Scared Of The Dark

Chapter 2

"Hey, man, you okay? You look like death," my friend Peter so kindly tells me as I gulp down the rest of my third cup of coffee this morning.

"Yeah, I wonder why," I retort as I set my cup on the counter before going back to making that latte.

I'm at the café with my two best friends Peter and Cooper. Peter is the manager and he basically just sits on his ass all day while Cooper and I rush around to make everything for the stupid morning rush. Why doesn't everyone just make their own coffee? I mean I work here and I make my own.

"So you're still not sleeping?" Coop asks after I pass him the drink. He puts a lid on it and calls out the persons name.

"Sleep is for the weak," I say although half way through my voice cracks and I sort of lose my voice so I'm sure they only heard "sleep is for".

"You sick?"

"Pfft, no...."

"My god, you've got yourself sick with the lack of sleep?" Peter says in a half worried tone. I shrug. He hands me a cup.

I look at the order on the side of the plastic cup and blending the ingredients for the frapaccino but when I go to pour the drink it somehow ends up going down my front and I gasp.

"Cold," I mutter as I pull off the apron before grabbing some paper towels and cleaning up the mess.

"This is why you need sleep. If that were hot coffee your dick would've been in trouble," Cooper jokes. I roll my eyes and go back to making the drink. Cooper takes it when I'm done and puts whipped cream and a lid on it before calling the person.

Later on Cooper and I are off work and decide to get food together. He refuses to let me drive so I'm in the passenger seat and I lean my head back. My coffee wore off about an hour or two ago and I was doing a really shitty job once that happened. Well, shittier than before.

"Hey, man, we're here," Coop says as he nudges me.

Damn it, I fell asleep.

I groan as I stretch my back and climb out of the car sluggishly. We walk into the Mexican food place and take a seat at one of the tables after ordering our food.

"What are you gonna do about this? You obviously can't just stay awake forever. You're gonna lose your job if you keep fucking up," he says as he gives me the big-brotherly look. He's not actually my brother but sometimes he acts like it. Neither of us grew up with brothers.

"I can't help it. I've tried taking sleeping pills and they just give me nightmares and make it impossible to get up in the morning. I try keeping the lights on but I don't actually get good sleep then. I don't know what else I can do," I explain.

"Get over this stupid fear," he grumbles. I roll my eyes.

I'm closer with Cooper than I am Peter. Cooper knows about my stupid fear but Peter doesn't. Even if Coop is an asshole, I trust him.

"Its not that easy. I get anxiety attacks from these 'hallucinations'. My heart starts to beat all fast and I can't breath. I can't just stop it. I know its not there."

"Do you want to spend the night at my place for a little while?" he asks. I shrug.

"Having other people in the room with me helps a lot. I can sleep with people there, just not when I'm alone."

"I got it!" Cooper suddenly snaps as he gets an idea. I give him a confused look. "Get a roommate. You have an extra room and you'll even get help with the rent. They'll be in the next room but its a step closer to having someone around," he specifies.

I sit up straighter. "I think you're right. Okay, I'll put an add in the newspaper and on a bulletin board at the school."

We go to the local college and I'm sure there will be tons of students that need a roommate.