Every night my roommate leaves at 2:53 AM. I didn’t notice until a couple of months ago. I’ve always been a routine sleeper - I fall asleep and wake up at precisely the same time every day - and once I’m out, I’m out. However, two months ago I got really into a tv show (I’d name it if it weren’t embarrassing) and, once I get invested in something, I can barely function until I consume every little bit of it.
That night, I was on a particularly bad binge of the show; I spent the night curled up under the covers, intently starting at my tablet. I’d been laying like that for a while when I heard my roommate slide off his bed and begin walking around. I checked the time, worried I’d stayed up into the later hours of the morning. 2:53 AM. I assumed he was waking up to use the bathroom, and it soon slipped my mind. About an hour or two later, I collapsed from exhaustion. I never heard my roommate come back.
When I woke up, he was gone. That wasn’t unusual, he worked from 9 to 5 and I always slept in until 10 or 11. It wasn’t until I’d gotten to work that I realized how odd it was that I hadn’t heard him come back while I was awake. I brushed it off, figuring I just hadn’t heard him. After all, it really wasn’t my business. The rest of the day was a slog. I was exhausted from staying up so late as well as dying to get back to watching my show.
I made the stupid decision to drink a couple cups of coffee so I could last through the night and finish the season I’d been watching. My roommate was already asleep, so I tried to be as quiet as possible so as not to disturb him. Once again, I curled up in bed and became engrossed in my tablet. Once again, at 2:53 AM, I heard him get out of bed and walk away. This time, however, I was curious. After I knew he’d left the room, I snuck out of bed and crept out into the living room. He wasn’t there, and the door to our apartment was wide open. He hadn’t taken his keys or even his shoes.
At this point, I was freaking out. I was concerned he’d sleptwalked outside and could potentially be in danger. I ran around the block looking for him to no avail. He didn’t have a history of sleepwalking, so I convinced myself that perhaps he wasn’t tired and went out to a convenience store or something. I went back to bed, but my mind was too preoccupied to sleep or even watch tv. I waited for him the rest of the night, but he never returned.
I was considering making a police report, but I figured I’d wait until I came back from work. Sure enough, when I came home, he was sitting on his bed scrolling through his phone.
“Hey, you were up early this morning,” I mentioned, trying to casually bring up his absence.
He gave an awkward chuckle, “yeah, sure.” It was the sort of chuckle you give when you think someone is making a joke, but you don’t quite get the punchline.
We’d never been close, but he was clearly being evasive. I dropped the subject, not wanting to stick my nose into his personal business.
The pattern continued. Every day he’d get up at 2:53 AM, and every day he’d return home before I got back from work. Like clockwork. Then, last week, he quit his job. That was odd– I was always under the impression that he enjoyed his work. Still, I didn’t want to pry. A couple days after that, he told me he couldn’t make rent. At this point, I was getting fed up. It was his responsibility to have another job lined up for when he quit. I could only work part time, and that barely covered my own share of the rent payments.
What really cemented my frustrations was the fact that he continued to get up in the early hours of the morning and disappear for most of the afternoon. I swore to god if I found out he’d been partying, gambling, spending time with some girl . . . Yeah, I was pretty pissed. I don’t claim to be a perfect human being, but I have my own life to take care of, and I couldn’t be his babysitter.
I texted him yesterday while I was at work. My thoughts had been preventing me from focusing on my job, and my coworkers had noticed and asked if I was okay.
Hey man, we need to talk. I’ll be in the apartment after work.
Ok?
His flippant response almost made me lose it. I somehow kept my composure, and returned to the apartment after work to find him standing outside. Great, I thought to myself, he lost his key. I mentally prepared myself for him to ask me to help him get it replaced. Instead, he quietly followed me inside, looking confused. That only served to make me more angry, I couldn’t believe he was pretending to be unaware of the stress he was causing me. We took a seat on the couch.
“You either need to get a job or move out.”
“Huh?”
“I can’t cover rent for the both of us, you need to get your shit together.”
“Man, wha-”
“Don’t play dumb. You disappear in the early hours of the morning, you quit your job, you say you can’t make rent, and now you’ve lost your key?? I don’t care if you ruin your own life, but I’m not going to let you mess up mine.”
He was silent, completely baffled. After a solid minute of us making the world’s most awkward eye contact, he spoke:
“Hey man, are you . . . okay?”
“What is your problem?!”
I wanted to strangle him. I was so prepared to explode on him, I nearly missed what he said next:
“I haven’t lived here in three months.”