An Abundance of White Blood Cells // [WATTYS 2017]

SIXTEEN

So apparently, when one drinks too much, they can black out. It's basically when you drink so much that your brain falls asleep, but your body goes all, Eye of the Tiger and soldiers on. And apparently... that is what happened to me. According to my friends and boyfriend I drank six bottles of beer. Which led to me hopping a fence and trying to touch a police officers butt. Nate told me that he eventually got me to chase him instead of "Officer Mchotbutt."

When Nate was driving us home, He told me that I kept leaning over and stroking his face and telling him he had pretty eyes. I even started crying about his eyes. Then when we got to my house, I insisted that they spend the night in my room. I also insisted that Nate sleep in my bed so we could...you know. So Lena and Rose slept on either side of me, acting as walls, while Nate slept on the cot.

I kept them up most the night asking really random questions or saying really weird comments like How long were Rapunzel's pubes, What does M&M even stand for, Potato chips turn into mashed potatoes in your mouth, I wonder if guys are afraid of the word choppiness...it literally spells CHOP PENIS! Mother's day and Father's day are holidays for people who aren't virgins, THERE ARE MORE BUTT CHEEKS IN THE WORLD THAN PEOPLE! And lastly, Bees hump flowers, so when you get flowers, just know you're getting a bee's sloppy seconds.

Lena told me she thought I was a genius.

My parents stayed the night with Gramma, because she took what was going on with me too hard. So we made the living room really dark. Rose was making coffee for those of us (everyone but her) that had hangovers. Lena was sitting on the lazy boy with a cold washcloth on her face. Nate was on the couch with me, he'd pulled my legs onto his lap. We were both resting our heads against the couch, our eyes closed. It was perfectly quiet until Rose practically yelled "Coffee's done!"

All three of us groaned in unison. Rose giggled and handed us each a coffee and gave us each two aspirins. I took the pills fast, wanting relief from the excessive pounding going on inside my brain. It was like a marching band was playing nonstop in there. I sipped my coffee gratefully, so did Nate and Lena. Rose went back to the kitchen and started making a bunch of noise. "What the hell are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm making you guys Mac'n'Cheese! My uncle gets hungover a lot, and he swears that Mac'n'Cheese works miracles." She replied.

I shrugged and sipped my coffee. Nate set his and my down and pulled me closer. He rubbed his thumb against my arm. My head rested in the crook of his neck. Even though my head was killing me, it was nice to just sit with my boyfriend, and feel a little normal. "You're a funny drunk." Nate whispered.

"Yeah?" I grinned.

"Yeah," He nodded. "Who else would think that there are more butt cheeks in the world than people?"

We laughed a little, then winced at the added pain that brought. "If you think about it though," I said, placing my hand on his chest. "There are more butt cheeks in the world than people." We laughed a little more.

"Will you two shhhh." Lena groaned "I'm pretty sure I have a worse hangover than the both of you!"

"How much did you drink last night?" I asked.

"More than you."

"Then how come you didn't blackout?"

"Because unlike some people, I can handle my liquor."

"Lena, I don't think that has anything to do with blacking out." Nate put in.

Lena groaned again and flopped her wash cloth back on her face. It was quiet for awhile, aside from the occasional noise from the kitchen. Around the time Rose was finished making Mac'n'Cheese, my aspirin kicked in. I grabbed my bowl from Rose and started going upstairs. "What are you doing?" Nate asked, standing at the foot of the stairs.

"My bed is comfier than the couch." I replied.

I crawled onto my bed and started eating my lunch. Nate joined me a few seconds later. We ate for awhile, just the sound of silverware hitting bowls and teeth chewing. I put one more bite in my mouth and swallowed. "Are they not coming upstairs or something?" I asked.

Nate shook his head. "They'll be up in a sec, Lena's parents are coming to get her and Rose."

"Oh."

I ate some more and looked at all my polaroids on my wall. There was on of me and Mom, one of me and Dad. I had one with Lena and one with Rose. I had a lot of polaroids, but most have them had the same four people in them. I took one more bite of Mac'n'Cheese before handing my bowl to Nate. "Can you please hold this for a sec?"

"Sure," Nate took the bowl. "What are you doing?"

"Look for a camera."

I opened my closet an started looking for a small blue basket that I kept my polaroid camera in. I moved a pair of shoes and tada! Blue basket!. I grabbed the camera from it and crawled back onto my bed. I set the camera down for a second to set aside the Mac'n'Cheese. I held the camera up and said "Smile!" My finger clicked the button and there was a bright flash. Seconds later, a little polaroid was ready. I pulled it out of the camera a shook while I put the camera away.

Once I got back on the bed the picture had fully developed. I hadn't noticed when I was taking the picture, that Nate had been looking at me. I liked the way he was looking at me. I'd never really noticed he looked at me that way. His eyes were so focused. "You can have it." I said, turning to look at him. He wore the same focused look now, like he did in the picture. He grabbed the picture and set it down on the nightstand behind me. As he did, he kissed me.

It didn't feel like the sloppy make out kisses or the soft gentle ones I'd come to love. It was more urgent than usual. I kissed back as he cupped my face in his hands. "Oh! Jesus Christ!" We split apart and saw Lena and Rose standing in my doorway. My face flushed as I looked at Nate. "We're going." Lena said, gesturing to with her thumb. She and Rose came over and gave me a hug and padded downstairs.

"So, is it true?" Nate asked, pointing at my records. "The sound is better?"

"No," I shook my head. "I just like having a record collection

I laid my head on his shoulder, he was looking at the picture, smiling. We sat there for awhile and just were there. It was the type of silence that I was okay with. I didn't feel like I had to talk. It was just...I thought I might...I couldn't. My eyes went around the room and landed on the box that held Nate's tie for the dance. "I have your tie!" I said, pointing at the box. I crawled to the edge of my bed and tried to reach it without to actually get off my bed. I barley got it, Nate grabbed my leg so I wouldn't fall off.

"Your dress is this color?" He asked, examining the tie.

"You'll see." I smirked.