It was the night before the party, and Y/n was freaking out. She couldn't sleep. She couldn't sleep for the last few days since her parents gave her permission to go, and it had been a week since that had happened. Because of not being able to sleep, she decided to bother her friends all the way back in Ohio.

Y/n
Y'all awake?

Mel
Why the H-E-Double-C-K are you awake?

Sarah
You know I am. I'm always awake at this time.

Y/n
I'm awake because I need something to get my mind off of the party that I'm goig to tomorrow and you guys are always awake at this time.
*going

Mel
That is no reason to be awake at this time.
Excuse me, but did you just say that you're going to a party?
Since when did Y/n go to parties?

Sarah
My little Y/n is growing up!
So precious!
And may I ask, how did you get invited to this party?

    Y/n
Dang. Enough with the questions already. I came to you guys for less anxiety, not more.
And I got invited by the birthday boy himself. And it's a gaming themed party, Sarah.

Sarah
Wait, how did you know I was going to ask what the theme was?

Y/n
I know you all too well.

Mel
Alright. Who are you and what have you done with Y/n?
An invitation to a birthday party given to you by the person that the party is for? And not to mention, said person is A BOY?!

Y/n
You heard it right.
And I'm only doing this because I don't know anyone here and it's a gaming party, so why not?

Sarah
Sorry, my mom caught me texting. I gtg. Good luck with the party. (And the boy!)

Y/n
Awww. I lost one of my friends.
And now my parents have caught me.

    Y/n's parents had indeed caught her texting her friends. Y/n had to hand her phone over for the rest of the night. Little did they know that A) her friends were always awake at this time, along with her, B) they always had these late night conversations with each other, and C) she had other ways to contact her friends besides her phone.

    Once her parents had walked out of the room, believing that she was finally going to bed, she pulled out her iPad and went to her messages.

Mel
I told you guys that you shouldn't be texting at this time of night!

Y/n
Hypocrite. You're texting too.

Mel
I thought you were caught.
Why are you still texting?

Y/n
I have my ways.

Mel
You have your iPad, don't you?

Y/n
Curse you and your all seeing eye!
Now tell me something so that I can go to sleep.

Mel
Go to sleep.

Y/n
Not that!
You know what I mean!

Sarah
Hi y'all! I snuck my phone back after my parents went upstairs.

Y/n
Dude. It's only been five minutes. How did you get it back so quickly?

Sarah
I hid my actual phone in my book. I gave them my cover stuffed with paper.
Thank goodness my case covers the entire phone.

Mel
You guys got to be kidding me.

Y/n
Nope.

Sarah
Would you hate me if I said no?

Mel
You guys will be the death of me.

Y/n
Is there any better way to die?
Now tell me something already so I can go to sleep.

Sarah
Pineapple on pizza?
Favorite food?
Favorite color?
Favorite friend?

Y/n
No. That shouldn't even be a question.
F/f.
F/c.
No comment.
And shouldn't you guys already know this information?

Mel
The first three, yes. The last one? Not so much.
Now it's my turn for a question.

Y/n
Shoot.

Mel
Who's the guy you have a crush on?

Y/n
I haven't met many.
The only one that I have met was Clay, and I didn't even speak to him.

Mel
Okay...
Now go to bed, doofus.

Sarah
Yeah, doofus. Go to bed.

Y/n
Sarah, I thought you were on my side.

Sarah
WEll, I NeEd tO kNoW WhAt HaPpEnS At ThE PaRtY!
AND THAT CAN'T HAPPEN IF YOU'RE ASLEEP!
NOW GO TO BED!

Mel
Listen to your friends, Y/n.
Go to bed.
And no playing Minecraft.
You've been addicted to that game ever since I introduced it to you.

Y/n
Okay, mOm.

Y/n sat there staring at their conversation that only went on for about 20 minutes. It was currently 11:30 PM and she still wasn't feeling even the slightest bit exhausted. So, she did what Mel had specifically told her not to do. She played Minecraft.

She got up from her bed as quietly as she could and turned on the PC. Kringle and Cap had set it up while she was cleaning the kitchen earlier. Although they were annoying (a lot) they could be endearing and helpful when they wanted to. The monitor's screen lit up, brightening the dimly lit room. She opened Minecraft and started a new survival world.

The next few hours were spent slowly upgrading tools and armor, along with building a house and creating the layout of her land. She already had a small farm that was steadily growing.

After around an hour of playing, she saved the world and exited out of Minecraft. In her web browser she typed YouTube and found a few videos to fill her time. She was on her fifth video when she checked the time. 1:48 AM. Thank goodness she didn't have to go to school. That would be a nightmare trying to survive off of four hours of sleep.

Not that it wasn't possible. It was just not something that she really liked doing. Plus, the party wasn't until three tomorrow. She could sleep in and get ready for it. The house wasn't that far away either.

She looked back at the video and unpaused it. Less than ten minutes later, her eyes started to droop from exhaustion. Took long enough. She thought. Most of the technology was turned off, except for the alarm clock on the side of her bed. She closed her eyes and laid her head on the pillow.

Published May 12, 2022