Yui is calling.

I slide the phone take Yui’s call, “Hey beautiful. That was quick, I only just messaged you.”

“Who are you calling beautiful, you big dirty stop out,” Yui says in her delightful sweet voice.

“What? How did you know?” I asked, once again amazed at the speed of the Thai grapevine in relaying current events and gossip.

“Oh, I didn’t silly. You just told me,” Yui teases me down the line. “How’s Piya?”

“She’s good. Wait, how? I didn’t tell you that,” I say getting more and more bewildered.

“Well Lawan and Dawn aren’t here today and you haven’t been home so I just assumed you all ended up together.”

“You're amazing,” I tell Yui as my ride arrives. “Hey sorry, my Uber just got her.”

“That’s OK. I'll be quick. So, you don’t need to worry about what to wear to the dinner. I bought you something.”

“Yui, Sweetie. You didn’t have to do that.”

“I know. I just wanted you to look special and to say thank you for coming with me.”

Touched by her generosity I ask, “how did you know my sizes?”

“Well my mum used to be a seamstress and I got a pretty good feel of your size…”

I hear teenage giggling in the background and Yui call out, “Ssshhh or you’ll all get detention!”

Oh damn, Yui rang me while she’s in class. “Sorry about that. I’d better go too. See you Saturday then?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” I tell Yui before we say our goodbyes.

“Oh well get home and get some sleep. I want you full of energy Saturday night.”

Another chorus of ‘woooo’ this time breaks out from Yui’s year 12 girls listening in on her conversation. I hang up to the sound of Yui telling the entire class off for being nosey.

I hope in about my fourth rideshare in less than 24 hours and finally give the driver the location to my home, sweet home, intending to do exactly as Yui told me to do. Sleep like it’s an Olympic sport. Getting home I remember my damn uni assignment is still yet to be finished. I’ve got another 1000 words of a 3000 words essay to do. Sleep is going have to wait a while.

I make myself a strong black coffee and sit down, ready to knuckle out the last thousand words. I pray I don’t receive any interruptions.