Leaving Dreamland [Book One]

20~ A Quest for TOMS

I opened my eyes, revealing the plain, white ceiling of my room above me. I sat up and instantly regreted the action. My head began to pound violently, causing me to groan. I flopped back down on my bed while holding my head. Ugh, so this is what a hangover felt like.

I just laid there on the bed for a couple of minutes, waiting to see if the throbbing would stop. When it didn't, I decided that it was time to bring in the painkillers. I stood up shakily, stumbling a few times before I could fully steady myself. I noticed that I was still clad in the short, blue dress that I had been wearing last night, including the jewelry that went with it. The only thing that I wasn't still wearing were the wedge heels, which I noted had been tossed into the corner of the room.

I slowly trudged over to my dresser and examined myself in the mirror that hung on the wall above it. Well, to put it simply, I looked like shit. I had never washed my make-up off from last night, so it was now smudged all over my face. My hair stuck out at odd angles, begging to be brushed. I quickly tried to do so, but the matted tangles would not conform to the brush. I gave up and just searched the top of my dresser for the bottle of painkillers that I kept there for times like these. I dumped out two pills and swallowed them dry, not even bothering to go and get some water to help them down my throat. I regreted doing so, as the pills seemed to get stuck in my sickeningly dry throat. I searched the room, finding a water bottle and chugging the whole thing. I tossed the empty bottle into the trash can near my feet.

I leaned against the dresser, waiting for the pain to stop. Of course, I knew I was being absolutely ridiculous, because the pills wouldn't help me instantly. I groaned again at the thought of enduring the pain for much longer.

This was my first hangover, and I now realized why people could never function properly when they had them. You couldn't concentrate on even the simplest of tasks because your head hurt like hell. I had never had more than a couple sips of alcohol at a time before, and even that was rare for me; mostly because I was still underage in the US. I was never much of a rule breaker. It scared the life out of me thinking that I might get caught, so I never really drank.

Last night, however, had been a completely different story, I guess. Now that I was in the UK, I was legal. I still had no recollection of anything that went on after my first shot last night, but I must have had a lot more to drink than just that, considering the shape I was in now.

I rubbed my eyes and began to head off toward the bathroom. I desperately needed to take a shower. I closed the door and turned on the water, then proceeded to strip off my clothes. I stepped under the warm water, and it made me feel a little better. I quickly washed my hair and body, then shut the water off and wrapped myself in a towel. I dried myself off and looked around for my clean clothes, but soon realized that I had brought none into the bathroom with me. There was no way I was getting back into my disgusting outfit from last night again, so I really only had one other option.

'Shit,' I thought. I wrapped myself back in the damp towel again and cracked open the door, peeking through to see if anyone was there. The coast was clear, so I sprinted out of the bathroom and off in the direction of my own room.

Of course, having my luck, Louis walked out of the guest room right as I started to dash for my room, and I ran right into him. I fell to the ground with a sharp intake of breath while he stumbled backwards.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry!" I blurted. I winced as I said the words, as they came out much louder than I would have liked, and it sounded more like screeching. It didn't do much to help my headache disappear.

"It's oka-" Louis began, but as his eyes landed on me, they suddenly widened, and his mouth dropped open in shock. As quickly as he had looked at me, he averted his gaze, staring at the ceiling instead. "...Um, Shy...?" he said awkwardly, still not looking my way.