The Law of Polarity

17. You're Incorrigible

I throw the first shirt I find over my head, change my boxers, and slide into some shorts.

Bookbag? Check.

Wallet, keys? Check, check.

Shoes? ...Aha, flip-flops! Check.

Phone? ...Where is my phone? Still on my bed? I pull back my sheet and—there! Check.

Wait. Is my sheet wet? I pat my bed and pillow and, ew, sure enough, they're damp too. Fuck, this is the second time this week I need to wash my sheets purely due to the fact that I sweat buckets in my sleep.

I really need to get a better window A/C or more fans, or better yet they need to invent ice blankets (they have heated blankets but no cooling blankets!) because this shit is getting extremely annoying and gross.

Those two nights sleeping with Kal seem like a fucking dream after this last week of sweaty, sleepless hell.

I check the clock again before muttering a curse. I'm already late for class, so laundry will have to wait until later.

I tossed and turned in bed last night and then hit snooze a few too many times, so I'm running almost 15 minutes behind and I really don't want to get scolded by my professor for disrupting class. He's been known to prevent late-comers from even entering the classroom. He locked the door one time when he noticed someone hadn't shown up yet, then five minutes later we heard the knob rattling but he just kept on lecturing without a second glance.

I fly down the stairs, out the door, and across campus with sweat beading on my brow and my brain addled with sleep deprivation.

I'm usually early, so I manage to make it to class only 3 minutes after it started. Luckily the professor only glares at me.

What a great start to my day.

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When I get home that evening our house is quiet and empty, and I waste no time climbing up to my room.

My slight headache makes it tempting to just lay down and go to bed, however, there are two issues: the first is that my sheets need to be changed, and the second is that I already decided I would get some studying done today since I don't have work.

I tackle the first problem easily enough, gathering up all my sheets and walking the pile downstairs to the washer. Normally with 6 of us in the house, the washer is almost always running and I have to wait to use it, but luckily nothing's in there at the moment. I trudge back up to grab the spare set out of my closet and attempt to put those on. With my bed in the corner, this part's not as easy—I've had plenty of practice but I still have to starfish to hold the corners and by the time I get all four to stay in place I end up hot and bothered all over again.

Then comes studying. I fall pretty in the middle when it comes to schoolwork; I don't love it, but I'm a fairly decent student. I do what I have to in order to pass with good grades, but I definitely have to force myself to actually sit and study. I enjoy my art classes. Metalworking is my favorite since it gives me a good outlet for my pyroweaving, but drawing and painting can be fun too. It comes easily to me, and it's one of the few things that allow me to just let loose and do what feels right; To let my mind and hands wander. And even if it's not what I pictured, the outcome is always different and unique.

No art today though, sadly. Being able to sit still at my desk is a relief, but I keep nodding off as I try to work through my reading and answers.

A door closing in the hallway jolts me awake. I shake my head to ward off the sandman while footsteps from one of my housemates tread softly away.