Sleeping In

My eyes drift open, allowing the sun to shine directly on my face. A headache slowly begins to rise within me, but as I shut them once more, it disappears back into nothingness. My phone buzzes after a few minutes, I contemplate for a few minutes as to if I should look at it or not. It's Saturday after all, I really just want to sleep in. I don't even have the motivation to get out of bed or exercise. I really shouldn't have eaten so much last night.

My phone buzzes once more and I groan as I roll over and grab it, it's my mom. 'Hey, can you please do some dishes? Your father and I are out getting groceries right now.'

Groceries? Did I sleep in? Timidly, my gaze rises to the time on my phone, it's almost twelve. Shit, I did. Hastily, I type in a response as I slowly roll myself out of bed, 'Yeah sure.' Setting my phone down, I race out of bed and go straight to the bathroom and do my morning routine. How is it even possible that I slept in? My body always naturally wakes up around seven.

After quickly finishing my morning routine and some stretches, I pick up my phone again. There's three other texts that I didn't even notice before, one from a classmate of mine in drama, another from my father, and one from Knox.

I decide to start with my classmate, 'Eh, Alina, what portion of the script am I supposed to memorise?' That was sent at around midnight, so surely they expected it to take me a few hours to respond.

'Hey, Jackson, you have to memorise all of the lines involving Richard,' I send the text and move onto my father's.

'Hey, Sweety, I decided to grab you a few chocolate bars and ice cream,' That was received about fifteen minutes ago, almost exactly after I left my room.

'Thanks, dad! Love you!' I respond and move onto Knox.

'You left your bag here.' Shit, I did. 'Also, what would you like to do for our birthday?' Those were received about five hours ago, when I usually would have woken up. Though it's quite amazing that he was awake so early, after last night I perfectly expected him to sleep until two in the afternoon.

'I'll grab it once I'm done with the dishes,' I reply and take a moment to think of a response for the second one. 'I'm not sure what we should do though.'

As I slide my phone into my pocket and head up the stairs to the kitchen, it buzzes once again. 'Did you seriously just wake up?' Knox responds instantly, adding a laughing emoji to the end of his message.

'Shut up,' I quickly type and send, also adding a laughing emoji to the end of it. I stare at my phone as I reach the top of the steps waiting to see if he'll respond, he doesn't. He's probably streaming right now as well.

The snow is slowly and majestically drifting to the ground, making the outdoors appear like a winter wonderland. It looks like a beautiful Christmas morning, the kind that you only see in the movies. The longing to go outside and play in the snow grows within me, but I push it back down. I'll go outside once I'm done with the dishes, maybe even play with Knox and Cerberus in the snow. Ooh, maybe we could make some hot chocolate and watch some movies together.

Cerberus nudges my legs, smiling and panting up at me. "Good morning, boy," My voice squeaks as I scratch his ears. His tail speeds up, hitting against a wall and making a banging sound as he acts like nothing's wrong. "Wanna go for a walk, boy?" He barks and hops up on his hind legs, holding his front legs against me to help hold him up. My chuckles are joyful and loving as I dodge his kisses, "Alright, I'll take you out once I'm done with the dishes."

With all that I've been hoping to do today since I woke up, the dishes seemed to be a barrier guarding my field of fun, making sure that no one steps onto the grass of enjoyment and breathes the air of relaxation. I turn off the tap, watching as the water ceases to flow. Cerberus takes a hint of the stop and starts excitedly wagging his tail and jumping up to me. Without any hesitation I quickly run and throw on my shoes, coat, and gloves, though I probably don't need all of this if I end up hanging out at Knox's place. Cerberus hands me a leash that he's been following me around with for the past two minutes and I clip it onto his collar.

He hauls me over to the door and scratches at it until I finally open it. The door slides open and he tugs at me as we step outside and I lock the door behind me. Snow slowly drifts onto Cerberus and I, turning his dark black coat into a black and spotted white. It's not too cold today either, it makes my cheeks feel like they're turning a rosy pink after just a few seconds, and my nose has already started to run once we've reached the end of my street. Knox's place is already in sight, the TV in their living room shines through a window, playing a Twitch stream of some sort, must be Afia.

I carefully make my way up the steps, doing my best to not slip on the ice and wet stone. Cerberus yanks and pulls as I try not to die by falling down the icy stairs this winter. Once we finally reach the top of the steps, Cerberus hops and claws at their door as I reach to ring the bell. It dings loudly and in less than a few seconds I hear footsteps making their way over to the door.

Keita opens the door, his hair looking freshly brushed and shirt a bit damp from a recent workout. "Oh hey, Alina." His thick lips form a welcoming smile that can lift anyone's mood. His gaze lowers to the excited beast sniffing his legs and licking his hands, "Hey, Cerberus."

Cerberus barks and I notice Knox reach the top of the stairs, his hair is still pretty messy and wild looking too. "Good morning, Alina," He greets me cheerfully and steps towards the door. "Here for your bag?"

"And to hang out for a bit," I add, smiling widely as Keita takes Cerberus' leash from me. Cerberus sprints inside and goes straight to Afia who's already prepared to be tackled on the couch.

"Sounds good," Knox smiles and makes his way to the snack cupboard in the kitchen. Keita steps out of the way, looking a little astonished that Cerberus managed to break free from his grip.

"Have you streamed yet today?" I ask as I make my way to the kitchen, choosing to ignore Afia's laughs and cries for help.

He shakes his head, "I'm not feeling all that motivated today."

Wait, seriously? For once in the years that I've known Knox, he actually doesn't feel like streaming? I guess that it makes sense, if you do something for long enough then you're bound to get bored of it. But streaming? I guess that the numbers must not be motivating him as much as they used to. He did start streaming because he truly did care about playing video games and sharing his amazing gaming abilities with people, and after that huge celebration for the new high score of viewers, he must have been expecting much more out of that.

He turns and faces me, smiling, "But now that you're here, maybe we can stream together."

I giggle and grab a bottle of Coke out of the fridge, smiling brightly at him, "Of course, I'd love to."