All My Mother's Rules

Chapter 21: Sleepyhead

"Wake up. Wake up."

After receiving a hard poke to my shoulder, my head jerked upright from where it had been resting in my arms on my desk. My heart was pounding. My eyes were as wide open as they could be. My eyes darted at first to the front of the classroom, but the teacher was too busy writing on the whiteboard to have noticed my brief attempt at a nap.

After four nights in a row of being wakened by a wet pull-up and a wet bed, I was now running on fumes. This was the second time already today that I'd dozed off in class. Thankfully, Samantha and Desi had been quick to wake me before I got into trouble with any of our teachers. The clock said there were five minutes remaining in the class. I wasn't sure I could make it.

Being tired plays tricks on your mind. I swear that these wooden desks at the high school had been intentionally designed to keep students uncomfortable, but now the hard surface looked more inviting than any bed I'd ever slept in. All I wanted to do was rest my head on it. Just one moment. I wouldn't close my eyes. I'd lift my head back up in a couple of seconds.

As I lowered my head, I got another poke. This time, it was from Desi. She didn't whisper anything to me, but the look of concern on her face told me enough. I forced myself to sit upright. The temptation to close my eyes for just a few brief seconds was so strong, but I knew that if I gave in, that could easily lead to me falling asleep again. How was I going to get through the rest of the day?

I didn't know what I was going to do if the bedwetting kept up like this. I'd never felt so tired in my life. I could handle it if I was walking around, standing, and doing stuff, but sitting at a desk with someone droning on and on about some boring subject was the perfect recipe for me to fall asleep.

The past couple of nights had been so strange. I had hoped that Mom's dislike of changing diapers would extend to her letting me change from a wet pull-up into a dry one, but the last two nights she had insisted on changing me herself. Awkward wasn't close enough of a word to describe how uncomfortable that was, but I had been too tired to put up a fuss over it. Once I had replaced my sheets and had Mom change me into a dry pull-up, I was too awake to fall right back to sleep. I'd lost a couple hours of sleep each night just laying there in my bed staring at the ceiling.

I couldn't wait for fourth period to come to an end. Lunch was next, and If I ate my lunch fast enough, maybe that would give me enough time for a short nap in the cafeteria. The bell rung, and I wearily stepped out of my desk and went off to grab my lunchbox from my locker while Desi and Samantha got in line for a hot meal in the cafeteria.

I didn't get the peaceful lunch I had been hoping for. I'd barely been at the table I was saving for myself and my friends for a few minutes when Desi arrived with a mug on her tray.

"This was for you, sleepyhead," she said, setting a coffee mug in front of me.

"I don't like coffee."

"I don't care. You need to drink it, or you'll be sleeping through the rest of your classes."

I took a look down at the brown liquid in the mug.

"It's disgusting."

"Stop whining. I put like seven packets of sugar in there for you."

Loads of caffeine and sugar. What could possibly go wrong? I shoved the mug away from my side of the table. The risk of offending Desi was not nearly as bad as whatever havoc that drink would cause to my bladder.

"Fine. I'll drink it instead," Desi said. She wasn't one to let anything go to waste.

I tried to stifle a yawn, but I wasn't successful. I couldn't wait until I got home. A nap sounded like such a good idea right now. I wished today was Friday and not Thursday. At this point, I felt like I needed a whole weekend to completely recover.