As I lay in the bath this evening I wish I could have fallen asleep. Ideally, baths should have a mattress-style bottom and cushioned sides so that you can make yourself especially comfy in even the most lukewarm of water.

I gazed up at the magazine I was reading, and the black ink that formed the words seemed to merge into the grey of the paper. I closed my eyes, squeezed them tightly and opened them again. A drop of water trickled from the corner of my eye. "Just the heat making you sweat," I told myself aloud.

I slowly rised up out of the grey water, reached for my phone as it lit up. Coincidence. I read the incoming message and switched on the radio, greeted with the line "When will Britney Spears have her baby?". Who cares? I fall deeper again into the bath, wondering if it would in fact be possible to fall asleep in the ever-cooling water. I decide no, and instead sit up and wipe my face with a nearby towel.

My ears lift - a distant sound of voices can be heard. I turn the radio off and there is a sudden silence. It is short-lived, however, as the voice of my mother and then my father can be heard. Shouting. Again.

I recall the conversation from earlier in the day. "You should stay at home when you go to university," said my mother. "It will be so much cheaper, and you'll be able to have your own room and everything for free."

No chance.