I entered the house as Aileen was coming from the living room with a bowl of cereal, wrapped in a blanket. She looked like a burrito and I smiled inwardly. I loved seeing her so free and so unapologetically herself. It wasn't easy for her to do this and that made it even more special.  She wasn't afraid of being herself around the house anymore, but in public that was a different story. I tried showing my love for her with a smile, but I  couldn't prevent her from looking at me like I committed national treason.

"Hey," I tried nicely. 

"Don't hey me. I saw you," she mocked me and then looked me up and down, "so how did you and Alex happen?" 

"Chill, we didn't happen," I brought my hands around my waist in some kind of a shield. "Dylan wanted my help with him. Recently he has had a lot on his mind and Dylan wanted him to talk to someone," I tried to explain myself as I made my way around her and towards our living room. 

She followed me, scoffing at my response, "Yeah, I see. And talking includes long walks under the stars." 

I rolled my eyes at her words and said sarcastically, "Not really, there aren't any stars in New York City." 

I understood her overprotectiveness around her friends, she got her feelings hurt. But that didn't justify her being a bitch about every guy that came close to us, with Dylan being the only exception. I sympathized with her, heartbreak wasn't the easiest for any of us and she experienced one of the hardest ones. However, time passed, it had been more than a year ago and I believed she had grieved enough. She deserved to be happy again, to let down her walls, at least once in a while. We all tried and have been trying to cheer her up, to make her feel like she belonged, but nothing was working. Aileen was stubborn and saw the world in black and white. In her eyes, people were either extremely good or extremely bad. Her last boyfriend turned out to be an extremely bad one, not just in her eyes but in all of ours, so she generalized that perception to every boy we have come across. 

"Oh, I know, there aren't any stars in the city, but don't forget that there aren't any in his eyes either," she offered with a milder tone, as she sat on the couch and took a spoonful of her cereal. 

She smiled like she knew she crossed the line, "Look I am sorry, maybe I am a little bit overprotective, but I just don't want to see you get hurt again. Not like last time and especially not like me."

"It's okay," I tried to understand and reassure her when I took my seat beside her, "we're just acquaintances. He needs my help, and I need someone to keep me company during my work shift. I get bored." 

I yawned, I had been on my toes for the bigger part of the day and I hadn't noticed the time or the feeling of exhaustion that was slowly creeping into my body. That was until I had a moment to relax. Sitting on a couch with Aileen was that moment and she noticed it. 

"It's late, you should go to bed. You've got an early morning," Aileen commented on my yawn. 

"It's fine," I was putting on a smile with my eyes half closed, I wanted to stay a little longer with her in a conversation, we had scarcely seen each other the past week and I had been beginning to miss my friends and the talks we used to have. 

"Really sweetheart you look like you have been overworking, we can talk about this tomorrow or sometime this week," she put the palm of her hand reassuringly on my shoulder.

I sighed, I knew she was right, but sometimes I just missed our long conversations and now was the time when a lot was happening in our lives. She was my free therapist. "I know, I'll get to bed," I said in a sleepy voice.

She put the bowl of half-eaten cereal on our coffee table. "Come on, will you go if I go?" she asked knowing well that I wouldn't be staying awake if it wasn't for her. 

"Fine, I am going," I stood up and dragged myself to my room. I knew Aillen would probably still be awake and behind her computer editing some script when the sun would come up behind the New York skyline. She was a night owl and I was an early bird, it would be pointless for me to try to fight the sleepiness when we would have the weekend ahead of us to catch up. 

I swear I heard her sigh behind closed doors and I could picture her worried face when I closed my eyes. I knew she was being a good friend by wanting what was best for us, but sometimes she overthought. I would like to enjoy having a conversation with a boy, not thinking how my friends would perceive him, not worrying if there is even anything to be perceived. Like I told Aileen, "Me and Alex were just acquaintances, helping each other out."

As I thought this to myself, I looked in the mirror. "Do I really look that bad?" I wondered. Under my eyes, I could see a few dark circles showing through the concealer that I had applied in the morning, however, I didn't feel tired. I felt like I was on top of the world. Like I could do everything I set my mind to. That feeling was difficult to come by, but once I did, there was little stopping me. 

The last time I felt like I was capable of following my dreams was in January when I started working in a laboratory once a week. That led to me sleeping less and less, going out less and less and eventually breaking up with my boyfriend at the time. After all that might have even led me to the brink of burnout. But I wouldn't like to believe it. I would like to believe that that was just the after-breakup depressive state. 

"I am not heading towards burnout," I repeated to myself as I got in the shower and let the water erase the day passed by. I relaxed and closed my eyes, while I was brushing my teeth almost dozing off. It was one in the morning when my head finally hit the pillow and I closed my eyes so I could let sleep take me away. 

Morning came way too fast. I needed to be up and going, when I still wanted to sleep. But my mind didn't let me be tired or sad for that matter. "I can do this. I can take another day," I thought to myself, as I was putting on fresh clothes before I headed towards the kitchen. 

As I was preparing my coffee and breakfast in the kitchen, I heard a door open somewhere upstairs. Once I turned around I saw Ailleen with her hair tied up in a messy bun and glasses at the tip of her nose with her eyes half closed standing next to the kitchen counter. "Why are you up so early?" she asked me. 

"I have classes in an hour," I smiled knowing well, that she hadn't gone to bed yet, "you didn't go to bed, did you?"

She apologetically smiled, "I was reviewing a chapter for Noemi. Her book is coming along great and we have to finish that chapter by Friday." 

I was impressed by Aileen and Noemi, they had been good friends for some time and they both had a way with words. Noemi had the imagination running free in her books and Aillen would help her edit the chapters before they were published. I was happy for them. 

"So, you're going to be a published author?" I asked my eyes beaming with pride for my friend.

She shook her head, "That would be Noemi, I will just be written as an editor."

"Well, that's great," I smiled, "we should celebrate. How about this Saturday?" 

"We should and we could catch up with Nicole at the same time?" Aileen suggested. 

I nodded, while I was preparing breakfast and coffee to go. "I just came downstairs for a glass of water," Aileen went around me so she could get it.

"Okay. I need to go," I said to her as I was going towards my room to take my bag and finish getting ready. 

Aileen gave me a little nod before she headed back upstairs, probably to catch up on some sleep. I brushed my teeth and hair, put on some makeup and then I headed out. I ate some mini muffins and drank the coffee as I was waiting in a lecture room for classes to start. 

I wasn't feeling as sleepy once the lecture started as I had when I was leaving the house. Maybe the coffee or the anticipation for the girl's night on Saturday helped. But I guess it cheered me up a little bit as well knowing I would see him again tomorrow.