I couldn't sleep.
I was tossing and turning in my bed, overthinking. At this point, it's a hobby. I stopped questioning my brain and my sanity.
I heard the door closing downstairs. One of my housemates came home!
I got off my bed to have some human interaction to stop my stupid brain from spiraling.
I pulled my feet down the stairs, opened the kitchen door, to see Lysa, my streamer/budding influencer housemate. She had two big grocery bags on the kitchen table, her straight black hair tied up in a ponytail, and was dressed in her usual black PJs.
Where did she get groceries at 3 in the morning?
"Yo!" she said, giving me a small wave.
"It's been a long time, how's life?" I asked, casually grabbing a few slices of bread to toast from the fridge.
"Not bad. You turned into a full-time insomniac, huh?" she replied, stacking her groceries in the cupboard.
"Yeah, can't sleep," I agreed, spreading some peanut butter on my toast. UGH, even peanut butter reminds me of HIM.
"You know you can't move stuff by staring at it, right? Or can you?" she asked, pointing at the jar of PB.
"I think I have acquired trauma for peanut butter," I replied with a shrug.
"You know what?" she started, her eyes lighting up with excitement.
Trust me, it's NOT a good sign. Last time this happened, we got banned from a supermarket for racing with shopping trolleys.
"NO, Lysa, it is 3 in the morning!" I tried to knock some sense into her.
"No, come on! It will be fun! Let's play Dare or Dare: Choco Milk Edition!" she said, whipping out a bottle of chocolate milk from her grocery bag, shaking it excitedly.
Sane part of my brain told me to go back and sleep, but what's the worst it can do, right?
"Just for a bit!" I gave in to her enticement.
"Yay! Come sit here." She pushed the chairs away and plopped on the ground, and patted the space opposite her for me to occupy.
I grabbed a couple of glasses and my toast and settled down, ready for the chaos.
Lysa held a wooden spoon near her mouth, pretending it was a mic.
"Player #1: Choose your destiny, is it going to be a dare or a chug of extra thick choco milk?" she announced dramatically.
"Hmm... die of shame or die of diabetes... Tough call," I pretended to be in deep thought before picking dare.
"That's a brave choice. Call your colleague and pretend it's an emergency and you need pizza ASAP," she said, doing a little mic drop with her spoon.
"I don't have to go to work tomorrow if I'm fired, right?" I said, whipping my phone out.
"Wait! I can call Marlene!" Yep, I am keeping my job!
I looked up Marlene and hit call, putting my phone on speaker.
Lysa moved closer, muffling her laughter with her hoodie sleeve.
"Hello," I heard Marlene, all groggy and half-dead.
"Marl, this is an emergency!" I yelled in fake panic.
"What? What happened? Where are you?" Marlene yelled, waking up completely.
Lysa moved away, held the fridge, and started to laugh, trying not to make a noise.
"Bro, it's an emergency, send PIZZA," I continued, still dead serious, unable to control the smile on my face.
"Bro... are you drunk?" she replied, slightly annoyed.
"I am sleep-deprived and high on choco milk," I replied, laughing out loud.
"I hate you," Marlene hung up on me.
Lysa and I looked at each other and started laughing more.
The laughter died down. We sat in comfortable silence.
"I think my brain finally shut up," I said, wiping my eyes gratefully.
"Yep, it's therapy! Choco milk now, maybe diarrhea later!" she replied chirpily.
I grabbed the spoon from her.
"It is your turn now," I said with a smirk.
"Oh no! Go easy on me!" she fake panicked, acting all scared.
"Nope! Never! I dare you to post a video of you proposing to the fridge," I said, handing her an empty kitchen roll to use as a ring.
"No mercy, huh? I'll remember this!" She grabbed the roll from me dramatically.
I moved back, positioned my phone to record.
Lysa got down on one knee, trying not to laugh at her reflection.
"Fridge, my love. I should admit, you are the love of my life. You are my last thought before going to sleep and the first when I wake up. I can't imagine a life without you. Accept my undying love for you! And MARRY ME!" With that, she fell and started laughing.
I was a goner at this point; the video was all shaky, with me laughing in the background.
"Who knows, I might go viral!" she said, posting it excitedly.
We were lying on the kitchen floor with all the laughing, bloated stomachs and an empty bottle of chocolate milk, looking at the ceiling.
I saw Lysa playing with the wooden spoon, resting her foot on the fridge.
"Bro, hit me with the spoon if I ever get depressed over stupid things," I added gently.
"Yep, I got you. I'll beat the depression outta you," she said, tapping the spoon, giving me a thumbs up.
Our eyes met and we started laughing again. At this point, we didn't know why we were laughing.
The kitchen door opened, revealing our other housemate, Sierra, who walked in with her yoga gear and an empty gallon bottle.
She stopped in her tracks, looked at us like we had lost our minds, and belonged in a psychiatric documentary.
"It is morning, you guys!" she said, placing a hand on her hip.
"Good morning!" we said in unison and started laughing again.
Sierra gave us a look of pity and shook her head.
I am not exactly proud of my life decisions, but I don't think I will ever regret tonight. I mean, apart from the lactose-induced diarrhea parts.