The Bright Side

Chapter 5 - Part 2

TRISTAN

I get home at ten in the morning. Work has been insane tonight. When we're fully staffed, there's not much to do on the night shift and I just lie down in the small back room behind Mum's office and sleep. Those Americans that currently occupy the suite called for room service every hour or so though. They pay well, so I don't mind seeing to their needs, which were basically booze and cigarettes, but now I'm totally knackered. 

I head straight for my room, shrug out of my clothes and just slump into bed. I'm gone the second my face hits the pillow. I should've tried to stay awake and detach from work before going asleep though. Read or watch some telly, even if only for an hour. Blurred dreams of men gambling in a thick cloud of sweet smoke and me frantically trying to see through the fog so I can clean up, make my sleep rather restless. 

I feel like I'm half-conscious most of the time and every time I wake up properly my heart is racing, because I didn't manage to do my job right. There's a knock on my door and I can't believe it's already time to get up again. My head is thick from a hangover I don't have; it's like my brain cells are paralyzed. I pull my cushion over my head and I'm out again.

"Eh, Tristan?" The door thumps against the frame as it closes and there are steps across the room. A hand shakes my shoulder.

"No no no no no no no!" I don't want to get up yet.

"Ummm, I'll come back later then." The voice belongs to Sky. Why is Sky here? It's the middle of the night. No, it's not. Day. Afternoon probably. Right. We wanted to hang in the afternoon. I remove the cushion and force my eyelids to part. Sky is standing next to my bed, his hands in his pockets and his facial expression absent.

"No. It's alright. Urgh!" Every fibre of my body begs for rest.

"Rough night?" Sky asks.

"Americans." I moan and sit up, feeling a million years old. "Give me a minute."

"Alright." Sky plunks down on the floor and switches my Super Nintendo on. The tune is much too cheery and loud for my current state of mind; I really, really need a cup of tea before I can face this day.

"Two player game?" Sky glances over his shoulder.

"Yeah." I swing my legs out of the bed and brace myself for getting up. My muscles feel stiff and my body so heavy as if I gained at least 20 pounds during sleep. My dresser is across the room but the way over feels like a mile. I rummage around in the drawers for a fresh shirt and some trousers but I can't find anything I'd like to wear. It's not that I usually spend much time on picking my wardrobe, but my brain doesn't work right today and every task seems overly complicated, even if it's just choosing a tee. So basically, I stand there and stare at my socks.

The sound of Luigi's death snaps me out of it and I turn around to Sky, as if he could make some fashion choices for me now that his game is over. He's looking at me. Face blank. Only for a second and then his eyes are on the screen again. I'm acutely aware that I'm prancing around in boxer briefs in front of Sky. I didn't feel self-aware before but now I'm totally uncomfortable in my skin and pull over the first tee my hands find. I shoot a side glance at Sky and he's all submerged in a new game, his hands jerking around in front of him, focused on the screen. 

Silly. Only because he likes guys, it doesn't mean that he was checking me out. He has probably only glanced in my direction as the game was over. Thinking nothing of it. I hop around to squeeze myself into my jeans, the too skinny ones I had wanted to dismiss ages ago, but there's no way I'll take them off again now. Having only one arm to manage isn't very helpful either. It takes me a while and my self-consciousness grows with every second. I yank them over my arse and turn away to button them up. Sometimes being friends with Sky feels like a threat to something inside of me. 

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