Powering OFF

1

Break-in(s)
——-
The doorbell's ringing startles me awake, causing the bowl of popcorn in my lap to land on the floor.

She's here an hour later than she said she would be.

"Oh, look who decided to show up!"

Leah walks right past me, ignoring my comment and dropping her small pink purse on the couch.

"I would've gotten here sooner, but traffic was backed up." I close the door and follow her to the couch.

"There were like five police cars on the road," she continues as she plops down. "One of them looked like they were headed to your neighborhood."

"Hm, I wonder why?"

Leah shrugs. "There have been a lot of home invasions happening in Munui recently. Maybe someone just got robbed?"

She looks down at the popcorn scattered around her feet. "What happened here?"

"Well, I fell asleep waiting for you to show up. When you rang the doorbell, it scared me a little." I reenact what happened by closing my eyes, placing the now-empty bowl on my lap, and tossing it up. Leah chuckles.

On the TV screen in front of us, the closing credits of a movie start to roll, while another comes on. "No! We missed it!"

Leah and I had been waiting all week to see the premiere of "Heavenly Hell: A FX Original." She pretends to cry while I jokingly pat her on the back.

Saturday nights were our traditional movie nights, and if neither of us had to work the next day, Leah would sleep over at my house. Surprisingly, she didn't have any hair appointments tomorrow, despite being one of Munui's most popular beauticians.

While we're sitting, a police siren starts blaring from outside of the window. The noise fades as the police car drives to the other end of the street.

"I'm sure it'll come on again soon though," Leah says, while I'm eyeing the window.

"I'm going to clean up this popcorn and check on your room." The siren is making me uneasy.

Leah hands me the bowl so I can use it to clean up the spilled popcorn. She can probably sense what's going on with me.

On weekends, the guest room on the right was reserved for Leah. The moment I moved into this house, she claimed it as hers. She even insisted on decorating the room after seeing it for the first time.

After picking up every kernel and emptying it into the trash, I head upstairs.

The room is cold, absorbed by a faint scent of lavender. The bed's plum-colored comforter is still wrinkle-free as she had left it last time. The pillows are placed perfectly against the headboard.

Near the bed is a window, and underneath is an old plug-in air freshener that needs to be replaced. Lavender. Leah must've chosen that fragrance. Every other room in the house smells of vanilla; my favorite.

The most important thing to do is check the closet. There were about five or six outfits Leah left in the closet for whenever she stayed over. Her wardrobe ranged from crop tops and ripped jeans to silk dresses and high heels.

I look down to see what I'm wearing. A lousy gray tank top and jogging pants. I am as stylish as a trashcan.

Leah likes for the TV to be on while she's sleeping, so I rummage through the drawers in the nightstand to find the remote.

One more look around before walking out.

Downstairs, Leah is flipping through channels on the couch and stops on FX. The screen displays tomorrow's showtimes for the movie.

"Okay, everything's fixed up."

She turns around and nods. "It comes on again at the same time tomorrow."

"Nice." I give her a thumbs up and motion for her to come upstairs. As she goes up to her room, I turn off the TV along with all of the other lights.

It was almost pitch black in the living room, except for the street light beaming through the glass patio doors. The light exposes the deep blue color of my furniture.

I pause, contemplating over whether the locks on the doors should be double-checked or not. Without further hesitation, the uncertainty sends me rushing to the door.

Both of the locks are secure. Alright, time to go.

We were both in our beds by 11 PM. Leah was probably asleep by now.

Although it was quiet, my thoughts were loud enough to wake anyone.

Of course, I began imagining how scary it would be if my house was broken into. What if the guy is armed? Do I have anything to defend myself?

God, I hate it when this happens. My body is tired. But the mind, fully alert.

I sit up, pushing my back against the headboard. There are three items on the nightstand. The lamp, the bottle of pills, and my white noise machine.

The machine could help, although I've tried to avoid using it. I found small victories in not having to submit to my anxiety.

Turning over to my right, I feel around for the power button. There was no point in turning on the lamp. It was best to avoid any kind of light that would disrupt my sleep, even if it would only last for a few seconds.

After finding the button, I go for the bottle of Buspirone beside it and shake it to check how many pills are left.

Empty.

Of course. I forgot to call in my prescription yesterday. How am I going to fall asleep now?

The only option left is to fall asleep to the white noise. The last setting it was left on is "waterfall." I just need to listen to the soothing sounds of this relaxing waterfall beside me. A few minutes later, I finally drift off.