The GEEKs

11. party planners and the lost pedal

I drag my half dead body up the stairs, since the last thing I'd want to happen right now is me getting stuck in the piss smell infused elevator. I can already hear the sound of my head hitting the pillow, even through all the buzz still ringing in my ears after a shift at Rock Candy. It's been a long night and I had to stay after hours, but the bright side is that we can drink whatever we want from the bar while we're cleaning up, and I really feel like I needed that cold Corona to wake me up enough for me to get home.

I fish my keys out of my bag but when I try to unlock the apartment door I find out that it's unlocked. Goddamnit, Kat. It has to be her, she's the only one who for whatever reason thinks there's no need to do something so mundane as locking the door at night. Or ever.

I push the door open and step into our apartment, and as if on cue someone flicks the lights on, revealing Matt Lukin in our kitchen, clutching the wind chime that Kat hung above the stove.

"Are you actually unironically asking me that?" Kat's voice makes me look over at her, hugging herself and glaring at Matt from her bedroom doorway.

"What's he asking you?" I point at Matt who's mumbling a string of apologies laced with cuss words.

"Lukin seems to be under the impression that he glides through life without making a single sound like a fucking ghost."

"Did he wake you?"

"Not exactly...I was in the process of falling asleep."

"Hey, why are these chocolates half eaten?" Matt has conjured a box of chocolates from one of the cupboards and holds it up for us to see its contents – almost every single piece has teeth marks on it.

"That's how Kat eats, kind of like an actual cat." I explain.

"Okay, for the millionth time, I just want to see what flavours they are, and then if they're good I keep the other half for later, and if they're awful I don't have to eat the whole thing."

"They have the flavours listed on the bottom of the box, you can just pick it up and read it."

"Well where's the fun in that?" Kat flails her arms as if I just said something offensively dumb.

"Do you girls have any alcohol??"

I leave Kat and Matt with his endless questions and requests and make my way to the bathroom to pee out the beer. What do I have planned for tomorrow... Hmm. Nothing! Tomorrow's Monday, so I'm free to sleep until dinner, fuck yes! I wonder what Mike's gonna be up to tomorrow though. Sometimes I really can't stand how often I think about him, because I know he takes pride and pleasure in feeling like he's the best fucking thing since sliced bread in my life. But he's not too far off. Do I wish he was more domestic, more boyfriend-y sometimes? Yeah. But nobody's perfect. And I think I've grown to have enough trust in him to feel like this might actually last. I guess that's a really narcissistic thing to admit but I love how much alike him and I are, and I think that's part of why I trust him.

I use the toilet, wash my face, brush my teeth, and emerge from the bathroom to find Kat and Matt still in the living room, only now he's making himself comfortable on the couch in front of the TV, and Lizzy's standing in her doorway too. "Oh, you're back." She greets me with a sleepy smile and steps past me to get into the bathroom. When I return my attention to Matt and Kat, I can still see this pleased look on Matt's face, which has to be a reaction to Lizzy's sleeping attire – short shorts and a tank top. Although to be fair those shorts totally look like a diaper, so I don't know what he's so pleased about.

"This total stranger with dirty hair knocks on my door one night, and...a month and a half later I hand him my booze and let him watch my TV on my couch all night. What am I doing with my life, Lukin?" Kat mumbles already turning to go back into her bedroom.