A/N: My friends have a (really nice) split double. It's basically a large room with a wall in the middle. The beds can go there, or it can be a study space. The way my friends have it, the beds are in the smaller room with their dressers, as well as some odds, ends, and posters. Everything else is in the larger room, which is maybe twice the size of the smaller room. "Claire" once told me and "Anne" that she thought the smaller room with the beds was larger than my single. I'm convinced that my single is at least a few feet bigger.

The phone jerked Emily out of a sound sleep. Her eyes popped open, and she bolted out of bed.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Hey, Em. It's Carol," a tired sounding voice on the other end replied. "Tom just called and wants me to come over. He said he'd call you next, but I told him not to bother. Can you let me into the building in a few minutes?"

"Sure, no problem," Emily replied, glancing towards the clock. It read 3:05. In the morning. This was getting ridiculous… "See you soon."

They hung up and Emily yawned. "This is insanity," she decided.

I think that my brother and sister Yeerks think it's you who are insane, came an amused voice from the back of her head.

Thanks a lot.

I mean "you" in the generic sense. You know, college students. If we had known it was going to be this bad…

I know, I know. You would have gotten reassigned the day we graduated high school. Or made me drop out. Or transfer.

Tarash sent Emily an image of the Yeerk nodding her head, which caused Emily to crack up. After she was finished, Tarash spoke.

Even freshman year wasn't so terrible. But this…

Emily sighed, as she pulled a bathrobe on over her flowered nightgown. She looked around in the dark for her shoes, retrieved them without much effort, and head downstairs. Except for the lights being on, there was no evidence that anyone else was awake in the whole building.

I have a feeling that quite a few people are, though, Tarash responded, amused.

Especially the science students, Emily agreed.

Carol was standing outside in a blue sweatshirt and sweatpants.

"Hey, Em," she said as the sophomore let her into the building. "Did we wake you?"

"The call woke me, and my jumping out of bed woke Tarash." She stifled a yawn. "She's not a happy camper."

You can say that again.

I could, but I won't.

Carol nodded. "I wasn't thrilled about it, either. I was working on a ten page paper, due tomorrow. I mean, it was due yesterday's tomorrow. Which is today."

Lack of sleep? Tarash wondered, sounding rather amused.

Definitely. Emily's response was one of sympathy.

"I was working on one of those when Tarash made me go to sleep. I really waited until the last minute for it."

Carol raised her eyebrows. "Last minute" according to Emily meant an early start for anyone else.

"Due…Monday?"

Emily shook her head. "I have ten days. But I hadn't done any work on it since it was assigned, which was about a month ago."

Carol looked impressed. "That's still really working ahead. Good job!"

Emily shrugged. "Want to see what this is all about?"

Carol nodded. "Let's hope it won't take too long. I should have brought work."

"Consider it a study break," her friend suggested.

A few minutes later, Carol (or was it Janent?) was knocking on Claire and Anne's door.

"Come in," called Tom, as the door opened.

Four people were already there, three of who were doing homework and one who was lounging on the comfy chair, but looking stressed nonetheless.

"Where's Mertil?" Susan asked.

"Couldn't make it. Major lab write-up due at 8AM," Tom reminded her. "We'll debrief them later."

She's probably high on caffeine, then, Emily noted.

Yes, that does seem to be how she manages to accomplish her homework and attend classes while getting minimal amounts of sleep.

He displayed a large cup of water for all to see.

This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs, Emily joked.

Or lack of sleep.

Sleep? What's that?

I'm beginning to wonder, myself, Tarash sighed.

"No offense to our hosts, but we need a Yeerk conference. So, everyone, in the water," Tom continued.

"Um, how will we know which Yeerk is which when they come back?" asked Claire.

"We'll swap, if need be," Anne mumbled from her science.

"Yeah, it's not like we can go around putting dots on them," Tom replied patiently.

He put the water up to his ear, and Tonrad plopped in a moment later. He passed the cup around, and the others followed his move.

Once the Yeerks were packed into that small space, Tom put it on top of Claire's desk.

"Now, what?" Susan asked.

"We wait," Tom laughed.

"There are chairs for you guys," Claire added. "One beside Nerd, the other that Merl's blocking."

The newcomers started to sit down, but then Susan spoke up with an idea.

"Why don't Tom, Carol, and Emily go to the other room and hang out while we do our homework? We'll call you when the Yeerks are ready."

Since the other alternative was to watch the others do homework, the three agreed without much hesitation.

"Feel free to make use of our beds," Anne added, speaking for herself and Claire.

"Just be careful about the mess. I think I left knitting needles around somewhere," Claire cautioned.

Carol, Emily, and Tom waded through their friends and made their way to the other side of the split double, which was devoid of any knitting needles.

Emily and Carol chose Claire's bed on which to plop, while Tom settled on Anne's.

"So, Tom. What's up?" Carol asked.

He shrugged. "Not a whole lot. Started writing another song today, fixed some computers, went to class, did homework. And went to about a couple gazillion meetings."

"Gazillion?" Emily questioned, smiling.

"Yeah, not just a zillion, but a gazillion," Tom grinned.

"I shouldn't even be here now. I should be working on my paper, or studying for a test," Carol sighed. "Preferably both at the same time."

"Tarash isn't thrilled about the whole thing, either."

Tom laughed. "Once Tonrad gets an idea in his head…"

"We're not blaming you," Carol yawned, pulling the rubber band out of her hair in order to redo her ponytail.

Emily nodded. "Wonder when they'll be done discussing everything. Or what they're going to say."

"Stop taking so many classes, especially when you have a job? That's what Tonrad tells me. All the time," Tom replied, with a half laugh, half shrug.

"Actually start your homework in the afternoon, opposed to waiting until midnight?" Emily laughed, scratching at her ear. "Although this is the first time that's happened. I was up until 2AM. Then, Tarash literally made me go to bed."

"Beat you! I was up until three…wait, I still am up," Tom added.

"2:00? You were in bed by 2? 2AM is when I started my homework," Carol yawned. "After this is over, I think I'll be up until at least 5."

"Take a nap at some point," Emily suggested.

Carol shook her head. "No time. Tomorrow's…I mean…" She trailed off. "Today's going to be even busier than yesterday. Not to mention that I'll be on duty then. I have a math test to study for, and another test, both of which are on Monday."

"Dude," Tom sympathized. Then, "Why don't you take a nap now? We have no idea when they'll be done."

Carol shrugged. "I might as well. I'll probably end up more tired when I wake up, but…"

"Carol? Try not to snore too loudly," Tom cautioned.

Carol sighed and rolled her eyes in response.

Emily switched to Anne's bed so that her friend could lie down. As Carol slept, Emily and Tom made small talk for about a half an hour as they waited.

The two of them were so exhausted that they didn't even remember what they talked about when they saw each other at lunch later that day.

"The Yeerks are ready!" called Claire.

Tom laughed. "Sounds like they're food."

Emily giggled, and then glanced at Carol. "Guess we should wake her."

Tom nodded. "You want to jump on the bed and make noises, or should I?"

Emily frowned in response. She jumped off the bed and knelt in front of the sleeping senior.

"Carol? Time to wake up," she whispered.

Carol made a loud grunt in reply.

"The Yeerks are ready. The sooner you get up, the sooner you can do homework, and the sooner you can go back to bed."

Carol rolled over under the covers and made an indistinguishable noise vaguely resembling, "Go away."

Emily turned to Tom. "Why don't we let her go last? Or we can just put Janent in her head and she'll wake her up."

"Poor Janent," Tom laughed.

He got up and they head into the larger part of the split double.

"We already got our Yeerks sorted out. Those are yours. Where's Carol?" Susan asked.

"Sleeping. We're going to put Janent in her ear and the Yeerk will wake her up. Or, let her sleep and do the paper for her," Emily replied.

She found Tarash and slipped the Yeerk back into her ear. Tarash had been easy to spot because she was a few inches smaller than most Yeerks. A few minutes later, Tarash had reconnected and taken control. She took the remaining slug outside of the cup of water, and took it into the other room.

Carol looked as though she was in a coma. Emily stifled a laugh, placed Janent to her friend's ear, and waited for the Yeerk to make the connections.

"Still sleeping," The Yeerk reported. "I'll let her rest and finish off the paper. Otherwise, tomorrow's going to be a nightmare."

Emily nodded. "Don't you mean today?"

Janent smiled wearily. "All days, really."

They went back into the larger room, and found Claire still typing away at her paper, Anne still answering science questions, and everyone else leaving.

"Night," she said, figuring she'd ask Tarash about what happened later.

"Night," the roommates responded. Or rather, one said, "Night!" and the other said, "Sweet dreams, son!"