Enemies with Benefits

enemies with benefits | 9

Chapter Nine: Skipping Class

***

The next morning, I woke up with a headache. Not only because I thought daytime drinking was a good idea, but also because the events that transpired between Alexander and I would not leave my mind, despite how desperately I wanted it to.

For fuck's sake, why was this so hard? Sex wasn't supposed to be difficult, and I wasn't supposed to be overthinking everything when the guy involved is my mortal enemy of many years.

The morning with Gina and my dad was a tough one too - I didn't know how I was supposed to face them after what happened yesterday. Well, mostly what almost happened - Alexander stopped things from getting out of hand. But the fact that I took a bottle of wine from them and downed the whole thing for no reason bothered me regardless, and it caused me to be very quiet that morning.

Thankfully, no questions were asked between then and me leaving. It made my terrible morning slightly more tolerable.

My headache ensued all through the journey to school, which put me in a bad temper the moment I was surrounded by teenagers again. They were all just so noisy - and I know it was my fault for getting drunk during the week for no good reason, but it still didn't help me feel any better about it.

Daisy was in a very chirpy mood. She immediately skipped over to me - yes, skipped - and we began walking together. The largest smile to ever exist was spread across her face, her arm coming around my shoulders as she led us to my locker. For onlookers, it must have been quite the funny contrast - a girl who felt dead inside with a girl that had more life to her than anything else.

When we reached the locker, I fell against it, my head hitting the metal. It hardly hurt at all, with my head already aching at a rate I couldn't deal with. Daisy gasped softly as she approached me, leaning in to make sure her voice was only heard by me.

"Kelsie, what's wrong?"

"Isn't life just so painful? Like, give me a day where you didn't feel any sort of pain - that's right, you can't." I replied.

Daisy didn't say anything for a moment. However, soon she replied with, "okay, so I don't understand this at all, but I do have a great idea to make you feel better."

I turned my head slightly to eye her directly. "What is it?"

"Talk to me about it. Venting is always the best medicine." She stated, her pleasant smile not faltering for even a moment. "I always vent to my mom about everything, and then I feel ten times better afterwards."

As much as I wanted to, I didn't know whether talking about it to her would help or just make things worse. She didn't know that my problems were all revolving around a single guy and my poor decision making regarding him, and I wasn't ready to explain the whole story either. Not while I was still reeling with the events of yesterday still.

"I'm fine, Daisy." I decided to say, earning a raised eyebrow from her. "Seriously. I just have a headache."

Daisy eyed me for what felt like hours, until eventually she put a hand on my shoulder and spoke. "Well, if that's the case then I hope you get better soon. But if not, you know you can talk to me right? There doesn't have to be any secrets between us."

I smiled. "Of course."

And thankfully for me, my smile - unlike the rest of me - didn't hold any secrets from my best friend.

**

I was walking alone down the hall when I heard my name being called. It was between classes, and Daisy - after much convincing - left to walk with Tyler. I was so glad to see how things were developing between them; it truly seemed like he cared for her, just like how she cared for him.