The six-month housemate

Twenty-four

TWENTY FOUR

I froze, shocked, watching this absolutely unexpected turn of events. Alex and Johannah? Even if it didn't seem right at first (even she had admitted it a couple of hours before), I quickly recovered from my original confusion. The timing was unbelievably wrong, but somehow, I'd expected them to come together at some stage; they were both amazing people who really liked each other, and even though it didn't seem to be in that way, what was wrong with giving it a shot?

"Is everything all right?" Henry whispered in my ear.

I looked at him, blinking in confusion, then shook myself out of my daze.

"Yeah." For a second, I'd forgotten I was dancing with him. Heck, I'd even forgotten where I was. "I'm fine, why?" I tried to smile.

"I don't know, you just got really pale." His green eyes were bright in concern.

"I... I'm alright, don't worry." I forced a smile. "I think it's just the heat."

"Let me go get you a drink." He smiled, and started turning towards the bar. Alex and Johannah were still kissing.

"Er, wait, maybe we should go to the living room, there'll be less people and more air." I panicked. If Henry realised that the reason why I'd felt ill was because of them, he'd probably take it as some kind of evidence that I had feelings for Alex.

"Your wish is my command, love." He winked and kissed my temple, before creating a path for the both of us.

It was already 2:30 am, and after having a glass of water, I felt the tug to fall into the arms of Morpheus. Since I was supposed to be driving back, and I'd noticed that everyone I was supposed to be bringing back home had been drinking, I decided to gather everyone before the risk of me falling asleep while driving became too high.

After saying goodbye to Henry, I climbed in the car, and turned the radio on to stay awake. At the back, Johannah seemed to be sleeping, and Jane was looking out the window with a wide smile and a blank stare, probably playing the night's events in her head. Alex, in the front seat, stared out of his window, bobbing his head to the music. Neither him nor I tried to talk, and when we arrived, everyone just got out and crashed in their beds.

---

I woke up later that morning, an annoying sunray shining directly in my eye. Ugh. I guessed I hadn't closed the curtains properly, which was a very stupid move; after a bit of tossing and turning, I realised there'd be no going back to sleep. Great. As I sat up, I noticed that Jo, who'd slept next to me, was gone. Jane, who'd slept on an extra matress we'd brought up for the sleepover, was still sleeping, and I decided to leave her alone. I didn't want to wake her up after the short night we'd had.

As I went downstairs, I realised it was already 11:00 am. The silence that reigned over the house suggested that either everybody was gone, or that they were still sleeping, which was highly unlikely. I found Johannah sipping on a cup of coffee in the kitchen, her back facing me.

"Hey." I greeted.

"Hey!" She answered, turning around a little too quickly. "Ouch. Why is my head hurting so much?"

"Drank a little too much?" I teased.

"Meh." She shrugged, a smile tugging on her lips. She had huge bags under her eyes, and her hair, usually pretty neat, was a huge mess.

I went towards the coffee machine, and poured myself a hot beverage, enjoying the intense smell. My stomach started growling; I opened the fridge, where I found a large bowl covered in cellophane, with a little sticky note.