Life Changes » Marcus Armstrong

Thirteen.

Jane opened her eyes to the dimly lit room. It had to be daytime, small rays of light escaped from under the curtains. The headache was still there, but then the more bitchy version she had last night at the beginning of the hangover. Jane wrapped herself in the duvet, waves of nausea added to her misery.

She moved around in her bed; her limbs felt heavy. Her brain felt like it would swell beyond the capacity of her skull. The dehydration started to kick in; it was too obvious to ignore now. Jane moaned and pressed her face into her pillow.

After a long time of doubting, Jane decided to get up. Her stomach lurched and gurgled. Jane tried to postpone the painkiller part because she was too tired to move around, but perhaps this was the right moment to get them.

Jane pushed herself up, more nausea came up, and everything around her spun. She squinted and groaned again. Her eyelid fell shut. She raised them again and pushed the duvet off her body before swinging her bare feet over the bed.

She felt gross, making her want to take a long, warm shower. That was precisely what she did. The painkillers started to do the job; Jane switched off the lights in the bathroom and had a long recovery shower. Once she got out and got changed to her pyjamas, she entered the living area to get a light breakfast - she wasn't hungry at all, but she had to eat something. The light was another horrible side effect of the hangover. Jane ate a banana and drank two cups of water before crawling back into her bed.

A couple of hours later, nausea disappeared, and the headache got less. Jane grabbed her phone, but squinted again when the bright light of her phone reflected on her face. It took her a few minutes to get used to the light. It was three o'clock in the afternoon. Luna messaged Jane to let her know she went out for a walk. Before Jane had the chance to do something, her screen changed into a FaceTime call. Jane ignored it, but she got called again a few minutes later.

"What?" Jane uninterestedly said when she answered the call.

"Oh," Julius, her brother, mouthed when he faced a black screen. "You good?"

"Hangover," she breathed.

Julius nodded and licked his lips. "Call back later?"

"No, it's fine," she said. "It's been a while since we talked." A yawn escaped her mouth and she got up. She opened the curtain and window for light and fresh air. "I'm never drinking again." Jane crawled back under the duvet and wrapped the white blanket around herself like a burrito.

He smirked. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine without a hangover, shit with a hangover. You?"

"Alright," her brother replied and nodded. "Spending a lot of time in the studio and..." He took a deep breath. "Just living life."

She nodded and placed her phone against the wall - her bed was standing against the wall since she had a small room. After a few attempts, the phone didn't fall anymore. Jane yawned. "And mum and dad? And Jack and Josh?"

"All good. Mum is writing again, dad is alone, Jack is filming, and Josh is still working."

"Poor dad."

Julius laughed.

The two talked for a while; Julius was dragging his little sister through the hangover. Julius was the youngest brother, he was the closest brother to Jane because they grew up together. Jane didn't want to admit it because she didn't want to favour people, but Julius was her favourite brother.

"But the party was fun?" Julius noticed Jane was feeling better; she talked more and looked more clear in her eyes.

"It was, we had a fun dress-up party."