Midnight Buzz

1 Waking Up

Arthur laid on his stomach, giving a groan into his pillow as he heard his phone buzz on the end table beside him. It was midnight, he was in bed for a good reason.

He laid there, with a tousled mess of dirty-blond hair in comfort under his navy blue duvet cover. Warm in his gray sweatpants and simple white t-shirt, he contemplated whether or not to just try to go back to sleep or respond to the text.

It was Friday night, he didn't go out or communicate with anybody because he wanted to spend the night in. He had work to catch up on - how was he supposed to do good in his major and graduate if he held the education he was paying for as a second priority? He couldn't fathom the fact that he had classmates, blowing their money or their scholarships, to just go out and party. The idea absolutely infuriated him.

He heard his phone vibrate a second time, giving into an annoyed grunt and struggling to rotate onto his back under the cover. Arthur mumbled to himself as he recklessly reached over for his device, expecting to see a message from his roommate or one of his friends asking for a ride back to the dorms. He didn't drink due to poor alcohol tolerance, but because of personal preference. His hatred for hangovers exceeded his distaste for many other things, so most of the time, he was the involuntary elected sober driver for his companions on a night out.

Turning on his phone, his eyes struggled to adjust to the bright light of the screen. He expected to see a message from his roommate, Berwald, or a spam of drunk messages from his close friend, Lukas; but was instead looking at a text notification from Francis.

Arthur hesitated, and simply looked at the notification for a few moments. Francis had no reason to text him, let alone at such an hour. Most of their conversations were about Arthur asking him what time his shift started, so he could get coffee and complain to him before the morning rush of caffeine dependent students came clambering in.

Francis was a barista at a cheap, convenient coffee stop right by the college campus. Arthur frequented there often, usually being there right when the establishment opened at 6:30, and gradually became accustomed to the common faces in the building.

The first few times he ordered his coffee, the baristas kept making it wrong, till Francis suddenly took over the earliest shift. His coffees were easily brewed to near perfection; saying it made Arthur's mornings easier would be an understatement.

Arthur would sit in the corner, away from the window, per usual till 7:40; nursing off his tall to-go cup and working on any assignments he had to finish that day via his computer. He would have his earbuds in till around 6:50, then take them out and work in efficient silence. Though this was routine to him, the routine must have seemed odd to witness.