books opened, laptop on and his pen moving across his notebook in that neat organised way of his.

"Hey," I said, dropping my bag on my bed.

"Hey," he said without looking up.

I sat on my bed and looked at him for a second. "There's an art show tonight on campus and my friend Maya has work in it. I would be going by seven."

"Okay," he said.

Still not looking up.

"I think you should come."

The pen stopped moving.

He turned around slowly and looked at me, like he wasn't sure he had heard correctly.

"To an art show?" he said.

"Yes," I replied

"Why?"

I shrugged. "Because you've been staring at books since we got here and it's the first week of school.

You're allowed to take one evening off Liam."

He looked at me for a long moment.

Then he looked back at his notebook.

"I have reading to finish," he said.

"You can finish it tomorrow."

"I prefer to stay on schedule."

"One evening won't ruin your schedule."

"You don't know that."

I stared at the back of his head.

"Liam.. It's a free event, it's on the campus and there will also be free drinks”

“Just come with us”

A long pause

"What kind of drinks?" he said.

I blinked then I smiled.

"The fancy juice kind, in little glasses."

Another pause.

"Fine," he said quietly. "One hour."

He showed up at the door at exactly 6:58pm.

I was still putting on my jacket when he knocked properly, which I appreciated, and then told him to come in.

He was wearing dark jeans and a plain navy shirt. It was simple, clean and decent.

He looked different out of his usual study clothes.

Still neat, still put together but somehow more like a regular person.

"You're almost ready," he observed.

"I am ready," I said, fixing my jacket.

He looked at the earring I was still holding in my hand.

I put it on quickly. "Now I'm ready."

We walked to the main hall together.

It was a nice evening with cool air, campus lights coming on one by one as the sky got darker. Students walking in small groups all headed in the same direction.

Neither of us said much on the way there.

But it wasn't an uncomfortable silence.

It was just quiet.

The main hall looked beautiful inside.

There were warm lights everywhere, artwork hung on every wall and standing on display boards in neat rows down the middle of the room.

Soft music is playing in the background.

People everywhere are talking and pointing at pieces and laughing.

I felt something light up inside me the moment we walked in.

This was my kind of place.

The colour and creativity and people who cared about making things.

"Wow," I said quietly.

Liam stood beside me and looked around the room slowly. Taking it all in.

"It's bigger than I expected," he said.

"Right?" I was already scanning the room for Maya.

I spotted her by the far wall waving both arms above her head like she was flagging down a plane.

I waved back and pulled Liam through the crowd toward her.

Maya looked at Liam with a smile that said way too many things I was not ready for.

"You must be the famous Liam," she said.

Liam looked at me. "Famous?"

"She means infamous," I said quickly.

"Because of all the rulebook stuff."

Maya opened her mouth.

I gave her a look, she closed it again and smiled innocently.

"I'm Maya," she said, holding her hand out to Liam.

"Zoe's best friend. Nice to finally meet you."

"Liam," he said, shaking it.

"I'm Liam.”

“Pre-law and her roommate."

"I know," Maya said warmly.

"Come on, let me show you guys my pieces."

We followed her to the far wall where two of her paintings were displayed side by side.

They were both watercolours.

One was a close-up of a woman's face half covered in shadow.

The other was a busy street scene full of colour, movement and life.

They were genuinely stunning.

"Maya," I said, staring at them.

"These are incredible."

She beamed. "Thank you… I've been working on them since the summer."

I looked at Liam beside me.

He was standing with his hands in his pockets studying the paintings quietly.

His eyes moved across them slowly and carefully. Like he was actually looking, not just pretending to be interested.

"The use of shadow in this one is very deliberate," He said after a moment pointing at the woman's face.

"It draws your eye straight to her expression."

Maya turned to him with wide eyes.

"Yes! Exactly, that was completely intentional."

"It works very well," he said simply.

Maya looked at me with an expression that very clearly said I like him.

I looked away.

We spent the next hour walking around the rest of the show together. Maya would explain the technical side of different pieces and Liam would ask questions.

Thoughtful one, not the kind people ask just to seem interested but the kind that showed he was actually paying attention.

I walked beside them and listened and somewhere in the middle of it all I stopped being surprised that he was enjoying himself.

At one point we stopped in front of a large painting.

Deep blue background with a single figure standing in the middle looking up at something outside the frame. It was simple but it hits you right in the chest.

"What do you think they're looking at?" I said quietly.

Liam stood beside me.

Our arms were almost touching.

"Something they can't have," he said.

I turned to look at him.

He was still looking at the painting.

His face was calm and unreadable like always.

But there was something in the way he said it.

Something quiet underneath the words.

"That's a sad answer," I said.

"It's an honest one," he said.

I looked back at the painting.

A little while later Maya got pulled away by some of her classmates and it was just Liam and me standing near the exit with our little glasses of fancy juice.

"So," I said. "Do you hate it?"

He thought about it for a second and was genuinely considering the question.

"No," he said. "I don't hate it."

"High praise from Liam Carter," I said.

The corner of his mouth moved slightly.

But I noticed.

"Thank you for inviting me," he said.

He said it simply and directly the way he said everything.

I looked at him. "You're welcome."

We walked back to the dorm together in the cool night air.

The campus was quieter now

It felt like a completely normal evening.

Except when we got back to the room and I was sitting on my bed sketching before sleep.

My mind kept drifting back to what he said in front of that painting.

Something they can't have.

I looked over at him.

He was already back at his desk, reading again.

I looked back at my sketchbook.

Without really thinking about it I started drawing the painting from memory.

The blue background, the figure looking up and then without planning to.

I added a second figure standing just behind the first one.

Looking up at the same thing.

I stared at what I had drawn.

Then I turned the page quickly and drew something else entirely.

“But hold on Zoe, is this really necessary and why am I doing this”

I asked myself quietly.