Social Experiment

27 | Movie Collections

I woke up coughing on Saturday morning. I knew it wasn't going to be a good day the second I was propelled awake by the urge to clear my throat, or the fact that by doing so, my head began throbbing. The dull ache gradually pressed against my temple and, with a groan, I lifted my hands to begin massaging either side of my head. 

Very slowly, I leaned back down to lay my head on my pillow, but felt the cool wetness there and frowned. I sat up again and realized that not only was my pillow soaking wet, but so was my hair, still damp from walking home in the rain last night. I immediately realized that my entire body ached as a consequence of walking home in the middle of a torrential downpour.

My phone lit up beside my bed and I moved to grab it very slowly, groaning in discomfort from any movement my body deemed too sudden. I examined the screen and saw 2 new messages from Stephanie, 3 missed calls and 1 message from Nathan, and 6 messages from Asher. I continued to massage my temple on one side as I opened my inbox. 

Asher: Laaaaauuuurreeeeeennnnnnnn where did you go????

Asher: Didya run away????

Asher: Natey boo and I are worried sick young mistress! 

Asher: I'm not calling you  a mistress

Asher: Unless you are a mistress

Asher: Mrrrpphgmmsdf

I roll my eyes at Asher's messages, but despite the ridiculousness of them, a small smile grew on my lips. But the moment I exited out of my messages with Asher and saw Nathan's name on the screen, the smile slipped off as quickly as it came on. The image of Nathan sucking face with the random Barbie from last night flashed in the forefront of my mind. 

Judging by the lingering discomfort that settled in my stomach when I thought about it, I could tell that I was still jealous. I stared at his name on my phone for another moment, reluctant to see whatever he had texted me, or to talk to him at all. I knew it wasn't justified- after all, it's not like we were dating- but I was still bothered by it.

Nathan: Tell me the next time you get another ride so I don't wait around for you.

The time stamp above the message was 2:14 AM, which was only about twenty minutes after I had left, and twenty minutes after he had been all over that girl. So what did he mean, waiting around for me? Annoyance crept in as I glared at the message and I thought about texting him back that I walked home in the freaking rain and got sick from it, but thought better of it. 

But still, I was more than a little annoyed at his words. Asher said he and Nathan were worried about me, but he also called me a mistress, so I guess I couldn't trust his exact words too much. I took a deep breath and looked back down at my phone and exited out of our messages, my finger hovering above Stephanie's message.

Before I could check Steph's text, my bedroom door creaked open, and I looked up to see my mom peaking her head through the door, her forehead creased in worry. "Honey, are you okay? I could hear you coughing from downstairs."

I set my phone on my lap carefully and frowned at her. "I think I'm sick."

Her mom senses went off at my words, and she pushed the door open all the way to come inside and inspect my wellbeing. She sat on the edge of my bed and leaned forward to press the back of her cool palm against my forehead. Her brows knitted together in worry and she puckered her lips slightly in her classic concerned expression as she looked at me.