(POV: Sophia)
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It all started because I was bored.
And when I get bored, I scroll through Pinterest.
We were all lounging at the café again—our usual spot, our usual drinks, our usual level of shared insanity. Ava was nursing her green tea (because she's in that "matcha girl era"), Ethan was poking holes into the lid of his iced latte with a straw for some reason, and Leo, of course, was sipping black coffee like a noir detective waiting for his tragic backstory to be revealed.
I was deep in a rabbit hole of "aesthetic bedroom ideas" when I found it.
"Guys," I said, lifting my phone for everyone to see. "Rate this room."
It was one of those dimly lit, hyper-organized setups—plants, fairy lights, bookshelf arranged by color, a desk that probably cost a month's rent, and an absurd number of candles.
Ethan squinted. "Looks like a therapist and a Tumblr witch had a baby."
Ava tilted her head. "I like the lights. It's giving cozy villain."
Leo didn't even glance at the screen. "There are too many flammable objects near the curtains."
We all stared at him.
"Okay, Smokey the Fire Safety Bear," I muttered.
Ethan leaned forward with interest. "What's your ideal room vibe then, Leo?"
Leo blinked. "Functional."
I rolled my eyes. "Of course. That tells me nothing. Like—what's in the room?"
Leo sipped his coffee. "A bed."
Ava narrowed her eyes. "And?"
Leo considered it for a second. "A desk."
We waited.
"And?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Maybe a chair."
Ethan groaned. "Leo, that's not a room, that's IKEA before assembly."
Ava was not letting this go. "You HAVE to have some aesthetic preferences. Everyone does. What's your lighting situation? Color palette? Any art?"
Leo looked up at the ceiling, like he was searching for an answer hidden in the rafters. "Warm lighting. Grey and dark blue. Minimal decoration. I don't like distractions when I sleep."
I nodded slowly. "That sounds… disturbingly sensible."
Ava rested her chin on her hand. "You definitely have blackout curtains, don't you?"
Leo nodded. "Sunlight wakes me up too early."
Ethan perked up. "Wait—what's your sleep schedule like?"
Leo didn't hesitate. "Variable."
"Okay but—when do you go to sleep?" I asked.
Leo shrugged. "When I'm tired."
"And you wake up…?"
Leo took a sip. "When I need to."
Ava stared at him, deadpan. "You're impossible to psychoanalyze."
"Is that a challenge?" Ethan asked, eyes gleaming.
"Don't encourage him," I hissed.
But Ethan was already turning to Leo with the smugness of a man who had watched two YouTube videos titled "How to Read Anyone".
"Alright, Leo. Quick test. What do you do before sleeping?"
Leo blinked. "I turn off the light."
"No, I mean like… do you scroll your phone? Read? Listen to music?"
Leo paused. "Sometimes I read. Mostly I think."
Ava tilted her head. "Think about what?"
Leo: "Life. Stuff. Patterns in behavior. Random facts I remembered that day."
Ethan looked alarmed. "You… meditate in the dark like a cryptic philosopher?"
Leo nodded. "Sometimes."
I laughed. "Of course you do. Of course Leo doesn't just go to bed. He fades into the shadows to contemplate the nature of existence."
Leo shrugged like that was just Tuesday night.
Ava narrowed her eyes at him. "Be honest. Have you ever slept in a themed room?"
Leo raised an eyebrow. "Like what?"
Ethan was immediately in chaos mode. "Like a pirate ship bed! Or glow-in-the-dark galaxy ceiling! Oooh—racing car bed!"
Leo gave him a flat look. "No."
I grinned. "Not even once? Not even as a kid?"
Leo tilted his head thoughtfully. "My cousin had a spaceship room. I slept there once."
Ava's eyes widened. "Wait, like an actual spaceship-themed room?"
"Yeah," Leo said. "LED stars on the ceiling. A 'control panel' sticker set. The bed looked like a pod."
Ethan looked like he was going to cry from joy. "That's AMAZING. And you didn't love it?"
Leo shrugged. "I couldn't sleep. The lights were too bright."
Ava slapped the table. "You are physically incapable of fun."
"I like fun," Leo said calmly. "Just not when it messes with sleep hygiene."
I threw my hands up. "Leo, you sound like a sleep app."
Leo nodded solemnly. "I tried one of those once. It played ocean sounds. I woke up craving fish."
Ethan wheezed. Ava literally had to turn away to hide her snort. I almost spilled my drink.
"You're not a real person," Ava declared.
"You're a government simulation of a highly functional, mildly terrifying teenager," I added.
Leo took another sip of his coffee. "You're overreacting."
Ethan crossed his arms. "Okay, fine. Then tell us this, Mr. Normal Sleep Hygiene. What's the weirdest place you've ever slept?"
Leo didn't even blink. "Under a table in a library."
We all stared.
"Why?" Ava asked.
"There was a fire drill and I had a headache."
I squinted. "You chose under the table?"
"It was quiet."
Ethan was rubbing his temples. "Bro…"
"I also slept once in an empty lecture hall," Leo added.
"WHY?"
Leo calmly: "It was locked. I had a key."
"WHY DID YOU HAVE A KEY?!" we shouted in unison.
Leo, sipping his coffee: "I was doing some work for the admin office. They forgot to collect it."
Ava covered her face with her hands. "You're like a walking conspiracy theory."
I nodded. "At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if you told us your bed is in a hidden panic room beneath your actual room."
Leo raised an eyebrow. "It's not. Yet."
A beat of silence.
"That's it," I muttered. "I'm making a new folder on my phone."
Ava looked up. "For what?"
"'Weird Leo Moments.' Volume Two."
She nodded. "Add it to the archives."
Ethan sighed deeply. "We're gonna need a cloud backup."
Leo said nothing. Just sipped his coffee, as if he wasn't the human embodiment of a thousand unsolved mysteries.
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End of Chapter 29.