Please Like Me (Lauren/You)

Truffled Mac and Cheese

It's early in the morning and Billie huffs around the house, carrying boxes and boxes to the back of her car.

I've been awake for a while, lying in bed with Cora in my arms, listening to Billie's steps outside my room.
I've got my laptop on my lap, as if I were about to watch some random show on Netflix, but my mind keeps driving me crazy by trying to listen as closely as possible to the hustle going on in the corridor.

Suddenly, there's a knock on my door.
"Yeah?"
With the answer, the door is opened and Billie is standing there, looking tired and frustrated.

Her eyes drop at me and she speaks up, "I know you don't wanna see me or talk to me right now, and I'm still really annoyed about that", she sighs, "But I'm leaving now."
"Okay", I squeak, trying not to look at her.

When she doesn't move, I panic, grabbing Cora's paw and waving it at her, making a voice, "See ya", I sing out, an awkward smile on my face, while Billie furrows her eyebrows at me, "See yaa!"
The awkward silence is still there and so I slowly drop Cora's paw back down. Billie stares down at me once more and then, finally, turns around and walks away.
I quietly watch her, waiting for the front door of the house to shut, before hugging Cora closer and whispering into her furry ears, "That was a weird choice."

After Billie and all of her things are gone, I procede to spend the rest of the day feeling miserable.
Get up from bed at two in the afternoon, grill a sad looking fish for lunch, sit on the floor of Billie's empty old room by myself for an hour, make fried chicken, eat the fried chicken by myself, go back to Billie's empty old room's floor, and it goes on.

It is now 8pm and I decided to try and force some cheerfulness into me. Turn on some happy music and make some mac and cheese.
Flipping wooden spoons around in my hands and tapping my feet to the beat, I pour the pasta into the boiling water before going back to stirring the sauce in the pan.
I dance around the kitchen checking everything I've got to add into my dinner. After taking the garlic and the ham out, I freeze in position, my eyes set on the abandoned truffle oil in the back of the cabinet.

Staring at the glass recipient, longingly, I sigh. I had honestly forgotten about it, it's been here for just so long.
Throwing all of my thoughts way back in my mind, I grab the oil, quickly taking the lid off and pouring it onto the frying pan.

After it's all done, I mix everything together and just as I'm serving myself I go back to feeling grey, staring at the now empty oil bottle on top of the sink.
Turning off the happy music, I grab myself a glass and a wine bottle from the fridge. Smelling the food, Cora comes running into the kitchen, climbing on the chair beside me and sitting down as I serve some truffled macaroni and cheese on a smaller plate for her.
We dine side by side, making each other company, my dog and I.

It is late at night when Normani gets out of her room, stumbling in the corridor, feeling very high, and walks into the kitchen.
I am fast asleep by now, but Normani? Normani is up and awake, eying the fridge for some late night munchies snack.
When her eyes meet my truffled macaroni and cheese, her curiosity spikes, and she takes the whole pot full of it, tasting a bit before taking it out along with her.

Some time between 23pm and midnight, Cora jumps onto my bed, waking me up. I shift a bit, holding her close as I try to drift back off to sleep.
Half an hour passes and I'm still in bed, wide awake, staring at the ceiling, Cora fast asleep in my arms.

When the boredom hits me, I manage to get up and leave my room, walking into the living room as I rub my eyes.
Normani is lying on the couch with headphones on and her laptop on her lap, a lighten joint between her fingers.

I approach her, looking at her laptop screen, "What are you watching?"
She presses pause on her computer, removing her headphones and looking up at me, "The Muppet Show", she chuckles.
I snort and nod, "While smoking weed?"
"Yeah", she laughs.
I lightly laugh along with her, "Do you feel motivated?"
"Uh, it motivated me to get food", she points at the center table.