Southern Charm | wlw

5

The sun streamed through the blinds, hitting Aspen right in the face, making her groan and pull a pillow over her head. Her head throbbed like a bass drum, and her mouth felt as dry as the Georgia summer. She could hear Maya moving around the dorm room, sounding way too cheerful for whatever unholy hour this was.

"Maya," Aspen muttered, voice muffled under the pillow, "tell me it's still dark out, and I can go back to sleep."

Maya laughed, way too loud and peppy. "Oh, it's morning, Georgia. And you're awake just in time for my award-winning hangover smoothie." She dropped a suspiciously green drink onto the nightstand. "Bottoms up!"

Aspen peered out from under the pillow and eyed the smoothie with a grimace. "You know, I think the best cure for a hangover is hours more sleep. Like, endless hours of it."

"Nope!" Maya popped the "p" cheerily, crossing her arms with an expectant grin. "No more sleep for you, missy. You're up so we can piece together the disaster you were last night. You were something else."

Aspen sat up, squinting as flashes from last night flickered through her mind. There was music, laughter, and dancing in snippets that felt more like someone else's memories than her own. She remembered pulling Maya onto the dance floor, shouting lyrics, and ... oh, the drink-off with some frat guy. She cringed, vaguely recalling Maya's wide-eyed horror as she'd ordered yet another round.

"God," Aspen groaned, taking a reluctant sip of the smoothie and wincing at the taste. "What exactly did I do?"

"Oh, let's see," Maya began, crossing her arms and arching an eyebrow. "You taught a guy in cowboy boots how to line dance—horribly, by the way—then you challenged some frat dude to an arm-wrestling match. Which, for the record, you actually won."

Aspen managed a grin in spite of herself. "Well, there's that. Not every day a Georgia girl shows these frat boys what grit looks like."

Maya rolled her eyes. "Trust me, you showed them. But by the end of the night, you were done for. And thank God that girl was there, or I don't think I would've managed to get you back here alone."

Aspen's brows knitted together, trying to remember. "Wait, so she didn't just help get me to the truck?"

Maya shook her head. "Nope, she tagged along for the ride. Sat in the back and helped me keep you steady when we got here. You were practically falling asleep, mumbling something about how I better not 'wreck the truck.' She laughed every time you said it."

Aspen laughed, then winced as her headache flared. "I had a babysitter last night? I owe her a huge thank you. Did she say who she was?"

"Nope," Maya said, shrugging. "I think she was just making sure you didn't pass out in some stranger's truck. She made sure we got to the dorm, helped me get you inside, and then just said goodnight. Didn't even ask for a thanks."

Aspen let the information sink in, frowning thoughtfully. She only had a faint memory of someone's hand on her shoulder, a soft voice, and a laugh she didn't recognize.

"Well," she said, taking another reluctant gulp of Maya's smoothie, "if I see her again, I'll owe her a real thank you."

After a long shower and a change of clothes, they decided to head down to the student café for breakfast. Aspen hoped an actual meal might chase away the last of her hangover, and as they settled in with their food, she couldn't help but look around, half-hoping to spot her mystery helper.

"Think she'll just appear like a guardian angel or something?" Maya teased, catching her searching gaze.

"Hey, I've had stranger luck," Aspen replied, grinning. "Maybe she'll just swoop in whenever I make an idiot of myself."