My roommate went into false labour today. She's about 8 months along the way. Does that mean she's actually going to give birth pretty soon?

8 months, that's enough of an information to know it's going to be pretty soon. Within the coming month anyway

the babies are coming in the 9th month, are they?

Generally yes, at the begining of the 9th month, end of the 8th month, but it's not so precise. It often happens that a baby should be born weeks late or in advance. If born after only 6th months pregnancy it is considered as able to live, but it will need a lot of medical care to survive.