𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐒

020. straightjacket clown

NAOKI FOUND IT HARD TO SLEEP, but when your entire world has been upended, your reality shaken, and your sleep schedule absolutely fucked, you have a pretty good excuse. Naoki pounded her fist into her pillow, trying to fluff it. 

"Sleep," she whispered to herself. "Go to sleep." 

She had to sleep. It was imperative, it was necessary, it was life-threatening. And yet her heart couldn't stop fucking beating. She felt her neck pulse, could hear her heartbeat flushing her ears. The faintest light was too bright, the darkest black too ominous. Everything felt wrong and irritating and God maybe she was losing her mind. 

A text lit up her phone. 

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THEO SUN-LAURENT
one new message

hey, can't sleep?

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Naoki let out a small laugh, rolling onto her side and tapping in a response. 

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THEO SUN-LAURENT

hey, can't sleep?

nervous jitters. scared to meet
my psycho ex for the first
time, you know. 

don't worry, that's totally normal.
you're experiencing some changes,
after all. puberty is a bitch. 

you would know, wouldn't you

what's that supposed to mean, mae?

you know what it means, sun-laurent.

fuck you

fuck you too

take a melatonin gummy,
i left some in your cabinet 
last week

breaking and entering is a felony

yeah, well, it's not breaking
or entering if your parents let
me in, so suck it

i'll pass, thanks

your loss

your loss

go to bed, okay?

fine. goodnight <3

night <3

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Naoki grinned, shutting her phone off and putting it back down on her vanity. Then stopped. Re-examined all her life choices. Did she like The--

No, don't finish that. Get the gummy, go to bed. Fuck up the man who ruined your life. Don't think about Theo's cheesy texts or the fact that your cheeks hurt from smiling harder than you have in a year. Don't think about that. 

Naoki forced herself into the bathroom, gulped down two (maybe three, probably five) gummies, then threw herself into bed. Her phone buzzed. She physically restrained herself from checking it. 

"Go to sleep, Naoki," she hissed to herself. 

From sheer force of will (and maybe another gummy later), Naoki passed out.