You groggily wake up. Your head is pounding. The light peeking through the blinds outlines all of the cups sitting in your room. Your headache thumps in tune with your heart. Both beating for the same reason. You try to recall what happened the night before. You try to remember but you aren't fully awake yet.

Then your hear it. The soft rumble of your delayed-start coffee maker that goes off at exactly the same time every morning. It all comes back to you. You only had time to drink one cup of coffee last night before you fell asleep watching reruns of the show that you're only slightly ashamed of being a total fan girl for.

You look out the window with your head tilted to the right and slightly upwards, reminiscent of that middle school portrait you were forced to take on picture day.

You think to yourself: "How did I end up with this dependency? Where did all of this start?"

The flashbacks come slowly at first. Its been such a long time since you started consuming that you can't quite focus in on the beginning. And then it hits you.

The Stages of Starting to drink Coffee

1. At some point you were in a coffee shop with your friends. They all were ordering and under the pressure of the ever-watching judgmental eyes of the barista, you ordered a plain coffee. Partly because you had been staring at the menu for seven minutes and still had no clue what a 'half-soy iced chocolate vanilla double shot fappuchino' was, and partly because the soccer mom in athletic gear standing behind you was passive-aggressively shuffling towards you to make you move closer to the register to order.

You received your straight coffee at the amazement of your friends. You may have even told a little white lie consisting of "This is how I always drink it." And then you taste it for the first time. Its horrible and you have no clue why millions of people consume this on a daily basis. While you try not let on to others that you actually want to vomit, you most likely look like this.

2. You NEVER want to try it again. Until you go to another coffee shop. "Its okay," you tell yourself "Its cheap and even if I don't drink it, I can just use it to keep my hands warm". But that's not how it works out. You start sipping it again, and this time its not so bad. Maybe its an acquired taste. Soon you're taking full drinks of it without making the ever-so-attractive face of bitter-induced disgust.

3. Soon you start frequenting the same coffee shop 'just because you like the atmosphere'. The scary baristas with RBF syndrome are starting to become less scary with every smile of recognition they give you. You even start to realize that they just look that way, they don't actually hate you. In that moment, nothing is more honorary than having your fav barista smile at you because you've become a regular.You might even start playing the name game with them. It makes you feel like a star (as it should)

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4. You know your barista by name and they know you by order. You have established a routine of going before class, after class, and sometimes even while you're supposed to be in class. Its okay though, its just a place to go and sit down to do work. Nothing serious, you're not getting hooked on it, you're just playing around.

5. Then you realize you're not playing around anymore. If you don't have coffee at the same time of day, you might just fight the next person to get in your way. Heaven forbid there be a line longer than 3 people. You are a regular customer and do not have time in your life for shenanigans such as waiting for your coffee. Who do these people think they are by ordering drinks with more than 4 ingredients?

6. You got a coffee maker for your kitchen. Why pay for one cup of coffee when you can make as much as you want in the comfort of your own home. I mean, when you sit down to do homework you need to refill at least 3 times. This is obviously the more economically friendly way to go.

7. You start collecting mugs and making coffee for any car ride longer than 10 minutes. Its just a thing. It solidifies the car ride, especially if its more than an hour. Forget multiple hour car rides, this man is going to need you to find a gas station ASAP.

8. You realize that you have fully become addicted when you start to search Tumblr and Pinterest for coffee related pictures. You've hit the point of no return. Your friends and parents might start bringing up concerns for your 'seemingly dangerous' or 'growth-stunting' habit.They may nag you about it, but its okay, because your'e perfectly content with sitting in one chair for an hour or several, with your perfect piece of paradise poured into your mug.