I remember the first time I didn't dose. It was my roommate's doing.

"Have you ever slept?" said Chad, startling me. He had a habit of creeping into my room without me noticing.

"What? Dude, no," I said. "And knock before you come in next time." I looked back down at my Chemistry notes.

"We should try it," said Chad.

"Very funny. I have the Chem 2 and Econ 3 finals tomorrow," I said, popping one of the little white pills into my mouth. I continued reading my notes for a minute before I realized that Chad was still standing behind me. "Dude, why are you still here? I'm studying."

Chad just smiled. "Hey that pill you just swallowed – guess what that was?"

I grabbed the bottle. "These are just my wakers. This–" I stopped talking for a moment and studied the bottle closely. "Chad, what the fuck did you do?"

He was giggling to himself. "Ever heard of melatonin?"

That was the last thing I heard before I collapsed on the floor. The next morning, I awoke not having studied nearly enough. But somehow, I got a 98% and 99% respectively on both exams. Despite only studying for a few hours last night, I remembered the material better than I ever had. And since then, I've never looked back.

I wasn't like most sleepers. Most people would touch heroin well before they'd touch something like melatonin or zolpidem. Most sleepers didn't have stable jobs or a stable girlfriend.

Actually, I'd had a bit of trouble in the latter category. I remember the first time I brought a girl back to my studio apartment.

"What the fuck is that?" said Maria, pointing at my bed.

"I, uh, well–"

"You sleep?" asked Maria. "And are those pillows?"

"I can explain. I was sick a few weeks ago, and I had to go off wakers for a few days," I said.

"Uh, ok," said Maria. She gathered up her coat and walked out the door. She didn't even look back as she said goodbye.

After a few similar incidents, I'd found a guy who could turn an innocent-looking sofa into something that folded out into a bed. It wasn't cheap but it was definitely worth it.