Chapter Twenty Two.

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by emk2012

by emk2012

When I woke up for school the next day, my head was throbbing. I'm not used to drinking and the combination of just a little champagne and staying up until 2 in the morning, wasn't ideal. Rykie dropped me off last night some time after 1am. It took me an hour to wind down, at least. Now here it was, morning. And I was running on possibly 4 hours of sleep? I sat on the edge of my bed, cradling my head in my hands. Trying desperately to massage away the pain in my temples. Just then I heard my phone vibrate on the side table. Rykie it read. I reached for my phone. "Hello?" I practically whispered. It hurt to talk. "Want me to pick you up for school?" She asked. "Yeah, um, I don't think I can do school." I revealed. "Me either. I mean, can I pick you and up and bring you over to my place?" She clarified. "We can just hang out here all day and get ready for the party tonight." She added. I started to nod. Realizing she couldn't see me I said, "Yes. Just give me 15 minutes?" And I hung up.

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Rykie was at home busy blending together some hangover juice. 1 part vodka and 3 parts celery, orange juice and pineapple. A dash of tabasco, one spoon of greek yogurt and it was ready. She poured the concoction into 2 travel mugs. One for herself and one for Erika. Then she grabbed 2 bananas before heading out the door.

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After I hung up with Rykie, I found myself laying back on my bed. I didn't have the energy to get up, let alone get dressed. My phone buzzed again. This time it was Rami! He had just sent me a text. "Hey baby. I was thinking about all last night. You kept running through my mind. How did you sleep?" I waited a second and then responded with, "I didn't sleep much. I think I'm tired from all that running I was doing in your mind last night." I added the emoji wink face and pressed send. He responded with the laugh cry emoji face. Then sent me a kiss face emoji and "I miss you." I melted. Then sent, "Rykie is having us all over tonight. Want to get there earlier than the crowd? Right after school?" I asked him. "Yes, baby. I can't wait. See you tonight!" He texted me some more kissy faces and said he had to get ready for school. "See you tonight. I'm resting this headache away at home today." Explaining my absence for the day. One last buzz from my phone, "OK babe. I'll be thinking of you until then." He quipped.

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Rykie turned the corner and made her way up my street. She pulled into my driveway and honked. I was still on my bed in my pajamas. I quickly shot her a text, "be down in a sec." I threw off my pajamas and slipped into some jeans, a tank top and my black converse sneakers. I threw my makeup bag and ear buds into my backpack and grabbed the cap off the side of my bed. Threw it over my hair and walked out of my room. "Bye Mom!" I waved to her as I left the house. "No breakfast?" She called out. "Rykie picked us up some." I lied and left. Feeling queasy the whole way to her car. When she pushed open the passenger door for me, I greeted her with my best smile. She laughed. "Not feeling so hot, huh?" She asked me. I shook my head. "Here!" She shoved a mug of some yellow liquid into my hands. "Best cure for any hangover. It was my brother's secret when he used to party it up during his college days." I attempted a sip. Spicy! I thought. Letting the cool liquid trickle down my throat. In minutes we were back at Rykie's. I carefully stepped out of the car. I didn't want to puke. My legs were shaky but somehow my head didn't hurt as much anymore. I attempted another sip of the spicy drink and felt my nausea subside a little. I followed Rykie up the driveway to her front door. She unlocked it and let us in. She told me to go in her room and to start picking out things for us to wear tonight. She would join me but had to go park the car back into the garage first. I did as I was told. As I started to climb the stairwell, she barked, "Third room on your right!" I nodded and kept going up the stairs at a slow pace.