The Beginning

Tess

Tess

Acidity crept into the back of throat, souring my taste buds. Saliva coated my teeth and tongue. I forced my eyes open, dry lids felt like sandpaper as they scraped across my cornea. "Jesus Christ." I groaned. Suddenly, I wasn't so sure it was bile that rose against my tonsils, but leftover vodka that hadn't gone all the way down. A gag caught me off guard.

I sat up to make a mad dash for my bathroom. My head throbbed, my vision blurred, and the large square hand over my belly button slid along my breast to my shoulder. With one easy push, I fell back against the down pillows.

"Mm-mm." Heavily tattooed fingers encircled my throat, giving a gentle squeeze. "Five more minutes."

Did I have five minutes? I was sure I'd explode like a loosened fire hydrant in the worst way.

His fingers loosened as he lulled himself back into a deep slumber.

Perhaps there was time to throw up, reassemble my outfit and sneak out before he realized.

Sighing heavily to myself, I wondered why I let Lexi talk me into another bad decision. After various near life-ending experiences, I should've known better than to listen to her. Forever the fun friend, Lexi never missed a single party. Whether they were loud and raging or small and quiet, she was there with a bottle of whatever and her ass turned to the sky. She was always there when burnout brimmed my bucket. I suppose that's how I let her convince me to finish that bottle of whatever, only to wake up next to...

Oh God, did I get a name?

His roughened fingers tensed around the fleshy piece of me then relaxed.

The urge to vomit left when the terror that I'd woken him took over.

Seconds crept by in silence, making them feel like minutes.

Testing the waters, I shifted beneath his touch. When he made no move to keep me in place, I slid his hand over one of the pillows that separated us

Now that I sat upright on his pillow-topped bed, everything tried to spill out once again. I fought the need as I searched for the nearest trash. If I didn't find something quick, I was certain to ruin blue patterns that zigzagged along the cotton surface of the soft blue and gold carpet beneath my feet or the potted plant within reach.

Realizing I wasn't in my own house, a mad dash for the bathroom became a frantic search. Palming the wall on my way out, my middle finger sank in.

A door appeared out of the stark white paneling. Beyond the doorway, a black and white bathroom greeted me. Frosted windows lined the furthest wall. A sleek black tub hung like a hammock from the ceiling and a bed of rocks mimicked an outdoor terrain. Cabinets lined most of the room, his and hers sinks sat beneath a long mirror. The toilet was barely recognizable as a commode. Resembling an egg shape, I was thankful its white lid was in the usual place.

I allowed myself to lay over it for a moment as I waited for the inevitable to happen. "This is it." My voice cracked with a sudden wet belch. "I'm so done."

I was a thirty-two-year-old woman for Christ's sake. Ten years ago, I wouldn't have thought twice about drinking the hangover away and screwing that guy until I fell back to sleep. I wasted my youth on fun things. And while the girls and I shared hilarious, unbelievable memories, when it came time to buy a house and get a real job, I couldn't exactly list The Dougie, Stanky Leg or Jaeger bombs in my resume.

I went back to school. I had no idea how difficult it was to obtain a degree, let alone pay for it. I received my associates the year prior, but to teach, I needed my bachelors. I wanted more than to shape little minds. I wanted to laugh with kids who'd been labeled foolish, to listen to those called chatty, and support children who were born into instability. I wished for my children to think beyond markers placed on them to derive self-doubt.