31 Days of December

December 2nd

I'm not a morning person at all. Never have been and never will be. My brain doesn't function before ten in the morning at the earliest, and even then, it doesn't fully function until noon. The longest part of my morning routine is trying to convince myself to get out of bed because I need to get to class. Every semester I figure out how long I can sleep in before I'm late for my first-morning lecture so that I can get as much sleep as possible. I think my record was I could sleep in until 10 minutes before class as long as I went to class in my pajamas.

Rolling out of bed, I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and hair. Once that was done, I returned to my room to throw on a baggy hoodie, a pair of leggings, and the rainbow tie-dye converse I always wear. Throwing my backpack over my shoulders and putting my earbuds in, I made my way to campus. With my music blaring, I was allowed to ignore most of the world around me and just focus on getting to class. Most of the other students were doing the same or catching up with friends they didn't see over break.

I made my way into the lecture hall, where a few students were already there. I made my way to my spot. It was in the middle left of the lecture hall. That way, I am not in the front where the professors interact but not in the back where I can completely slack off. I am also next to an aisle, so I can make a quick escape once the class is over. The ideal spot for when I have a rough day and don't want to be in the lecture. It also hides that I am not one hundred percent listening to the lecture. Like I said before, school and my attention span do not get along. Once I lose focus, my semester is fucked.

Once in my seat, I pulled out my notebook, pencil, and blue pen. I flipped my notebook open and placed my pen and pencil on top. I pulled my phone out of my hoodie and started scrolling Instagram until my professor started class. Even then, I would still get back on my phone during class because I could not stand this professor. I was doomed when I discovered that this professor was on the faculty version of academic probation. She sucks at teaching, and her exams are ridiculously hard. The only reason she hasn't been fired is that she curves the hell out of her class at the end of the semester, so everyone passes, but it doesn't mean we learned anything. She only teaches so she can get university funding for her research.

Once class started, I sat there dreading how long my day would be. I already miss being at home in the comfort of my bed. Three weeks until I am home. Hopefully, I don't have to deal with this professor again after five more lectures and an exam. That is what I keep telling myself. I just have to deal with this for just a little bit longer.

After a long day of being in lectures, I was back at my desk working on homework. I was using my Bluetooth headphones instead of my earbuds. My headphones were better for when I was working on my schoolwork or studying. I get distracted by the cord to my earbuds, and I'm too afraid to get wireless earbuds because I would lose them all the time.

It was dinner time, and my roommates and I slowly made our way to the kitchen. One by one, we all made our food individually. Layla, Alice, and I were all heating up Thanksgiving leftovers while Ronnie made herself chicken tenders. Once our food was made, we all swarmed around our little island in the kitchen to talk since this would be one of the few moments all four of us would be around.

"The Winterfest is on Friday. Do you guys want to go?" Layla asked. Every year, on the Friday before prep week, the campus is opened up to the public for WinterFest. They light up the campus tree and give carriage rides around campus. They have a run, give out free food, and most importantly, they have late-night ice skating. It was their Christmas celebration without saying that it was celebrating Christmas because not all students are Christian or celebrate it.

Alice gave me a knowing look and said, "Maybe we can go ice skating this year." I rolled my eyes at that. Last year, Alice and I were roommates and hardly knew anyone on our floor. Neither of us had a car, and the buses weren't running by our dorms, so we walked all the way to the ice rink across campus town. When we got there, we were already freezing, and there was a long line out the door. We turned around and walked back to our dorm. Let's say that neither one of us was happy that night.

"It was fun last year minus the attempt to go ice skating. I am down if everyone else is," I said.

"Sure, I'm okay with going," Ronnie said. Alice nodded, declaring that we made plans official for Friday. "Also, I thought we could go out the following Friday and do one last roommate dinner before the semester is over. One final meal together before we are all on different schedules with finals."

We tried to have dinner together every night at the beginning of the semester, but it quickly became difficult due to our different schedules. We still either eat with one another or just hang out in the kitchen while someone makes their own food. I usually migrate out of my room when I hear people. Dinner time is the only time all four of us might be awake. It all depends if someone takes a nap after classes or not. Most of the time, we see one another at dinner time.

"Do we want to make dinner, or are we going out?" Alice asked.

"I was thinking about going out so that we don't have to find something we all like and can cook."

Not going to lie; we were a little picky about what we ate. Whether it is allergies or just disliking the food, deciding where to go is difficult. Usually, we order a pizza or go to the same place.

"Panera?" I suggested. Despite being slightly expensive, Panera is a place we can all eat at, and it's better priced than most things in campus town.

Everyone thought about it before Layla said, "What if we don Texas Roadhouse instead? We can splurge a little to celebrate the end of the semester." We all nodded in agreement. We never splurge often, but when we do, it is something like getting donuts at night or going to Texas Roadhouse instead of fast food. Little things like this don't mean much, but it was a lot to a broke college student. Plus, who doesn't like Texas Roadhouse rolls with their cinnamon honey butter?

"I already asked Layla, but how was everyone's break?" I asked. This caused us to talk about what happened while we were all separated. Layla talked about how she hung out with her friends and family. Alice spent a lot of time with her boyfriend and even went to each other's family's Thanksgiving. She got to meet all of his family and vice versa. Ronnie talked about her wild hangouts with her friends at home.

After talking, catching up, and hanging out, we all returned to our rooms. I finished up any remaining homework I didn't get done before eating. Once I finished, I curled up in bed, scrolling through Instagram and sending memes to my friends. It wasn't long until I passed out in the crappy bed the school gave us. The joys of living in an on-campus apartment. However, it is slightly better than the dorm beds, which was a slight plus.

I let my exhausted mind take me through a dreamless night. Not a single thought of what happened today and what was going to happen tomorrow. Just an empty mind.

Fun Fact: Most of the characters in this story are based on people I know in real life. Hailey is based on me, the roommates are based on friends I have. The only ones not based on real-life people are the guys. They are just kind of what I have known guys to behave like, plus how they are written in other stories. This is how I try to make the story relatable by basing the characters on real people and their struggles that I know about. It makes it a little easier as well, so I don't have to create everything completely out of thin air.