Daes' 2nd Writing Assignment
One Bad Morning
It had started during the black of night, a perfect deviation that must have cursed me in my sleep! Tainted my being that there would be no release, no break from the maddening prison. Why do I say this? It was all too coincidental, much too coincidental for my liking! So deem me a fool if you wish for bad luck, I do not care as I detail the misadventures of one unfortunate day.
It was a nightmare, and though I do not recall the dream itself, I recall the acute sense of fear. My eyes wide in fright, breaths short and raspy as I continued screaming.. Something, though I know not what shape or form, was murdering everything dear to me, my dog, who lie shredded before me in a horrid mess, burned into my mind with repetition. So much so, that I thought that if it continued I might go insane with terror. When I snapped away, I berated myself for not trying to do what I could to prevent such nightmares, as I almost believed I could have. It flicked across my mind like a nagging pull, then silenced. It was still dark and I was comfortable in my bed, even if a bit warm and humid. It was summer, and the heat of the room created a thin sheen of sweat over my body that made the sheets cling lazily to my skin. I ignored it, despite it’s annoying hold on my body. Slowly I came to the realization that there were noises in the room, dull noises, but noises nonetheless. Like shuffling.. and kissing?
I didn’t need to look to know who or what it was. I could immediately see them in my mind’s eye as clearly as though they were right in front of me. It was my roommate, and she must have brought her boyfriend over during the middle of the night, as she had the night before. She switched boyfriends weekly, so I had to wonder if it was the same person. Either way, the noises.. though subtle in the beginning, seemed to grow louder the more I paid attention to them. With a slight grunt, I buried my head in the pillow and thick blankets, that of course, making my body all the more heated beneath the covers. It didn’t stop. They can fuck elsewhere!! Where my thoughts exactly. It must have been perhaps around 4am in the morning. I had school in less than three hours, and my other roommate, a quirky yet snobby pale skinned Alabama girl- had thrown a party until two o’clock am. I had been attempting, main word being Attempting- to sleep since midnight. Imagine, if you can, a sense of grinding anger that was only just beginning to grow. I’m not an unreasonable person, I know these girls finally are in college and they want to have some fun. What’s unreasonable is a roommate that creates more noise just because you asked her and her friends to quiet down. What’s unreasonable is your bunkmate who insists on having men over every week without telling you.
So you can see, as I could see just as clearly in that moment, how increasingly aggravating it was becoming, as though all the times before had not mattered, and suddenly I was feeling the after affects of all those events.
I was embarrassed. So I did not disturb them, even though I- once again- Attempted- to go to sleep.
I wasn’t able to completely close my eyes until six a.m… which was the time he was leaving. Though he did not hesitate to use our shower- yes, Our Shower- before leaving- and somehow managed to get every towel soaking wet. I know this because… well… I needed to pee, and he took a good forty minutes in that damned shower. After I was done in the bathroom, I thought Id just rest. Rest, is what I thought, before driving to class.
It didn’t work out the way I had hoped.
By the time I had awoken, the sun was blaring in my face. My first reaction was that, it was strange how the sun was out so high. My second, was that it was past the time I needed to be in class. The third, was that even if I got dressed and left now- my teacher would lock the door on me so I could not come in. I immediately grabbed my alarm clock as though it were a sinister thing that out to be killed. But of course, you cannot kill a clock. So I did the only thing I could do, which was to slam it on the desk.
My alarm had not gone off, now I was missing a class with one of my favorite instructors. My bunkmate, who was a rocker of sorts- spiked burgundy hair, light blue eyes, chubby but pretty-looking girl- Brittany- stared at me with an odd look. “Dude, did you miss class?”
No shit. I wanted to throttle her. Instead I sighed with disappointment, my voice slightly strained. “Yes.. my fucking alarm clock…”
She made a sad face, as though she actually cared. “Awww, duuude. That sucks. Yea… I didn’t feel like going today.”
Good for you. But unlike you, I don’t feel like getting kicked out of my courses. This was not the first time she and her boyfriend had deprived me of sleep, but every time I brought it up, she acted like nothing was wrong and everything was okay. I was tired of it. However, I didn’t feel like dealing with her, so I went into the kitchen to get something to eat. It was still early, so I could catch my second class.
Now… there was three of us living in our apartment at the time, the Alabama girl, April, had the largest room to herself while me and Brittany split the other. We all took turns doing chores, and over the past several weeks, April had decided to forego them. Indeed, she had put the trash in trash bags but had not taken it out, so there were trash bags lined up on the outside of the counter. At first I just sighed mentally, and decided to take it out later, but my eyes rose to the kitchen. Now I like to be clean, I always try to clean up after myself when there is a mess. April had obviously decided to make her friends some dinner while they were over. It almost appeared as though the food had exploded while she was trying to make it. Now this may not seem like a big deal, but I had been trying to clean up after April for a while now, but this was Too much.
Pieces of food clung to the oven and counter, diced vegetables were spanned out, dishes were piled on top of each other in the sink, and she had used all the pans. This, with great effort, even I could ignore. Surely, it had only been one day.. she would pick up her mess… right? The table itself was covered with beer and trash. Why is it so hard for people to put their trash IN the trashcan when it’s only a few feet away? Once again, I tried to suppress the stinging annoyance, perking up when I decided to have my leftover pizza for breakfast.
Brittany and I had both bought large pizzas over a good deal. I had only had a few slices, so I had stacked the slices over two paper plates.
One plate was missing, and the other had one slice in it.
Now I don’t ask for much. I just want sleep, a clean house, and my own food when I pay for it. That doesn’t seem so difficult, does it? Clenching my teeth, my lips in a tight bitter smile as I reentered my room, I sat on my bed and laid down.
“Dude, you okay?”
“Just… look at the kitchen.”
No Im not fucking okay. Im fucking tired, Im broke, Im missing class, and Im the one whos going to end up cleaning that mess in the kitching. No im not okay.
My eleven thirty class was not any better. Everyone was to meet at a farm. In which.. on way to go there I got lost for an hour before deciding it was pointless and headed home. I was lazy and irritated and I wasn’t getting good directions, or at least I couldn’t understand the directions I was given. So I got fed up, picked up some tacos to increase the growing debt in my bank, then drove home. On my way to the apartment, a man did not see me and tried moving into my lane instead of turning into his, forcing me to slam on my breaks in order to avoid a collision. It filled me with a rush of anxiety, my throat dry and scratchy, and my eyes wide as my hands tightened against the wheel as my car jerked forward then slammed my back against the seat. I had never had a close encounter with another vehicle. I was only nineteen, and it scared the living hell out of me. I was close to releasing all my mounting frustration out on the man, near glaring death his way- when I saw it was a frail, worried old fellow, no older than my own grandfather.
By the time I had gotten home, all the pent up irritation had drained all my energy, that all I could do was sigh and stare at the ceiling while I waited for the time I would have to leave to work at the evil franchise known as Jamba Juice.
