Be mine

4|| The Hangover

- C O N N E R ' S P . O . V -

I opened my eyes, looking up at the unfamiliar ceiling. I blinked twice before sitting up straight and looking down at the floor, confused at how I even ended up here.

My head immediately started to ache and I fell back onto a soft pillow. It ceased a bit as I lay down but suddenly, an alarm rang and I jerked back upright to my earlier position as I tried to find the source of the irritating noise. I noticed it over on the bed stand next to me and leaned over to turn it off.

Just then, the door opened as Aria walked in sheepishly. She wore a white shirt, gray Adidas sweatpants and had a messy bun on top. Once seeing me, she let out a loud yawn and smiled.

"Good morning." she greeted. Both her hands were occupied as one held onto a plate with a stack of freshly made waffles and the other to a cup of steaming hot coffee. "You remember anything?" she asked once noticing the perplexed expression on my face.

"Nah, all blank." I let out monotonously. After observing the room for a while, I looked back at Aria and asked, "what happened last night?"

"I wish I knew, but all I know is that you ended up in bed next to me." she smiled, her dimple creasing as her eyes twinkled from the tiny specks of light that filtered through the blinds. I exhaled deeply and rubbed my eyes.

"Here's your breakfast. Not much, but it's all that was there." She motioned as she left the food on the table next to me. I rolled over to the edge and smiled at her. "Thank you." She plopped onto the end of the bed and closed her eyes.

"I'm drained out."

"Mhm." I nodded as I tried to sit up but my body decided otherwise.

So for the next five minutes, we lay in silence, letting out soft exhales every few seconds. Aria finally got up though and pulled at my arm. "Get up lazy." she laughed and instantly a distinct, blurred memory of yesterday night flashed in mind but left just as quick.

The only thing I was able to catch onto was an almost surreal but evident memory of locking hands with Aria and embracing her with soft kisses on her neck.

Once at the door, she turned around and said, "Bathrooms down the hall to your left. Towels are in the closet near the house plant and I can drop you off to get your car, once you're done."

"Yeah. Thanks." I nodded appreciatively.

And with that, she was gone. I looked around the room. It was pretty decorous, as the walls were covered in fresh white paint and the curtains that hung down were of pastel blue. The bed sheets consisted of the same coloured blankets with a hint of pale yellow underneath. A royal white vanity stood on one side of the room with a clutter of makeup products scattered all over the table and a circular mirror at the end of it. On the other side were dressers and a desk with a chair. I looked above at the ceiling that was engraved in imperial designs that ran around the entire ceiling and gave it a much-elevated look. Fairy lights hung around the room and one wall was entirely covered with only Polaroid pictures of Aria and her friends.

Instead of wasting time, I decided to hop into a warm shower so I hurriedly gorged down my waffles, licking the remaining syrup off the plate and walked over to the washroom. I hissed at how cold the floor was once my feet touched the icy blue tiles. But in less than five minutes, the glass doors were covered in mist as steam filled the room.

***

It was half past two, the sun was shining brightly in the room and the humidity from outside seemed nauseous. I stared out the glass paned windows, waiting for Aria. She said she'd get ready in around ten minutes but I highly doubted that. Instead of sitting and waiting, I decided to tour around the house till I realized how massive it was and gave up. All the furniture seemed delicate and rich and there was a sweet smell of lavenders and cherry blossoms.

The living room had white couches and a huge flat-screened TV fixed to the wall with a fireplace underneath. It led to the kitchen (since it was an open floor planned house) and in the middle stood a large island with dainty lights hanging from above. The dining table was made out of fine wood and held white plates and napkin holders, all neatly laid down. In the middle stood a tiny glass that consisted of flowers matching the colour combination of the table mats. A large chandelier hung down from the middle with tiny glass beads cascading down.

Two large French doors led to the outdoor deck where pool water lay glistening against the sunlight and brown woven sofas facing towards it.

Damn, she's rich.

"Done." A voice down the hall said. The sound of keys knocking against each other grew louder as Aria walked down the hallway to the living room.

"You ready?" She asked.

"Yup." I nodded.

She looked cute in her white tank top and blue shorts. Her hair flew loosely on her shoulders with a few braids on the side and to pair it all off, she wore white Vans.

We walked out the door to her car. The heat was unbearable compared to the British weather and I kept finding myself long for the cold. I wondered to myself, how I never remembered walking to her house from last night. Was I that drunk and knocked out? What came to my mind even more strangely was the fact that I didn't see her parents anywhere in the house.

"You live alone?" I asked.

"Nah. My parents are just gone for the week." She smirked.

"Oh," I replied. That explained.

The car ride to the hotel was extremely quiet, with some awkward glances being exchanged. As we passed by, I heard a noise from the back seat in the car and turned to see a box filled with magazines pilled up inside. On the front cover of a magazine was a picture of a girl in a bikini. As I began to examine the face closely, I realized that it was Aria on that cover.

"You never told me, that you're a model!" I exclaimed.

"Yea I did. Last night," she said.

"Oh." I replied. "for how long though?"

"Few years actually. Since I was thirteen."

"Damn."

Pretty impressive.

We finally reached the entrance of the hotel and I got down, thanked her for the ride and walked towards my car. I searched my pockets for my keys and once finding them, felt something missing. I shuffled my hand back inside to find an empty space where my phone would usual sit at. I turned around to see Aria's car turn onto the highway and sighed loudly.

"Dammit!"

"Excuse me, is everything okay?" A security guard walked up to me.

"Oh yes. Sorry, sir." I smiled, feeling pretty stupid.

I wasn't one to have photogenic memory, but I decided to try and drive back to Aria's house. Let's just say, it wasn't fun. As I sat there in my seat, debating which road to turn into, I found myself driving in circles at least four times before I realized I was getting nowhere with that. After several failed attempts, I managed to remember the route and pulled up her driveway.