EVANSTON — Northwestern University sophomore Maggie Kelter was forced to awkwardly look at her phone Friday when she walked by the girl she asked to be her freshman year roommate.

Two years ago, with the housing deadline quickly approaching, Kelter decided to friend Gina Gaerke on Facebook. When Gaerke accepted the request, Kelter quickly messaged her and said, “I know this is totally random, but I am looking for a roommate and I think we would have a lot in common! Would you want to room together?”

“Hey, thanks so much for asking! I think we would get along well, but I already found a roommate,” Gaerke replied. “Hopefully we can hang out sometime at school.”

The conversation ended, with neither girl feeling justified in removing the other as a “friend.”

Much to Kelter’s surprise, she and Gaerke did not hang out even once during their freshman year. After a few brief hellos during Wildcat Welcome 2012, they stopped acknowledging one another altogether.

Kelter actually knows quite a bit about Gaerke, the result of looking at her Facebook pictures and statuses occasionally.

“I get really interested in my cellphone or the conversation I am having whenever I walk by Gaerke,” Kelter said. “She probably doesn’t know my name or even remember me, but my Twitter feed just happens to get a lot more exciting whenever she walks by.”