Coffee with Alex

I woke up at 10:22 am the next morning. Normally, I would be woken up by my alarm clock at 8 am so I could be on time for work, but since it was Sunday, the shackles of time were not an issue. However, I did have to get out of bed soon, as I'm supposed to meet up with Alex for coffee at our go-to spot around noon. It's weird for me to hang out with Alex when I had been jacking off to memories of her the previous night, I know, and I normally wouldn’t make those two events happen so close together but today was somewhat special: as it was late December, Alex was back in our home town for winter break from college. This is my only day free to see one of my best friends while they were in town, so I do what I gotta do.

After getting out of bed and getting dressed in something warm enough to survive the trek from my apartment to my freezing cold car, I made my way to the coffee shop. Alex used to work there when we went to high school together, but quit once she started college out-of-state. However, even after drinking the stuff every day for two straight years, Alex still thought her old employer made the best cappuccinos in the biz, especially compared to Starbucks. I don't know much about coffee, and sorta just get whatever drink they are promoting that month.

Approaching the coffee shop, I noticed few cars in the parking lot, and in particular that Alex’s car wasn’t present. So, I went ahead inside, ordered a small hot cocoa with peppermint, and saved a table. After a few minutes, the drink is brought over by a friendly barista and I, who had been scrolling through twitter for several minutes now, was getting bored. Where was Alex? Usually I'M the late one of the two, so having us switch roles was certainly something I'm not used to. Just as that thought crossed my mind, a text from Alex took up the notification bar on the top of my phone screen.

“hey, running a few late (as you can tell lol)

mom needed my help w/ something :-/“

Cool, I thought. What now? As I pressed the back arrow to leave the screen with Alex’s message, I saw the text I received last night. Something about a hypnosis video, sent by someone who knew me but who I did not know. After some inspection, it appeared to be a normal YouTube link, so there is no harm in checking it out, I suppose.

What lit up the screen next was the most stereotypical “hypnosis” video anyone could imagine. A standard black and white spiral spun around, and a dry hum could be heard as the video’s only noticeable audio. I paused the video to check out the rest of the page. The video was titled “For You”, was set to “private”, had no comments, likes, and a blank description. The channel itself was perhaps the weirdest aspect of it all, as the name of the channel was just a period. Upon clicking the channel, I was met with an error message saying the channel did not exist. What? Whoever was pranking him clearly put in some effort. But what’s the point of the prank? Just some dumb YouTube video?

I was curious enough to text back the phone number that sent me the video the previous night.

“Who is this? What’s with the video?”

As though it was automated, the number texted back the instant my message went through.

“Irrelevant. The video is for hypnosis. It can effect anyone except for you. There is no need for further explanation.”

I sent a few more texts, trying to get any more information out of this stranger, but to no avail. They refused to respond. However, just as I was about to give up asking questions and making demands, Alex hurriedly walked up to the table I had saved for them and took a seat.