Just Give Me One Bad Night

Chapter One

The light of the morning filtered through the half-closed blinds, illuminating both the dim room and the girl that laid asleep atop her bed. The sun was irritating enough that it roused her, making one last feeble attempt to get comfortable and fall back asleep but, much to her annoyance, she was awake now and it didn't seem like it was going to change any time soon. She sighed and opened her eyes, rubbing away the tiredness in her eyes that made her want to lay there for hours and hours, until the sun rose and fell, and she could go back to sleep. Alas, life wasn't that easy.

Katie sat up and realised the space next to her was empty. Warm, but empty. Perhaps last night had been a dream after all, which wouldn't be too farfetched considering she didn't remember much, though a cursory glance at all the half-empty bottles of alcohol that were littered around her room like decorations and the nausea that was making her head spin, reminded her that just because she couldn't remember a night didn't mean it didn't happen. A lesson she knew far too well and still bore the consequences of, whether that was from the shitty jokes she got about sleeping with that skinny exchange student, or the label of 'whore' that now stuck to her like a piece of gum on her shoe. Even her boyfriend looked at her differently now.

Feeling a lone breeze on her bare leg, Katie grabbed a blanket to cover her naked body (one piece of the mounting evidence that she hadn't spent the night alone) and dragged herself out of bed to close the window. Why it was open she had no idea, the curtains were usually shut as well to ensure that the sun didn't wake her up. She probably just forgot. Upon reaching the windowsill, the cold air helping her in waking up, she got a whiff of cigarette smoke and saw the discarded cigarette butt. It was still singed, so recently smoked, though she most definitely didn't smoke and neither did her boyfriend, at least not that she was aware of.

Frowning, she decided it was something she'd think on later, for now, she wanted some aspirin and water for her horrifically dry throat. Reaching out to grab the wide-open window, she caught her reflection staring back at her and she groaned inwardly. There were red marks decorating her neck and her chest, disappearing beneath the folds of the blanket she wore, and she could only assume that they trailed further down. She would've assumed they were hickeys, but they were too dark and she had had plenty before to tell the difference, which left only one other option; lipstick.

"Fuck."

Just beneath that particular windowsill, tossing her second cigarette in a manner of minutes into a prettily potted hydrangea, came a quiet laugh. Stood there in a leather jacket and a wearing a smug smirk, tending to a motorbike that Katie couldn't name even if her life depended on it, was Arden. Her red lipstick had been reapplied after it had been thoroughly smudged last night and she was enjoying the mild panic that Katie was now in upon realising the events of last night, of course, as a pretty, popular girl with a jock boyfriend to boot, she would never even admit to breathing the same air as her, let alone sharing a bed together. Not that she needed to worry, Arden didn't kiss and tell. She kissed and made snarky comments with heavy implications to their asshole boyfriends, which was totally different. Right?

Katie must've heard Arden's laugh because a few seconds later, she stuck her head out of the open window, her facial features one of annoyance and frustration as she took a moment to figure out the best way to handle the situation.

"What the fuck are you still doing here?" she whisper-shouted. Apparently, she had decided pointless aggression was the best course of action. "Get the fuck out of here before I call the cops."

"Damn, is that any way to treat a lover Kate?" Arden replied, not taking any great lengths to keep her voice down. "And here I thought you were going to invite me back inside."

"I mean it." Katie glanced back at her bedroom door, cautious about waking her parents up. It was still early so with a bit of luck, they'd still be in bed for another hour or two. Unfortunately, she didn't exactly have the moral high ground here, so any smartass comments were just ignored.

"Harsh, I hope you don't treat all your one night stands like this." Arden laughed, shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly before putting on her fingerless leather gloves and leaning back against her motorbike. "Wouldn't want your boyfriend thinking you're rude now."

Katie gripped the edges of the blanket that draped over her body just a little tighter.

"Say one word to Dylan about this and I swear to god–"

"Yeah, yeah. I've heard it all before pretty girl, I won't say a word. Pinky promise and all that." Arden rolled her eyes and fingered the packet of cigarettes in her pocket, having a silent debate with herself as to whether she should have another one. After a few seconds, her rational side won and she reminded herself that she literally just finished one a few minutes ago.

Not that Arden usually bragged to other boys about screwing their girlfriends, but she was going to be especially careful with Dylan, as a cop and all-around dick, he had the potential to get her into really trouble if she didn't keep her mouth shut. He wasn't exactly subtle about his willingness to ignore the law when it suited him.

Knowing the conversation was pretty much over, Arden started getting ready to leave. She usually didn't hang around too long and she wasn't planning on making any exceptions for little Miss Princess over there, though she was stopped by Katie speaking again.

"I'm not... y'know. Like you. This was a one-time thing."

"You're not like me?" Arden repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, that goes without saying."

"You know what I mean." Katie stated, clearly irritated by Arden's feigned ignorance.

"No, what do you mean?"

"I'm not... a lesbian. I have a boyfriend and I like him and everything about him."

There it was. The vehement denial that all the girls she slept with jumped to as soon as they woke up, claiming every excuse under the sun to deny that they had any control over what happened last night. That it wasn't really them that slept with her. It was the alcohol. I was emotional. I must've taken something.

Not that Arden cared. She knew she were sober and in control and gave full consent, she wouldn't do anything if she didn't have that, she knew better. Though, that didn't stop others arguing otherwise – she'd had more than a few visits to the police station as a result.

"What we did last night seemed pretty gay to me." Retorted Arden, that shit-eating grin back on her face as she glanced up at the annoyed face of Katie and the assortment of lipstick stains on her neck.

"Keep your damn voice down," she hissed, clearly horrified by the thought of someone calling the 'G' word.

"Make me."

Katie's response was a swift slam of the window and retreating to her bedroom, presumably to have a shower and to remind her boyfriend that she loves him.

Arden shook her head and got up onto her motorbike, taking a few seconds to make sure she hadn't left anything, such as her phone or wallet, inside her house otherwise there wasn't any guarantee she'd be getting it back.

"You have my number if you want to do this again sometime," Arden shouted at the now shut window, smiling to herself as she revved the engine a little just as a 'fuck you' to both Katie and her parents before taking off down the driveway and heading back home, leaving Katie with the memories of last night and a fun little selfie she'd taken on her phone whilst she was still asleep next to her.

"Straight girls," she muttered to herself, speeding down the relatively empty roads. "Why do I bother."