"The Night Girl Finds a Day Boy"
Zoe: I mean, I've been upfront with you from the very beginning.
Jordan: But it's been on your terms ever since then.
Jordan: But it's been on your terms ever since then.
Zoe (Zoë Chao) meets the love of her life, Jordan (Gbenga Akinnagbe). The problem? She has delayed sleep phase disorder
, meaning she is awake at night and not during the day. If they want to make their relationship work, they must figure out a way to coexist on opposite schedules.
Based on the essay of the same name.
Tropes:
- Meet Cute: Zoe and Jordan have a meet-cute when he peers over her shoulder at a diner and asks her what she's drawing. He later awkwardly asks for her number.
- Meet the In-Laws: Jordan asks Zoe to have brunch with his mother while she's in town. He intends for it to be a major milestone in their relationship. However, Zoe sleeps through it and can only hurriedly meet his mother as she's about to leave.
- The Night Owl: Zoe is awake at night and asleep during the day. Justified: she has a circadian rhythm disorder that makes it impossible for her to keep diurnal hours without tremendous effort and exhaustion.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: After Zoe fails to wake up for a brunch with his mother, Jordan snaps and tells her that for the duration of their relationship, he's had little sleep because he's trying to see her on her terms, and that she uses her disorder as an excuse not to interact with people.
