Sometimes the only way to really forget everything is to go to sleep.

Sometimes sleep is impossible.

Sometimes it’s two am and you’re on a bus home running off minus eight hours sleep and trying to forget but you just cannot sleep.

Not relate? Okay, maybe it’s a bit specific. But bear with me for a moment and picture this:

Peace. Silence. A chance to finally clear your mind after a busy weekend. You rest your head into the back of your seat, AirPods playing music just loud enough to block out the rest of the bus.

You think things over. Your failed attempts at writing, your crush, whether you take to many extracurriculars, if you’re missing out in life or not. All the things one thinks of when sleep deprived.

It’s chaotic, but it’s peaceful too. The noises of the world disappear as the street lights blur. You close your eyes and begin to drift…

Screams fill your ears. You look up, pulling out an air-pod. Four missed calls. Terrified something has happened and you’re moments from death, you shout to your friend three rows in front. Probably woke up the whole bus, but you’re worried, so it’s fine.

“Dylan asked me out!” The joyful reply comes bouncing back.

Obviously, you’re thrilled. You’ve heard about this boy all weekend and really, a date was long overdue. You talk with your friend about it, not at all annoyed, until they eventually settle down and continue texting the boy.

Peace returns and you press play on the music. For the first time in two days, you can relax…

Then the snoring starts. Quiet, muffled snoring is fine, but this! The power of each snore rattles the bus, overpowering your music and the chatter surrounding you. You press pause yet again and try to find out who it is. It’s not your first friend, she’s still texting Dylan.

Maybe it’s the boy next to you? He’s sound asleep, headphones on and head rested against your shoulder (you try not to move to wake him) but it doesn’t sound like it’s him. Who else could it be?

You lie back and try to ignore it, but it’s impossible.

After an infinity of listening to the infernal snoring, the bus makes its stop and a second friend, who sat behind you, gets off. The snoring disappears. Wow. You shared a room with that girl and didn’t know she snored so loudly? Mad world.

But she’s gone now, and the droopiness that welcomes sleep returns.

The boy next to you begins to stirr. You keeps the AirPods in and try not to pay attention. You two are friends, but maybe he won’t talk to you and will just go back to sleep.

As if.

He yawns and sits up, pulling the headphones off and putting them back into his bag. Oh no, please no. It’s not that you don’t like talking to him, but if he isn’t listening to music he won’t stop and you’ll never get to sleep.

“Hey,” he begins, pulling out his phone, “guess what happened me last night?”

And so begins the story of how his best friend told him she likes him the night before and how he is completely torn on what to do. Your advice is to sleep and think about it with a clear head. Like you wish you could. But he feels compelled (or completely misses your hints) to continue his story, showing you the messages. Apparently he doesn’t want to tell the others yet. So why do you need to know?

Finally, he finishes the story and the two of you start to talk about music, discovering you are listening to the same playlist. You put your AirPods back in, him his headphones, and dive back into a calm and welcoming world.

At the next stop you first friend comes over and you already know you won’t get to rest. She sits opposite you, still beaming, and asks you to wake up the boy next to you. Knowing he’s already awake, you tap his headphones and say ‘He asked her out. Good luck’ as a warning. You go to put your headphones back in, but no. According to her, you need to her the retelling of the story too.

It’s the exact same story, word for word.

Try as you might, sleep has been officially scared off and it won’t be several hours until you get to sleep. And then there’s school.

And spoiler alert: you sleep through your alarm and miss school.