so, do we like each other or not? // JENLISA

Chapter 26

Lisa woke up feeling like her eyelids were coated in fine shards of glass. She groaned, unable to open them in case the sunlight permanently blinded her, and rubbed a hand over her face. Her hair was a sticky nest of dried alcohol and wedged-in hairpins, and she realised with a jolt that she was almost naked. The bed sheets were tangled around her bare legs, the fabric grating over her ruined feet like sandpaper, and above that all she had on was her panties.

"Good morning," a voice sing-songed from across the room, and Lisa forced open an eye. Jennie was sitting at her vanity, her hair wet and her bathrobe slipping off one shoulder. Lisa couldn't even bring herself to get turned on by the sight of her.

"What the fuck happened?" she asked, her voice rusty and painful-sounding.

"You got a bit too enthusiastic with that bottle of whisky," Jennie said, and the very word made Lisa's mouth fill with water. "Then I left for a final lap of the party, and when I returned you and Soohan were playing beer pong with shots of sambuca."

"Ugh," Lisa groaned, burying her face back in her pillow. The black smudges all over it told her that she hadn't quite managed to take her make-up off before she'd fallen into bed. "How are you so awake?"

"I stopped drinking at two, and I had a vitamin B12 shot this morning. I even went for a run."

"Don't lie to me," Lisa said. "You've been up puking for six hours. You're just hiding it."

"Oh, Lisa," Jennie sighed, although Lisa could hear the smug grin in her voice as she approached the bed. "Do you want me to get a shot for you too?"

"Don't say shot," Lisa mumbled.

"Fine. But do you want one?"

"No. I want water. And coffee. And something to take the taste of death out of my mouth."

"That'll be the burger you made us stop for at 6am," Jennie said.

"I did not."

"Trust me, I had to watch you trying to eat it. I can assure you it definitely happened."

"Where did we go after that?"

"Well," Jennie said, sitting down on the edge of the bed and rubbing a circle over Lisa's naked back. "You ate most of it sat on the sidewalk because I wouldn't let you in the car with it. Then you started to fall asleep, so between myself, Sidney and a rather large gentleman called Bill – who you then proceeded to tip $50 – we managed to get you into the car. Then Sidney had to carry you from the elevator to the bedroom."

"He carried me?"

"You weren't exactly conscious. I told him to leave you on the couch but he was quite insistent that you should be in a bed."

"Oh, God," Lisa groaned, pushing her sweaty hair away from her face. "Please at least tell me he was gone by the time my clothes came off."

"He was," Jennie laughed. "The pleasure of undressing you was reserved just for me."

"Jennie," Lisa sighed, finally pushing herself up onto her elbows and squinting up at her. "I am so, so sorry. No one should ever have to see that. Did I... did I at least not ruin the party too badly?"