Smoke And Steel

• Fourteen - Hot and Bothered •

Avery

"Ughhhh," I groaned, pulling the covers  over my eyes to shield them from the mid-morning light. The sound of passing cars on the street below were too loud for my sensitive ears, hell, the whole world seemed too awake for my liking. This is why I don't drink Jäger, it always fucks me up the morning after.

"I second that," Alex half whispered from his bed on the other side of the room. We were in his loft apartment, and being the weird kid he is he had no curtains. Obviously he didn't care about getting changed in full view of the neighbours. His bed was low on the panelled wooden floor, and the walls were painted a contrasting royal blue. Instead of bed side tables he had wooden crates with little oil lamps on top.

The whole place had this industrial feel to it - really minimalistic too, though I knew that was more because Alex was too lazy to get off of his ass and buy more furniture, rather than for style.

I pushed myself up off the cracked brown leather of the sofa, moving slowly due to my aching body. Despite how uncomfortable that spring-box was, I was both tired and hungover, and wanted nothing more than to curl up in a ball for approximately 33 years, but alas my throat was sore and I was in desperate need of a couple of aspirin.

I was still wearing my clothes from yesterday, although I seemed to have misplaced my shirt somewhere between leaving the bar and waking up. Oh well, I thought as I padded across the room, my feet slapping the cold, hard ground. The cold air nipped at my naked torso, making me realize just how far into fall we were.

The cool water ran down my chin as I gulped down the glass's contents, and again when I swallowed down a second. The water seemed to do good for my pounding head, easing the pressure a little bit already. Hmm... Now all I needed was a double shot espresso or three.

"Remind me to never drink again," Alex called  out randomly as I made my way back over to the couch.

"Don't drink again."

"Shut up. Why did I think that last night would be a good idea?" he groaned from his blanket fort.

"Because at the time you always think bad ideas are better than they actually are, and somehow you always manage to drag me along with you," I answered truthfully. Speaking of last night, how did we get back here?

I wracked my brain, trying to piece together disjointed memories from the previous night's adventures. I remember drinking a lot, and then someone brought out the hard liquor and my memory goes downhill from there. Brief flashes of anger, my fists curling against my will. And something else... a swish of long black hair and blazing green eyes. Ebony. Why was she there?

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Ebony

The bright light filtered through my bedroom blinds, dappling the opposite wall in a patchwork of shapes. I stretched, letting out a massive yawn. It's a pity I have to go to school today, I thought to myself as I drifted back to sleep.

"Shit!" I cursed out loud, I had school today! I literally rolled out of bed, hitting the ground with a thud. I glanced at my alarm clock but the dial was blank, no wonder I hadn't woken up. I rushed around, pulling my uniform on and brushing my teeth in the quickest time possible. I was probably running so late!

I ran into the kitchen, attempting to pull my hair into a sloppy bun, while one-handedly shoving lunch into my rucksack. I glanced at the clock on the counter and stopped in my tracks.

10:34am.

I'd over slept by three freaking hours?! That means I'd missed not only my bus, but also the first couple periods of the day. Avery Steel was so dead.