Work Text:
Tendi stared at her FleetNet inbox, then refreshed the page. No new messages. Again.
She hadn't been expecting this when she'd posted in the Academy forum. There were hundreds of other posts in that group, all from other newly admitted students searching for roommates. They all had at least ten comments, even the ones that only included their name and location and didn't even attach a picture or their intended field of study.
So Tendi had posted her introduction a week ago, including all her most pertinent details — her sleeping habits, favorite bands, Starfleet role models, and of course, what she was looking forward to most at the Academy. She had been sure that it would only be a matter of hours before she had a new group of best friends. But so far, she'd only received two comments, both featuring crude assumptions about her pheromones. Tendi had deleted them without responding and made a mental note to avoid those cadets in the future.
Her attempts to connect directly with her fellow future classmates hadn't gone much better. She'd reached out to several individuals whose profiles had stood out to her, but most had ignored her or replied that they'd already found a roommate. A couple had outright said that they didn't think she was right for them, and one had cited "cultural differences" as their reason why. None of them said it, but Tendi could read between the lines — they didn't want to room with an Orion.
Tendi's computer chimed as a new post appeared in the forum. It was another cadet's introduction, this one from a Betazoid girl who wanted to be a pilot. Her post said that she was looking forward to meeting a wide variety of new classmates.
Tendi sighed. She started to draft another message.