LOSING IT ALL //HAYLEY PARKER

15

~LOSING IT ALL~

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15| YOU
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THE SMELL OF BACON WAKES me up from a hazy sleep the following day. I force my eyes to crack open and the sight of Jennifer flung against me in a fit of a low, steady sound of contented snore flickers a vague memory of last night into the edge of my awareness.

Vodka, Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift's makeshift karaoke sessions, Camille throwing up, Jennifer's tantrum with Becky, Camille's cocktail, SZA and Bruno Mars's makeshift karaoke session, food hunt, our drunken secret spillage, cuddle-blank blank blank.

My blurry vision searches for Camille's body. Bed, no, floor, no, by the bathroom doorway, yes. Yawning tiredly, I roll away from Jennifer's weight and fling my feet to the floor, pulling myself out of the bed.

"Oh, god." I groan at the headache that zips at my temples, as I stagger slightly from drunken dizziness.

Behind me, Jennifer mumbles incomprehensibly, reaching down to scratch an itch on the exposed flesh of her brown thigh. Gaining stability, I skip over the littered solo cups, empty bottle of vodka and cans of apple soda and root beer on the floor for the door.

Halfway across the room, Camille jumps drowsily from the doorway and stumbles into the bathroom. A loud retching sound follows afterwards. "Are you okay?" I ask solicitously, wrinkling my nose against the distinctive sour smell of her puke.

"Obviously not." She answers weakly, head deep into the loo.

I sigh resignedly, stuffing my feet into a fluffy slippers. "I'll go down and make some hangover soup." I say, leaving her alone and clomping down the wooden plank stairs to the kitchen.

The sight of Jayden and Dale in identical aprons, cooking breakfast together gives me a jolt. "What're you guys doing?" I probe incredulously, rounding the counter and shooting Newt, sitting by the island, munching on a bowl of cocoa puffs a quizzical look.

"Making breakfast." Jayden says with a bright smile.

"And hangover soup." Dale juts in, scrubbing carrots and cabbage under a spray of water. "You guys drank a lot yesterday."

With that being said, the headache that has been lurking behind my eyes since I woke up resurge against my temples. "Yeah, the soup will help." I say, grabbing a bottle of Tylenol from the cupboard. "Miley's been throwing up all night. She definitely drank herself to stupor."

"Tea?" Jayden asks, regardlessly pouring the dark brown tea into a mug. "Sip it slowly, it's very hot."

Nodding in understanding, I shake out a couple of pills from the Tylenol bottle and swallow it with a mouthful of tea. "I can't believe I got myself drunk, I'm having Mycology today." I grumble, plopping down on a stool, and grabbing my head with both hands.

"It's just 7 o'clock." Newt says, staring at the cuckoo clock hanging on the wall above the Tv set.

"It's not too late to get ready. If you want, I can drop you off...." Jayden trails off suggestively. I raise my head to look in his direction. "That's if you don't mind. Besides," he pauses to draw a breath, "we've a lot of things to talk about."

Green eyes stares unwaveringly at me, and I stare squarely back. A lot of things to talk about? I jibe inwardly. Yes, of course we do.

"Is that hangover soup you're getting ready, love?" Jennifer chirps, sidling into the kitchen in a charming rumple towards Dale. "Milley will be forever indebted to you."

"How's she?" I ask.

"Not pretty." Jennifer replies simply, leaning against the counter to watch Dale expertly chop the carrots and cabbage against a chopping board. The rhythmic sound of parring knife cutting through carrots against the chopping board fills the atmosphere.

"I should go and check up on her." I suggest, standing up from the stool.

"No need." Jennifer interjects, popping a piece of carrot into her mouth. "She stubbornly chased me out of the room. Says she wants to clean her room and all."

"She said that, but she's.."

"Fine." Jennifer concludes. "Throwing up made her feel a lot better, but not pretty." She slides into a stool beside Newt. "I thought you've lecture today. Will you go, are you hangover?"

I kiss my teeth. "Not really." I say, turning towards the staircase. "And, I do have lecture."

Slouching off up the stairs, I cross into my bedroom and quickly set myself ready for my nine-thirty lecture. A faint knock against my door pauses me amidst picking out an outfit from my closet. "Who's it?"

"Hayley, it's me." Jayden's voice sounds from behind the closed door. "Can I come in?"

With brows furrowing in both surprise and confusion, I toss a wooden hanger of jumpsuit over to the bed and tread lightly to the door. I pull the door a fraction to stare wearily at him behind it. He is holding a tray of coffee, jammed toast, bacon and eggs. "Peace treaty." He says, beaming at me cordially, the gap between his front teeth adding to the geniality of his features.

"You didn't have to." I begin, stepping aside for him to pass. "You're my girlfriend, Hayley, I have to treat you like one." Jayden points out, dropping the tray gingerly on top of my desk.

"Really?"

"Just say 'thank you', Hayley, you don't always have to be stubborn." He stuffs his hands into the sleeves of his jumper.

I cross my arms over my chest. "All right, thank you, is there anything else you want?" Jayden abruptly strides over to me and possessively claims my lips. He hooks his thumb into the waistband of my shorts, frantically pulling it away.

"Yes, you." He rasps in a strained whisper against my throat. "You don't know how much I've missed you, Hayley."

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