Bully Story

Aftermath

The first thing Gwen noticed was the pounding headache. It cut through her whole head and pulsed backwards and forwards. The area behind her eyes ached and she clenched them tighter. The next thing she noticed about her surroundings was the heat that seemed to engulf her. Why would the heat be on, she wondered? Cracking an eye open, she was met with a gentle glow of morning light streaming in through the window.

Gwen tensed. This wasn't her room. Her eyes flitted around the room, scanning for any indication of where she was. She froze when the bed moved. A low groan came from behind her, accompanied by a slight shake of the mattress. An arm was wrapped loosely around her waist. She hadn't realized it until now, but warm breath had been fanning across the back of her neck. Terrified, she tried to remember something, anything. Her mind was blank. Slowly and carefully, she looked over her shoulder to see who on earth she had become bedfellows with.

Gary slept peacefully, his head resting deeply in his pillow. Even in his sleep, his brow was furrowed slightly. He was probably still thinking just as hard as ever. In any other circumstance, it might almost have seemed sweet.

She was appalled. What had happened? Why couldn't she remember anything? She certainly hadn't planned on ending up in anyone else's bed, much less his. This raised even more important questions that she had no desire to think about. Unfortunately, she couldn't do much else. Tears welled in her eyes as the worst possible conclusions seeped into her mind.

He woke with a start, awakened by a minor nightmare. They used to be extremely common for him, but he recently found himself having them less and less. As he slowly became aware of his surroundings, he realized that Gwen was curled up under his arm, still asleep. He quickly took his arm back, frustrated with himself. Sitting up, he rubbed his temples. He had no idea how he was going to keep her from freaking out. He glanced down at her sleeping form before deciding to get dressed. After a lingering look, he stood up and headed to his dresser.

Gwen opened her eyes when she felt his weight leave the mattress. She tried to reason with herself, but it was futile. She was already panicking. She rolled over to glance at him only to find him buttoning his jeans. The sight was too much for her and she began weeping.

Gary turned at the sound of sniffling. Gwen sat up on his bed, hands over her face and knees tucked up. It was similar to how she had wept the night before, but somehow worse. This time she knew exactly what she was crying about.

"What's the matter?" he asked, trying to appear unconcerned. He had an image to keep up, after all. Even though he wanted to go to her, he knew she needed space to process. She sobbed quietly, curling into a ball. Gary rolled his eyes. "You wanna know what happened last night?"

"I'm not sure," she cried. "If it's as bad as it seems, I don't want to hear it."

"It's not. Calm down," he sighed. Did it really appear so bad, anyway? She could have ended up in someone else's bed. Gary shook his head, clearing his thoughts. "Remember the Halloween dance?"

She sniffed, her tears slowing only slightly. "Some of it."

"Good. Somebody spiked the punch. And you had like four cups of it."

Gwen's jaw dropped. "I was drunk?! Oh no! I must have looked like an idiot! What will everyone think of me now?" She grabbed clumps of her hair, tearing up more. "And that's not even the worst part! I'm in here... did we..?"

"What? No! Nothing happened!" Gary sputtered. He hated being flustered, and no one made him more flustered than Gwen. "Let me continue. When you were drunk, that creep Ricky kept hitting on you."

"That's even worse!" she cried, covering her face.

"I don't know what you said. But I'm just letting you know that you could have been a whole lot worse off than waking up in my room."

"... How did I get here?" she asked, peeking through her fingers.

Gary sighed. He really didn't want her knowing that he had basically saved her, but he couldn't just lie to her now. "I took you away from him and brought you here. I couldn't bring you to Mrs. Peabody drunk; she'd kill us both."

"So," she sniffed, unfurling a little, "nothing bad happened?"

"Not a thing," he answered, tilting his head at her. "Except for you hogging my sheets and complaining about your vitamins."

She laughed quietly, finally relaxing a little. She looked down at herself and stiffened. "You didn't... change my clothes, did you?"

"Good lord, no. You did that yourself. By the way, you're not changing in here again. Return the shirt to me later. You gotta go."

"Okay, okay. I'm leaving," she said, scrambling out of bed and picking her costume pieces off the floor.

"I didn't mean right this second. Unless you want something for that splitting headache I assume you have."

"Ow," Gwen growled, suddenly reminded of the sharp pain in her head. "Should I go see Nurse McRae?"

"No, she'll probably report you. Here, I have some meds," he said, sliding open his desk drawer.

"Whoa," Gwen said, stepping over to him. "It's like a whole pharmacy in there."

"Shut up. Just take this with some water when you get back to your dorm." He handed her an oblong white pill. She just knew it was going to taste like chalk.

"How do I get out of here? If people see me leave, they'll talk about us," she asked, nervously glancing at the door.

"I suppose you can hop out the window. You've gotten pretty good at it." Gwen glared at him, but dropped the expression to wrap her arms around his torso. He tensed, not used to the feeling. "Hey, what's all this?"

"Thank you," she mumbled into his shirt. "For everything."

"Oh. Sure." He slowly and unsurely reciprocated the gesture. He cleared his throat as she pulled away and added, "Just don't go spreading it around. I have a reputation, you know."

"I know." She smiled at him and cracked the window, raising it to leave. "Bye, Gary. See you Monday."

"Bye, Gwen," he replied as she slipped out. After she was gone, he shook his head and went to sit on his bed. He groaned as he realized it smelled like her.