Drama

An hour later I’m being shaken awake by Alexa and Niall. I open my eyes to see my friends hovering over me, their hands on my shoulders.

“I’m awake, I’m awake,” I declare sleepily.

“We’re hungry but we didn’t want to go through your kitchen without asking you first,” Alexa implies.

“Oh, yeah, go ahead, I don’t care,” I say, sitting up.

“Good, because I’m about to eat up everything you’ve got,” Niall delivers from the kitchen. I look over and all I see is his head stuck in my refrigerator.

“Don’t eat everything, Madison and I need some stuff for tomorrow,” I giggle.

I turn my head back around to see that the TV is on. A random comedy is playing and I don’t recognize it, but their actions make it seem like it’s a corny, cheesy show. Niall comes back into the living room with a piece of the leftover salmon and the bag of chips Alexa brought, including a can of soda he took from the pantry.

“You must be really hungry,” I tell him. He chuckles and sets his food on the coffee table in front of him.

“Can we watch a movie now?” Alexa asks, reaching over to open her bag of chips and stealing a few.

“Sure, which one?” I reply, grabbing the remote and changing the TV to Netflix. I flip through some of the movies until Alexa points out a cute, romantic one and I click on it. The movie loads and begins playing.

We’re not even 5 minutes into the movie when Madison walks in, hurrying inside with her books and bags and whatever else she can carry. She lays her stuff on the counter and starts to approach me when her vision instantly moves to Niall. Niall doesn’t even notice for he’s watching the movie, but I realize she’s about to scream. She’s never seen a famous person yet, even though she’s been living here for almost a whole school year.

I get up from the couch and shuffle towards her. She’s speechless and doesn’t move an inch.

“Madison, are you okay?” I whisper.

“Yeah, yeah, sorry,” she answers, shaking her head. “I actually thought you were kidding when you said you knew Niall, and now he’s here in our apartment sitting on our couch eating my salmon that I made last night.”

“Well, now you know I wasn’t lying,” I reply, smiling. I turn back around and step into the living room.

“Hey, Niall, Alexa?” I ask.

“Yeah, what?” Niall responds, taking his eyes off of the screen and to me. Then he realizes Madison standing there and smiles. Alexa turns around, too.

“Meet my roommate, Madison,” I introduce.

“Hey, Madison,” Niall greets, giving a slight wave.

“Nice to finally meet you,” Alexa replies, nodding her head.

“Hello,” Madison returns. I sit back down on the couch and Madison is finally able to move her feet again. She puts her stuff away in her room, grabs something to eat from the kitchen, and joins us in the living room.

“What movie are we watching?” Madison asks, plopping down on the couch next to me.

“A boring one,” Niall interjects.

“Oh, come on, Niall,” I say. “It’s not that bad.”

“I’m not really in the mood for gushy, icky romance,” Niall admits.

“Alright, alright, do you want me to find a different movie?” I question.

“Yes, please,” Niall begs.

“Is that okay with you two?” I ask Madison and Alexa.

“It’s fine with me,” Alexa replies.

“Sure,” Madison agrees. I pause the movie and go back into the library.

“What kind of movie do you want to watch?” I ask.

“I prefer comedy,” Niall reveals. “I’d like to laugh a little bit tonight.”

I look through the many different movies before I find one of my favorite comedies. I move the cursor over the movie cover and it outlines in blue.

“What about this one?” I say.

“I love this one!” Alexa shouts.

“This is a good one,” Niall expresses, smiling.

“I’ve never seen this movie,” Madison admits.

“You’ve never seen this movie?” I exclaim.

“No,” Madison says, looking innocently at me.

“You’ve gotta see it,” Alexa proclaims. “Click it, Leila!”

“Okay, okay, I’m getting there,” I say. I click on the movie and it begins to load. After a few seconds, the movie is done loading and it starts.

By the time the movie is over, we’re all laughing and having a great time. The chips that Alexa brought are completely gone and a few cans of soda litter the table in front of us. A half eaten bag of pretzels and Cheetos also cover the coffee table, surrounded by dirty napkins.

It’s about 9:30 and both Niall and Alexa leave to go back home. Alexa stays and helps us clean up, while Niall’s had a long day and just wants to go home. But soon the cleaning is all done and Alexa goes home, too, leaving Madison and I alone in our apartment. We decide to watch one more movie, and we both end up falling asleep in the living room before that movie is over.

The next morning, I wake up with my neck hurting and my back aching. Sleeping on these couches isn’t really all that comfortable. Madison’s still zoned out so I get up and make some coffee. I do a few stretches to try and help my back and neck, but they don’t really help all that much.

Today is my shopping day. There are a few things I need to pick up, so I’ve decided today is that day to go shopping. I quickly shower and get ready, and by the time I enter the kitchen, Madison awakens from her slumber.

“Good morning, Madison,” I say cheerfully.

“Morning, you sound happy,” she answers, sitting up and stretching her arms above her head.

“I don’t know why, but I actually do feel happy, even though I didn’t even have a good night sleeping,” I admit.

“Yeah, my shoulders are aching,” Madison claims, yawning.

“My neck and my back hurt. I tried doing some stretches, but they didn’t really help.”

Madison sighs and looks down at the floor, then in space. She sniffs the air and senses coffee.

“Hey, would you mind getting me a cup of coffee, please?” she asks, too lazy to move.

“Yeah, sure,” I say, grabbing a cup and filling it. I pad into the living room and set it on the coffee table.

“Thanks,” she responds, taking it in her hands and sipping it.

“Well, I’m going to head out. I’ve got to do some shopping. I’ll probably be back in a few hours, depending on how busy it is,” I tell her, grabbing my bag.

“Have fun,” she answers. I wave goodbye to her and exit our apartment.

The cool, morning air hits me as I walk outside. Many people are bustling around on this nice Sunday, taking a walk with their spouse or simply doing some shopping.

I stroll down the main market street, hoping to find the right stores for what I need. I manage to find everything I need and soon, I’m heading back to my apartment, my arms full of plastic and paper bags. As I reenter my apartment, I find Madison doing homework in the kitchen. I set the bags down on the counter and start unloading them, putting the items into their correct locations.

“Wow, I thought you were just doing a little shopping,” Madison says, looking up from her book.

“We needed some more food and general things,” I shrug, placing a bag of flour underneath the counter.

“Well, thank you! You didn’t have to,” Madison responds.

“But I wanted to,” I reply, smiling at her. She smiles back and continues on with her homework. I finish putting the groceries and items back and settle into the couch, turning on the TV.

The rest of the day is lazy. I don’t do much besides turn into a couch potato. There’s not really much for me to do here, so I gladly take in my day of rest. Tomorrow is the beginning of another week of rehearsing and filming and getting up early. At least we get the weekends to get caught up on sleep, right?

Notes