Stay (Lapidot)

(11) Intervention from Stresses.

Being a human is stressful. Going to college is stressful. Getting a job is stressful. Having friends is stressful. Procrastinating makes me stressful. De-stressing is stressful. Living in general is stressful. Thus, taking a break. If I wanted to fully die, I think I'd just stress myself to my maximum capacity then I'd die.

But it seems I haven't stressed myself to the maximum of my capacity yet so I'm taking a break as for today, a Saturday with Jasper. That's as great as small interventions to avoid stress can go.

So I'm here now, stuck in my bed. I don't feel like moving, my black hoodie holding me back from participating in any physical activity. I just laid there, scrolling through my phone. Fan-art about this new game is trending now apparently. I should get Jasper to buy that game for me, she still owes me a game. Other than fan-art, a bunch of my colleagues and associates are posting random parts of their life and what not. Ooh, memes.

I just stayed there in my bed for a while, waiting for Jasper's arrival. My eyes unglued from my phone's screen to the ticking clock above my door. It's 10AM now. I stood up from my bed, the bright sunlight blinding me. Jesus? Jesus.

I put on an olive green polo over my hoodie and ruffled my hair. I hadn't bothered to wear my shoes so I was just in my socks, in my bed and was in over my head. I was about to tweet about Jasper being late 'till my phone began to ring. I checked the caller ID and read that it was Jasper.

"Henlo, cheeto puff." I answered, sitting down on my chair. I stared outside the window in front of my desk. It's so bright outside, what the hell? It's so cold though?

"Sorry, I had to do something." She replied, I could hear the engine and the radio through my phone. "I'll be there in a short bit." And as I was about to say something, she hung up. Rude, I say as a hypocrite. I could probably do worse as always but alas, the situation has not arisen to that point. I wonder if I could be worse than I already was, thing is, I'm considered rude to everyone who doesn't bully me and it somehow seems hilarious. I got up from my bed, fully realising how bright it got, it was nearly the middle of the day. It was expected to be bright as how dark it was in the middle of the night.

In comparison to the many other Saturdays I would spend, this was already better considering this Saturday had Jasper in it. In the other Saturdays defence, Jasper had a girlfriend to date and in that time, I had games to play. It was like our typical roles are fulfilled on a Saturday. Jocks doing sports, students on dates, nerds studying, gamers playing, bookworms reading and so on and so forth. Yet today felt different as a matter of fact. I was with Jasper today, not any of her usual friends. To think about it, the only rational reason to hang out with me is because you have reached a level of boredom of which your friends cannot overthrow but instead is passed onto another player similar to myself who will attempt to defeat the common enemy we call boredom. Truly, I was lucky enough to not be the last resort.

I faced away from the window by turning my chair 180°. The real reason we need math in real life, to avoid the sun. I bent down and grabbed my shoes from under my desk. I put on my green converse, beginning right leg then left leg. I tucked in the ends of my black ripped jeans into my shoes. I got my small sized backpack that had things that I brought everyday that had no direct relation to education or anything of the sort. It had my charger, a powerbank, earphones, wallet and other valuables. I got up and left my house, locking the door after taking my keys. I wait outside my house and patiently stay there until my childhood friend had arrived in her orange car.

I got inside and buckled in. I greeted her with my usual, "Greetings and Salutations,"

"To you was well." Was her reply as she kept her eyes on the road.

"Ass-puff."

"Dor-idiot."

We both laughed at our silly insults and joked a bit. It had been a tiring set of events one after another, today was the breaking of that streak. After the many Lazuli induced happenings, it was great to just laugh about instead of stressing and panicking around. This day would be a small stop and a day to destress everything that had happened.

Jasper had driven us and arrived at our destination, a mall. It wasn't that big but it would suffice to be roamed about in one day. Jasper had found a parking spot and had claimed it faster than you can say the longest word in the english language. By the time she had fitted the car into the marked spot, another car passed by painfully slow like it was disappointed and pissed by the fact that Jasper had claimed it instead of them. As the engine died down and the radio had stopped buzzing, I clutched my backpack and had its straps surround my arms. I got out and Jasper did once she had gotten the keys. We entered the mall and began to wander about.

"Hey dot?"

"Yeah?" I said, bringing my attention to her as she blankly stared into the space straight ahead of her. We entered the game store and I had picked out the game I wanted to get. Jasper was to pay for my drunken act of appearing in her party.

"Did anything happen between you and Lazuli?" She grabbed my shoulder, making me turn around to face her. She had the most sorrowful and serious look someone like her could have made.

"Yes," I unclasped her arm from my shoulder. "We slept in my bed and nothing else." I gave the game to Jasper as she fell out of her trance.

"No, it's just..." she said, giving the cashier the bills as she handed me my game. "She seems more interested in you than ever."

"She just happens to want to avoid any major social interaction with people similar to you and Aquamarine." I looked inside the paper bag that had my game inside. The logo of the store was printed on the bag and I have never felt so pleased.

"Anyways... what score did ya get in the test in SS?" She asked, reminding of when she had an unexcused absence and thus had to take a special test.

"Easy, 35/35."

"WHOA. HOW?"

I just shrugged knowing that there is no method in getting a perfect score. I could study for hours or sleep for hours and I'd have the same result.

So we spent the rest of our day buying any crap that interested us and walking free around the mall's interior walls.