"STELLA! WHERE ARE YOU!"
My morning seems to have started before I'm even awake. Samuel is already up and calling for me. Several doors slam shut before something hits the door to this room.
The door slams open and Samuel runs to jump onto me instantly.
"I'm so sorry. Are you okay? How do you feel?"
He's being completely himself as he is usually this upbeat, but does it always start this way? I push him off so I can sit up. I wipe some sleep from my eyes and mumble to myself about how early it probably is. I don't feel rested at all.
"Dude. How do you have this much energy already? What time is it?"
I ask about the time hoping I got some 6 or 7 hours of sleep, but Samuel grabs his phone from his back pocket to show me the time.
"SAMUEL ROSENMARK I SWEAR ON MY DEAD RAT I'LL BEAT YOU TO DEATH TODAY!"
I almost convulse. The rage in my body could not be described. It was 9am. I slept less than five hours. I grabbed the closest thing to me which was a hard decorative pillow and began my assault.
"Ow. Ow. Ow. Stella...wait...ow. I said owaaah, I said I was sorry."
Samuel finally put his hands up to catch the pillow instead of letting me beat him with it. It only made me more angry.
"Why. Why on earth. It's nine in the morning. Why are you even awake right now?"
I exasperate as this feeling in me of wanting to sleep is fighting to stay alive in my body before my body decides it no longer needs the sleep.
"The real question is, do you really have a dead rat?"
Samuel lips come together as they would when making an "oop" sound. His face clearly filled with suspicion. I fight the urge to strangle him. He really dared.
"No Samuel. I do not. What is it? Why am I not asleep right now?"
I sigh, defeated by my friends persistence. At my place, he's usually not this much of an early bird. He usually sleeps longer than I do. I fixed the pillow back where I had gotten it from and suddenly heard a faint clearing of the throat from behind him. There, in the doorway, stands a lady in her tall pointed white stilettos. Her top is the tightest light blue cheongsam styled shirt I've ever seen anyone pull off. It's neatly tucked into a pair of flaired out khakis. She seems older in age, but its obvious she takes care of herself. Her hair is nicely done up fashionably messy. Her whole demeanor reminds me of Saint for the short times I've interacted with him.
"Hi. I'm Stella."
I shyly introduce myself as this isn't an ideal circumstance to meet anyone. I literally almost killed her son in front of her. Thank heaven it was a pillow and not a lamp.
"Eliza."
She melodically replies with her own name unphased by the situation. A bright smile on her porcelain glass like skin. I'm left feeling a little awkward since I couldn't get up or clean myself up to greet her.
"Oh. Right. My brother is asleep. What did you two do while I was out?"
Samuel's eyebrows bounce twice suggestively. The woman's brows turn up expectantly after walking in a little closer to hear what I had to say, too. Are they for real? I start to wonder if I accidentally left my underwear in the hallway or something. They both seem to genuinely think we got up to something. I take a look beside me wondering if he's next to me by chance, but nothing. I clearly remember falling asleep alone. I squint my eyes to look back at Samuel.
