Missed Connections

Chapter 40 - Kindred Spirits

I awoke feeling puffy-eyed and shitty. Streaks of unwashed mascara crested over the top of my pillow, leaving black trails reminiscent of the brush strokes in Japanese writing. Except these lines didn't spell something beautiful. Rather, they reflected the bumped and bruised feeling in my heart. How did last night turn out so poorly?

Pictures flash across my mind's eye of Louis sitting on the couch, pulling away from me. A twinge of pain radiates through my stomach. What little appetite I have in the morning has been officially curbed. Groan!

I reach over to check my phone. No messages from Louis. Another pang. Unshed tears well up at the corners of my eyes, and I brush them away surreptitiously with the pads of my forefingers. Nope! I can't cry anymore. I need to pull my head out of my ass.

But first, coffee. I don't need an appetite to drink coffee. It's like the nectar of the gods. The fluid that courses through my veins, despite what all my sciency textbooks say.  Anecdotal evidence.

I slowly force myself to a sitting position at the edge of my bed. My head pounds and my throat feels dry and raw. Apparently, this is what an emotional hangover feels like. All the symptoms of a heavy night of drinking, but none of the fun.

I limp over to the door and make my way to the kitchen. I hear Paisley and Tegan banging around, probably fighting over milk soaked Fruit Loops or some such sugary crap. The thought eating that shit makes my teeth hurt.

Hearing me approach, probably due to the gorilla level noise I am making as a trudge towards them, I can see them gearing up to put on their world-class ribbing act. Smiling mischievously in Tegan's direction, Paisley is first to throw down the gauntlet.

"Omigod, Tee! It's our long lost roommate. We let her go spend some time with a boy, and it was like she fell to the center of the earth!"

"Did you find Josh Hutcherson?" pipes in Tegan, "Because we all know it wasn't Brendan Fraser that kept you there."

"That's if he wasn't stuck rounding up supplies in the Cornucopia of the Hunger Games!"

The two girls are conspiratorially smirking and laughing behind their hands, and ignore me as walk by with my hoodie pulled over my head and make a bee-line for a coffee cup.

"Hardy-har-har!" I respond, scowling as I start to pour the dregs of offending crappy drip coffee into the mug. I'm desperate and anything will do at this point.   I just need to work this afternoon and fire up a shot of the good stuff. "You ladies should seriously consider a comedy routine. Yuk-Yuks always needs help."

"We've already hawked our talent at Second City, girl," quips Tegan.

"They said we were too hot to handle! And we were like 'Yes, and?" adds Paisley before laughing her ass off at her sheer brilliance.

"Are you sure it wasn't just because they couldn't improv a better set of running gags?" I say bitingly. "Because, so far this morning, you're proving to be nothing than an annoying set of talking heads."

I grumpily sit my ass down in the empty chair and snatch the box of cereal. I dig my hand in deeply and scoop out a giant handful, shoving most of it into my mouth in a most un-ladylike manner. My teeth prick as predicted, and the hardness of the saccarine hoops bite into the roof of my mouth before I chew them to bits emphatically. Hurts so good.

I look up and note that both of my roomies are staring at me, mouths wide open, completely agog.  In utter to contrast to the last time they held this expression, while appraising Louis' physique, now they just seem horrified at my bitterness.

"Ok, as much as I appreciate the follow-through on the analogy, sister - what the fuck has crawled up your ass?" exclaims Paisley.

"Yeah, I was going to ask who pissed in your Wheeties, but seeing as you're mowing down on my Fruit Loops for, like, the first time ever, I won't go there. But really, what's bugging you, boo? We expected you to come back from Louis' placed all loved up and happier than a Trainspotting character on heroin."