Breaking the Ice

sixteen

I woke up in my own bed, somehow.

I also woke up next to Iza, who was reading a book with a lilted look on her face.

"What the fuck?" I groaned, catching her attention. She smiled down at me, handing me a glass of water from the nightstand.

"Good morning... or, afternoon, I guess," she mused.

"How the Hell did I get home?" I asked, bringing the glass to my lips. I was satisfied downing the whole thing to correct my cotton mouth before passing it back to Luiza and laying down, closing my eyes against the sun.

She cocked a brow. "You asked someone to call me this morning at the ass-crack of dawn. They said you couldn't drive yourself home. I walked to the address, and some slightly-less-drunk blonde guy dropped you off in the driveway and and threw up in the bushes."

I moaned, pressing my face into my pillow. It smelled like gin and my stomach rolled. "Fuck."

"Yeah," she said, running a hand through my hair, playing with the twists. "I drove you home, then stayed so you wouldn't choke on your own vomit. But, lucky for you, your parents were at church. When they got back, I just told them I was helping you with a school project."

"And Alex?"

"She was home. Promised she wouldn't tell, though."

"Thank you," I said, turning over to look at her. The blinds were shut, but the sun was bleeding strings of light through the slits between them, flashing into my eyes. I squinted to see Iza's relaxed expression. "What time is it?"

"Noon." She smiled, climbing out of my bed and starting to collect her things. "I'm glad you woke up, actually. I've gotta' get going. My mom wants me home for lunch."

I grumbled, "thanks for picking me up. Are you alright to walk home?"

"Yeah, don't worry about me," she replied, reaching a thin hand to ruffle my hair. "I'll text you later."

I moaned pathetically in response, raising a lazy hand in goodbye. With a quiet laugh, Luiza creaked open my door, letting light flood in through the gap, and slipped outside. It couldn't have been thirty seconds after I heard her say goodbye to my parents and leave when the doorknob hit the wall with a resounding crack, like sharp thunder. The sound and the light pouring in sent my head throbbing, and I rolled over with a groan.

"I knew it!" Alex exclaimed, a storm crackling with excited lightning, slamming the door behind her with a bang. "You're dating her."

"Lex, don't yell," I mumbled through the pillow tossed over my head. "Please."

But Alex, in her infinite energy and enthusiasm, jumped onto my bed and snatched the pillow from me, bouncing on her knees and unintentionally whacking me with the beads on the ends of her braids. "You're such a liar!"

The nausea crept up on me and I pressed a hand to my mouth. "Lex—"

She tackled me with the pillow, rubbing it into my face, smothering me. I gasped wetly "I knew it, and you denied it, but—"

I jerked off the bed unsteadily, knocking Alex to the floor with a thump and a shriek, and ran for the bathroom. Slamming the door behind me, I lunged for the toilet and vomited, mostly liquid and my own breath. I hadn't eaten anything since before the party, I realized, and everything that came out was either bile or alcohol. Everything hurt, not just my stomach. My hips felt bruised, my abs and thighs ached, my jaw and throat were sore. The loose T-shirt I was somehow wearing—probably thanks to Iza—chafed painfully against my tender, open back as my body curled into itself on the bathroom floor.