Somewhere Only We Know

XXVIII - Un/Familiar

5:20 a.m., Thursday

A familiar tune played in my ear, and my surroundings were vibrating melodically. It felt like I was floating, almost worrying because this is the same feeling I felt when I remembered how unwelcoming my father was to my siblings the day I was brought to life. I hummed the tune; you could say I was one with it and the vibrations along it. I unconsciously tightened my hug around a pillow, feeling the breeze coming from outside my balcony.

"Boo!" Mica shouted at me, causing me to wake up from god knows what that was. I frantically sat up, hair all over my face. It was like the cold air that had just brought me comfort became a one-way ticket to getting a cold. As I shivered, I glanced at my phone, the familiar tune and the spirit of the vibrations actually being my alarm. "God fucking damn it," I said under my breath.

Before I could even slap the sleep out of me, Mica suddenly jumped onto my bed, pulling the sheets I had over me to her side. "Ugh, this is how you've been living while I was slumming it with the rednecks at Stearn?" she said as she inhaled the apparent scent my room had and gently punched the pillow I had been hugging. "Anyway, happy almost graduated from the hellhole, Columbus not-so-St. Agnes!" Mica continued as she awkwardly side-hugged me.

Pushing her away with my arm that was unintentionally barricading her from giving me a full hug, I pulled the switch of my bedside lamp with the free one. "How did you get in, dude?" I said, squinting one eye from the unbelievably bright illumination coming from my left. I rubbed my eyes, not even bothered by the messy hair I had over them. "Oh, you know. Diane left her spare key," she answered as she settled on my bed. "You excited for college?"

God. You would think she'd be the last person to ask me about this. "Oh, yeah. Psyched!" I said sarcastically, which she unfortunately caught. "What's up?" she pushed, giving me a gentle nudge. I have to say, out of all of my siblings, she's the one who knows me the best. But before I get caught up giving you a backstory, I responded. "What's up is that people keep going into my apartment without warning," I returned. "You getting comfortable there?" I asked as I glared at her with one eye closed.

"Oh, yeah. I'm enjoying this while it lasts. Can you believe she left a whole living room set, along with a flat screen TV, mind you, but couldn't be bothered to leave a mattress?" she stated. At that point, I had already fallen back into sleep. It's a talent, really. When you've been at the same boring school with the same boring teachers, you learn how to sleep whilst sitting up.

But before I could even go back to humming the tune, I felt a strong, heavy pillow strike my shoulder. In hindsight, it felt like an alpaca brushing on me. "Ow!" I exclaimed, holding my shoulder as if I had just been pushed against a locker. Not that I know what that feels like. "Girl, get up," she said before pulling me along with her, causing me to fall off my bed. Thank God for the pile of clothes by it. "I swear to every god in this universe, I will not hesitate to drag you to your bathroom and bathe you if you don't get up," she said. I truly just wanted to skip to later that night. Who said I wanted to attend a goofy baccalaureate?

I got up, fixing the sleeve that had been pulled up to my wrist during my sleep. "I'm up. If you don't mind, I could use my apartment by myself, thanks," I said, towering over her even with a terrible posture I didn't realize I had. "Kay," she responded before doing a whole 180-degree turn, causing her hair to hit my face on her way out. I closed my door before aggressively rubbing my face in irritation as I pulled off the towel hanging behind it, then placed it over my shoulder. 

I stood there for a moment, waiting for the front door to open and then close as a sign that I was finally alone. But, of course, instead, I heard my television turn on. You could almost hear her clicking the remote buttons. I exhaled through my lips, "Max, where's your Netflix button?" She shouted from the living room, startling me. Clearly a sign that I'm too used to the comfort of my own presence in silence. "Oh, never mind," she continued. "You better be moving your ass in there. The event starts at 8 sharp!"