Clarity

Hangovers and Freakouts

Roman

Beep!Beep!Beep!Beep!Beep!

Sunlight beaming in and her phone's ringer blaring, Roman woke up. As soon as she opened her eyes, she quickly screwed them back shut, the brightness bothering her more and giving her an even bigger headache.

She sat up, slowly. Her mouth felt dry and tasted of vomit. She felt like she'd been run over with a semi-truck. Her head was banging like a marching band drumline. She blinked some more, the brightness bothering her still but she managed to look around some more.

On her bedside table, there were two pills and a glass of water. She took them and chugged the glass before she got out of her bed and closed her curtains.

She walked into her ensuite bathroom and rubbed at her eyes, yawning loudly. She put her hand to her mouth and puffed out some air, smelling her own breath. She gagged a little at the smell and pulled out her toothbrush. She brushed her teeth for a while before she ventured out of her bathroom and stopped.

Something is off, she thought. Then, she noticed that her backpack was missing and her rug was in the wrong spot on the floor. What she didn't notice though, was that her rug was purple.

She continued her morning process, showering and putting on clean clothes. She went downstairs to the kitchen, where her family was eating breakfast. Jason looked up at her, guilt in his eyes.

"Ro, I'm sorry you had to find out this way. Ple-" he said, but stopped talking when she held up her hand.

"Stop. Don't look at me with those pleading blue eyes. I'm not in the mood to forgive you at the moment." she said.

Roman then turned to the kitchen island, piling up her plate with food. She also made her a cup of coffee. When she sat down, she didn't notice that her eggs were yellow or that the bacon was brown instead of grey. She just ate, munching everything down excitedly.

Her hangover was long gone and she hoped to god she wouldn't throw up the delicious breakfast.

"Jesus Mom, this is delicious," she said, through a mouthful of bacon.

"I didn't make it honey, your brother did." her mother replied, sipping her coffee.

"Oh." Roman dropped her fork, crossing her arms defiantly.

"Ro, come on. Don't be petty." Jason said, looking up at her pleadingly.

"Stop. I already told you not to look at me with those blue doe eyes," she said, licking the syrup off her fork.

"I'm just saying-- Wait, how do you know my eyes are blue?" he asked.

"What?" she asked.

"You said, 'don't look at me with those BLUE doe eyes'. How did you know my eyes were blue?" he asked.

She paused, going over the sentence in her head. "Did I really?"

"Yes. Now how do you know his eyes are blue?" her father asked.

"Well, I don't know. How do I know your eyes are green?" Roman challenged back, staring her father head-on.

That was when it hit her. She could see her brother's eye color. She could see her father's eye color. She looked at her mother. She could see that her mother's eyes as well. She was shocked.

"I can see colors," she whispered to herself.

"What was that?" Her mother asked.

"I said, I can see colors."

A collective gasp went around the breakfast table.

"You can what now?' her father asked.

"I can see colors, dad. But I don't know how."

She scratched the back of her neck, a signal that meant she was close to freaking out.

"What do you mean, you don't know how? You've obviously found your intended."

"I get that dad, but I don't know who that is." she scratched her neck again.

Jason saw this and cursed under his breath.

"Ro, you've gotta calm down. We'll figure out who. Come on." he said, standing up and taking her hand.

He led her up the stairs and to his bedroom.

Roman's breathing had become labored and her eyes were glassy, signaling a panic attack. Jason rubbed his hands down her arms, a soothing gesture.

"Lie down," he commanded, turning down the blankets.

She obeyed silently, her breathing out of control and tears falling out of her eyes. She clutched her chest, a tight feeling spreading throughout it.

"Okay, now lie on your back," Jason instructed.

She obeyed again and looked at him, trying to see his face through her tears. She scratched the back of her neck violently.

"Breathe in and count to four."

She did so, counting to four in her head. "Good, now hold it for seven seconds."

She held her breath for seven seconds, her tears slowing down. "Okay, now breathe out for eight seconds."

She obeyed him, and her breathing and thought process returned to normal. She blinked the tears out of her eyes and calmed down more. She reached for her brother and he climbed into the bed with her, holding her close.

"Do you want to talk about why you got all freaked out?" he asked her.

She thought it for a second and then nodded her head.

"It's just you and I, you can tell me everything," he said, rubbing her back.

Roman smiled.

"After I got mad at you last night, I went to the party. Claire talked to me and told me to stop being so down and then I started drinking, then she told me to go strip so I could get in the pool and then I ran into Raye and got more mad and then I drank some more and that's all I can remember. Then I woke up able to see colors." she rushed out, taking a breath at the end.

"Well shit, you got home due to Jasper and Claire dropping you off very ceremoniously on the back patio. You're lucky Mom and Dad were sleeping, or else I wouldn't have been able to sneak you upstairs. You were so loud."

Roman laughed, her hands tightening a bit on his shirt. "I'm sorry."

"It's fine, you just have to be careful next time."

Roman smirked, "Just letting you know, I forgave you the moment you apologized. I just wanted to let it ride out for a while longer before I gave in."

Jason gasped, "You little minx! I thought I would never be forgiven." he squeezed her sides, making her squeal.

"I could never stay mad at you. You're my big brother, Jay." she giggled.

"I should've known. You're evil." he glared at her.

The atmosphere had changed from earlier and she was happier than before.

"But seriously, we have to find out who they are. I don't wanna be the one who can't find them," she said, getting serious again.

"Well, we have to find out who was at the party last night and then we go from there."

Roman smiled, knowing her brother was the master at planning.