Deep breath in. Deep breath out.
You are relaxed, you are calm.
You are stronger then any distraction or problem you face.
You..........
You are awake at 3am.

Because the asshole that lives about you won't stop throwing intense parties on Sunday nights.

I clench my haven't-been-washed-in-a-month bed sheets. I have a test tomorrow. I only have enough coffee for two cups and I have been lying in bed for two fucking hours and this party has been going on since 9pm.

Okay okay okay. Stay calm. It's fine. This happens every week. I'm used to it.
But, I mean, the parties tend to end at 1am, making it my new bedtime.
I groan, sitting up in bed. My schoolbooks sit on a neat pile on my desk. I could study for my English test. But if I can barely think straight, how on earth could I learn new stuff?

Wait a minute. Is that......oh you're fucking kidding me. Over the blasting sound of the terrible music, there's......groaning. Someone, is fucking right above my head. And loud enough for me to hear every swear, every creek, and every fucking movement.

And I snap. I flick on my bedroom lights, hissing at the sudden brightness. Yes. I'm a motherfucking cat. I tug on my jeans, black graphic tee and iconic red hoodie. I check myself out in the mirror. Yup. Bed head looks great on an obviously disgruntled boy.
I step out of my apartment and the music gets every louder. It oozes out of the above apartment like.....oozy....stuff. What's it called. You know the stuff. It oozes like that.

3am overworked college brain does good thinking.

I stomp up the stairs, stopping outside apartment 42's red door. My furious fist pounds on the door three times.
Jesus I can barely hear myself think.

I bang on the door again, and this time it's opened by a very flustered boy. He's tall and lanky, but still shorter then me. His hair is a total mess, and his striped t shirt is half untucked out of his jeans. He looks at me with relief and panic.

"Hi" he says with a mix of relief and panic.

"Hi" I spit accusingly. "I'm the poor bastard who lives in the apartment underneath yours. And guess what buddy, it's not cool that you throw parties every Sunday night and blast shitty music and let people loudly have sex and not let me sleep!"

He looks taken aback, grimacing to himself.
"I knew this would happen. I warned Rich that someone was gonna complain. Listen man I'm so sorry. My roommate keeps throwing these dick ass parties and I think they're the worst"

"Well I mean, you clearly seem to be enjoying yourself" my eyes scan him up and down.

The boys cheeks stain bright red.
"I swear, it's not what you think. This girl, Chloe, got a bit.......clingy"
He rubs the back of his neck, swallowing. Shit. I must've hit a nerve.

I tone back my aggressiveness a bit, determined not to frighten this poor kid.

He looks up, his eyes catching mine.
"I feel really bad. I really do. Hey, I have an idea actually. Do you...." he looks over his shoulder at the crowded party behind him. ".......do you wanna go somewhere? Anywhere? I'll get you a coffee or something to make up for this noise?"

Half of me scolds this kid. The nerve he has. To make up for keeping me awake, he wants to buy a beverage that keeps people awake? Very smooth.

The other half of me wants to apologize. Parties clearly aren't his scene. He seems to flinch everyone a person walks by. He's like a little lost puppy.

And my third half (yes, I have three), thinks that this kid is hot. It may be because I'm sleep deprived and stressed and very very gay. But something about him is just.......pretty. I just want to hold his hand and hug him from behind.

The three halves of my brain squabble, trying to agree on an appropriate reaction. Turns out they don't need to agree after all, because a pair of manicured hands land on the kids shoulders.

"Jeremy~" a feminine voice slurs.
Jeremy jumps, revealing a very pretty girl with big, curly hair, lots of makeup and tiny clothes.

"Oh h-hey Chloe"

"You left me all alone in there" she pouts. "Why did you go?"

Jeremy looks like he's on the verge of a panic attack. Every single part of his body screams HELP ME.

"That's my fault, actually" I interject. "I came up here to see...Jeremy. I was wondering if he wanted to get coffee or something"

Micheal Mell. Heere to save the day.

Jeremy's eyes thank me, as he enthusiastically nods. "Sorry Chloe. But we're leaving now so byyeeeee"

He slips out into the hallway and slams the door behind him. He stops, then exhales a deep breath.
"Well. Guess we're getting coffee" I say with a grin.

He smiles back.
"Thanks for that"

"Happy to save the day"

"You really did............." he pauses. "This is when you say your name"

"Oh yeah. I'm Micheal"

"Pleasure to meet you Micheal"

•••

The clock in my kitchen hits 11:30pm.
The party is well in swing by now.
Biting back a grin, I slip on my shoes and practically run out of my apartment. I rap on the door of apartment 42.

The door immediately swings open, revealing a smiling Jeremy. "Ready to go?"

"100%" I say.

We've come to an agreement. Since I can't stand the sound of parties and Jeremy can't stand parties at all, on Sunday nights, we just leave. Walk around the dark city. Get coffee. Sit on the roof. Laugh and get to know eachother. We dive through traffic and dance through streetlights. Cold night air sends shivers down or spines but we don't care.
This is much better then staring at my bedroom ceiling, and worrying over an English test.

We sit down on a bench. Streets of traffic zoom past us. The night is stained orange from the street lamp above. My hand rests between us on the cold steel bench.

"This is nice" Jeremy says.
He places his hand next to mine.

"Yeah" I intertwine our fingers because I ain't foolin' around. "It really us"

I turn to look at his rosy cheeks and sparkling eyes, and he turns to me. We smile. Just staring at each other. And when we finally kiss, it feels like everything. It doesn't feel like we're tired. It doesn't feel like we're in public. It doesn't feel like it's 3am.

•••
This one reminds me of The Soapy Shower Song [2] and I don't know why. Also I'm all of a sudden updating like crazy? What's the deal with that?
Yeet hope you liked.

- Avery