Three Perspectives pt 4 Sleep on It
Monday morning in the shared apartment of Tio and Rod was welcomed with grunts and moans of displeasure. Tio had an alarm for five thirty. Rod on the other hand worked from home so he didn't have a set time to rise. Tio being the furthest from a morning person denied his roommate the privilege of sleeping in with a simple flick of a light switch. Perhaps Tio would let his beloved friend sleep in but they shared a bedroom. The lights would most likely have come on one way or another.
Rod- come on man , let me have just one day to sleep in
Tio- you'd sleep half the day away if I didn't wake you
Rod- and whats so wrong about that
Rod got out of bed groggy and dissatisfied with his roommates unwillingness to allow him to stay in the peace known as sleep. As usual they both entered the bathroom where Rod stripped out of his under clothes and got into the shower. Tio brushed his teeth as he waited for his turn in the water. His roommate stood just inches away exposed. It was a usual routine and yet something felt wrong to Tio. Before his secret was out he felt no guilt for seeing Rod exposed , but now that he knew his friend knew him better he thought his sight was a perverted invasion of privacy.
Tio- so this doesn't freak you out
Rod- what
Tio- how I can see you naked
Rod- we've seen each other naked for the past 4 years at least every other day
Tio- yea but now that you know I'm...
He stopped to spit before continuing.
Tio- now that you know I'm gay
Rod- I've known for a while man , but if its a big deal for you now your more than welcome to step outside until I'm done
They finished their morning routines of bathing, getting dressed, and ready for work all in rather close quarters every morning. Their apartment was small and left little room to be shy while getting dressed.
With time to spare before needing to catch the bus for work Tio joined Rod for breakfast in the kitchen. Rod created yet another culinary disaster and served it to Tio on a plate. The unnamed concoction dripped and smelled of smoke too strong to lift with a fork without retching.
Tio- how do you eat this stuff
Rod- they made worse food on the island
Tio- better than the island is a low standard
Rod- suit yourself man more for me
For all the shallow and unjustified stereo types about monkeys that one might know Rod did not help disprove any when eating. Tio could only sit back and watch as his roommate engulfed the food from both plates on the table like a hurricane . He'd seen Rod's side show many times in the past but it never got old.
Tio- I should be on my way
Rod- yea , um before you go
He had to take a moment to both breath and belch before continuing. Rod as blunt as he may have been , was a friend and he could read Tio like letters on a page.
Rod- I get that Im the first person you've told about you being different and all but you I hope you know its not as big a deal as your worried it is
Tio- Im not worried, what would I be worried about
Rod- you kept a secret for 24 years , I understand that its a little hard to imagine you didn't need to keep it a secret
Tio- thats really considerate of you but I cant take you serious with syrup dripping from your face
There was a mutual laugh as Rod cleaned his face and Tio walked to the door.
Rod- you sure you dont wanna take something with you
Tio- thanks, but its probably best that a gym teacher not have a stroke
Rod , with food still on his face and hands , joind Tio at the door.
Rod- whatever man but im serious you just need to stop worrying , and who knows maybe then you can tell more people
Rod opened the door and Tio stepped out. The thought of telling other people was enough to make Tio's body lock up.
Tio- yea maybe
Later that day across the world day two of Lock box was shaping up to be an eventful one. A hand full of contestants dropped out over night which was to be expected seeing how rare it was to have more than ten percent of contestants last longer than a week. Box 27 was caught in a heated cage match between two contestants trying to force one another out of their shared box. Box 48 was experiencing exposure to a snow storm in the mountains while box 12 was under attack by a multitude of bugs from the surrounding jungle area. While the drama between Carl and Tina was on going it wasn't enough to keep the cameras on them.
Carl's stomach was growling and keeping him awake while Tina seemed to be taking a cat nap. Carl paced around repeatedly trying to kill time and keep his mind off of the constant flow of people passing by. Perhaps the one element that Carl did not anticipate were the eyes. He and Tina's box was located in the middle of Lobo city park , a tourist attraction known for one of the worlds largest and longest living trees. If hunger and thirst weren't enough to drive Carl away people might have been.
Carl- Tina
He stood over the lioness whispering to her as if he were unsure of her being awake or not. She was not, but after the sound of his voice she was.
Carl- Tina ...Tina are you awake
Tina- I am now , what is it
Carl- its almost time
Unlike the original trick in which lock box was based on , contestants were allowed special opportunity to earn food water and other amenities. It was a game show after all and and the studio couldn't very well let people literally starve themselves without giving them an opportunity to feed themselves. Every day each box would be given a riddle or trivia question to answer for the chance of earning spendable money. Contestants could use said money to buy anything they want as long as they had enough for it. In past episodes contestants saved up their multiple trivia winnings to buy things like TVs, beds , and in season 4 box 77 even went so far as to buy art to put on the walls. Carl wasn't interested in TVs or wall art , he was hungry.
Tina- time for what
Carl- the daily buzz
Tina was unphased.
Carl- have you never watched Lock Box before, its the daily trivia question
Tina- I didn't sign up for trivia
Carl- its not mandatory
Tina- then wake me when we hit week three
Carl- if we answer the trivia question we can win money to buy stuff , like food and water
Tina- I thought you prepared yourself to go the full three weeks with no food
Carl- I did but it be dumb not to feed myself if I can
Tina- then answer the question
Carl- I cant
Tina opened her eyes, the bunny boy seemed to be mid melt down.
Tina- why not
Carl- there are too many people , I cant think with everyone watching me
Tina- no one is watching us
She was right. Lock box was an international game show that had been on the air for years. Unsurprisingly enough the public had grown disinterested in watching people in big boxes who could literally sleep there way to a win. The many people who passed by Carl and Tina's box were city folk. Seeing strange and out of the ordinary things was normal for the residents of Lobo city so a big box with people inside gathered little attention. None the less Carl couldn't shake the feeling of being watched long enough to regather a level head ready for trivia.
Carl- were supposed to be a team right ? So help me
Tina- such a change of heart , its almost enough to make me intrested
Carl- so you'll help
Tina - of course not , you made it clear that we are fare from on the same side so figure it out yourself
Carl - aren't you hungry or something
Tina- tired is more accurate, so if you dont mind
Without any remorse or second thought she returned to her cat nap.
Carl- fine , whatever, when I get the trivia question right and order food dont expect to eat any of "my" food
Tina- don't need it
Needles to say Carl was less than amused with his partner's prerogative to stay uninvolved , but how could he have known she was pretending to sleep. Tina was just as hungry as Carl but lack of entertainment drew her to pressing his obvious and rather comically unhinged buttons for fun. As he stormed around having both a break down and throwing a child like tantrum Tina was silent and amused.
On the other side of town Gerome was going through his usual day of school. It was third period, chemistry. With little to know sleep on reserve Gerome was a blink away from the land of milk and honey.
Mr.Fields- Scientists belive that before there were the many centiant species that now dominant the planet there was a super species known as humans.
As class progressed Gerome's nodding off and slight snoring became a distraction. With his seat being a relevant distance from the front of the class room it did however take Mr.Fields a moment to notice.
Mr.Fields- Before humans there were many dominant species like dinosaurs. Its hard to say when humans took over and dinosaurs went extinct and its even harder to determine when we, the current dominant species, took over and humans went away but on your test you will need to know the general order in which each came
With class coming to a close Mr.Fields inevitably heard Gerome. Rather than wake him Mr.Fields gave the class an assignment to work on for the remainder of class. He sat behind his desk watching the class work but especially noticing how completely knocked out Gerome was. His fellow students had laughed enough and the spectacle of loud snoring grew stale. The bell rang and finally Gerome awoke from his sleep to find Mr.Fields standing near.
Mr.Fields- we need to talk
Gerome- about
His tone of voice was snarky.
Mr.Fields-you slept through the notes and today's assignment
Gerome began to gather his things and got to his feet .
Gerome- Ill get the notes from online and Ill get the assignment to you before I go home
He tried to walk away as he felt one of two things coming, a lecture or scolding.
Mr.Fields- Gerome wait
He hesitated but stopped just short of leaving the room in time for Mr.Fields to catch up to him.
Gerome- I'm sorry I slept through your class
Mr.Fields- this is becoming a pattern Gerome , every Monday its the same routine
Gerome- It wont happen again
Mr.Fields- I want to make something clear ,this behavior is normal for student athletes who's after school activities keep them from getting the amount of rest they need
Gerome- Im not a student athlete
Mr.Fields- but you are involved in after school activity that is clearly problematic , if you were a student athlete I would advise you to prioritize your time more wisely before your grades begin to dwindle
Gerome- Ill keep that in mind
Mr.Fields- you are one of the schools best and brightest Gerome it would be a shame for all your potential to go to waist
Gerome- trust me I'm not waisting anything, now can I go
It was clear that Gerome was less than intrested in anything more Mr.Fields may have had to say.
Mr.Fields- yes, you can go now
Gerome's next class was P.E. which was in most cases his favorite class. Along the way to the gym Gerome gathered with Sasha, a firey and energetic female panther.
Sasha- I heard you were sleeping in class again
Gerome- from who
Sasha- Terry told Becky who told Chris who sent a picture of you drooling on your desk to hafl a dozen people myself included
Gerome- fun
Sasha- how was the magic act last night
Gerome- it was fine , nothing too special
Sasha- I don't know how you do it
Gerome- a magician never reveals the secrets to his tricks
Sasha- not the tricks , Im talking about sneaking out to perform for total strangers
Gerome- oh
Sasha- but I guess you have to do something with your brother being who he is
Gerome- I'm not worried about my brother, I do magic because It makes me feel good , and makes other people feel good
Sasha- so your saying you dont like getting attention like your brother
Gerome- Sasha
Sasha - ok ok , but you I'm still waiting on you to add me into your act , I need some of that magic money
Gerome- there is no act, not anymore
Sasha- what
They arrived late but there gym teacher,Tio, was rather lenient. The class was already running a set some of elaborate work outs as Gerome and Sasha found Tio in the bleachers watching a tv show on his phone.
Gerome- sorry we're late Coach
Tio never looked up from his phone.
Tio- its fine , you can go change and hop in the work out or sit in the bleachers
Sasha- wil our grade be affected
Tio- your here so just give me 20 push ups before you leave and your fine
Sasha- push ups?
Tio- sit ups
Sasha- My paw has been hurting so
Tio- just stay until the end of the period and youll be fine ok
He finally looked up fron his phone.
Tio-wait , you dont have this class
Gerome pulled his friend away before she could further continue with Tio.
Gerome- sorry coach she's with me
Tio was sucked into his phone. Ever since the high school introduced free wifi to the campus students loved Tio's P.E class. They found it easy to get away with almost anything while he binge watched TV shows. His current show was Lock box.
With 100 boxes and 200 contestants in all to begin with the show was already down to 130 contestants. It was time for the daily trivia question. Tio was unphased by the fact that hall his students had ceased to continue running their work out. A small portion of the class even gathered behind him to join in watching the show. The contestants received their questions and as Tio and half of his class watched his phone screen to see who would answer the trivia the phone began to ring. Tio Quickly answered the phone. It was Rod.
Tio- nows a bad time Rod
Rod- I know you have a class
Tio- no I was watching lock box , you know I have money on box 16 winning this year
Rod- your watching TV at work
Tio- yea I have the class running a work out right now
As he looked up and around he noticed no one was running. It took only a slight stair and hand gesture for the class to realize they had to get back to running, and they did.
Rod- how did you get a job as a Gym teacher anyway
Tio-the head coach of the football and basketball teams wont teach P.E , but what did you need
Rod- you were right about breakfast this morning its killing me and the restroom and I have a package I need delivered
Tio- I'm working I cant deliver a package for you right now
Rod- I thought you said you were watching TV
Tio- I cant do it , If I leave students alone I'll get in trouble with my boss
Rod- cant you do it on your lunch break or something
Tio- how would I even get back home , you know I take the bus to work
Rod- Ill call a friend to drive you
Tio- why not have your friend deliver the package then
Rod- because I don't trust him like I do you , now will you please deliver my package
Tio- if I say yes will you let me get back to my show
Rod- hey I'm the one who got you into Lock box
Tio hung up the phone.