The Northern Lights

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Colin's POV

I instantly regretted going to that 'end of summer' party the night before when my alarm went off the morning of the first day of school. I was way more hungover than I'd expected I would be. School was the last place I wanted to be today. I missed summer already. Memories from the party flooded through my head, and I smiled. It really was a great party. After my brief recollection of the previous night, my head began to pound again. I lay idle in my bed until my mom popped her head in the door, gently telling me to get up. Slowly but surely, I arose from bed and dragged my feet to the bathroom and into the shower.

I know going to a party on a school night wasn't exactly a great idea, but it was tradition within my circle of friends. We all knew it was a dumb idea, but I suppose we just didn't care. We were young, and we wanted to embrace that while we could. The hangover was just a small price to pay for the good times and memories created the night before.

The shower really helped my hangover. The warm water and steam seemed to make everything just seep out of me through my pores. I loved my morning showers, regardless of how I was feeling. They got me up and running so I could function properly throughout the day. I started to think about the fun I'd had last night. How the casual drinking turned into hardcore drinking, how we'd gone from 'beer pong' to 'vodka pong', how the music got louder and better, how the dancing went from innocent to dirty, how making out with my girlfriend on an old futon turned into amazing sex in the master suite, how we owned the night. I never wanted that feeling to go away. I loved my life, and I didn't think it could get any better. I had great friends, I was captain of the basketball team, I had a crazy hot girlfriend, and I did well in school to top it all off. I thought I had everything I needed in life at seventeen.

Once I'd gotten ready, I got in my car and headed out to pick up my girlfriend. Her named was Willa Sinclare and she was perfect as far as I was concerned. She was beautiful, blonde, and adorable. She was captain of the cheer squad as well. I pulled into her driveway and honked the horn. A few seconds later, she ran out of her house and rushed toward the driver's side door. I rolled down the window and kissed her. She ran around to the passenger's seat and kissed me again once she'd closed the door and sat down.

"Good morning, babe!" she greeted me, perky as ever.

"Good morning." I said, smiling weakly as I rolled up the window. I wasn't feeling particularly chipper this morning, after all, I'd never been so hungover in my life.

"Are you hungover, baby?" she asked me with a genuine concern as she buckled her seat belt.

"Yeah, a little." I replied.

"That's weird, I feel fine!" she noted.

"Lucky you. I've never been so hungover in my life." I said, pulling out of her driveway.

We chatted casually, reminiscing last night's party and it's wild events. Finally, we pulled into school. We got out of the car and walked to homeroom holding hands like we usually did. Willa and I had been dating since the eighth grade. I asked her out at a middle school dance and gave her a necklace with a cupcake on it when she said yes. She'd worn it every day since.

Willa and I parted ways after I'd dropped her off at her homeroom, kissing goodbye quickly. In my homeroom, my best friend Kendall had already arrived. He was sitting in the back corner of the room where we usually sat, face down on the desk with his arms around his head. His hair was messy today, which he usually doesn't let happen. He considers his hair to be 'naturally light and fluffy' and usually spends the same amount of time most girls do in the bathroom in the morning. I assumed he was also extremely hungover as well.