KISS: Casablanca High School

Ch 43: The Aftermath 2.0 (Paul)

My alarm went off at the usual 6:30 time and I scowled, shoving the clock off the shelf. Figures I forgot to turn that off. I tried to fall asleep again before I remembered who I had sleeping in my basement and I leapt out of bed, huge smile spreading across my face.

I skipped down the stairs, flipping on the lights to find Gene leaning over with his face buried in the trash can, shoulders heaving as he threw up again. "Good morning, sunshine!" I bellowed. Lifting his head slowly, he let out a low groan, closing his eyes. "Please for the love of everything just stop talking and turn off the lights," he murmured.

My twisted smile grew and I stood over him, hands on my hips. "Aww, is someone having his first hangover? Poor little baby got a headache after drinking almost an entire bottle of vodka?" I said mockingly, jabbing him in the shoulder. "Paul please I'm begging you shut up," he said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and leaning back on the sofa. "Shut up? Really? You want me to shut up? After everything you did last night?"

A faint frown creased his face and he opened his eyes to look at me, blinking away tears. "What are you...oh damn my head," he said, trailing off and clutching his temples.

My smile stretched wider across my face and I squatted until I was eye-level with him. "You really don't remember, huh? Oh boy have I got a story for you, man!"

Tears leaked down his cheeks and he buried his face in the pillows. "Please, please stop talking so loudly. It feels like someone's hammering on my brain."

"No! My first hangover was me getting screamed at by Pete and falling down a flight of stairs. After everything you've done, yours doesn't get to be any better. So let's talk about what you did, yeah? I was just minding my own business after you decided not to share the physics study guide with me when all of a sudden I get a Snapchat from you, but you're holding a bottle of vodka and crying and saying you want to die. Like a good friend, which we're not, anymore, by the way, I call you to ask what the hell is going on, and you told me you were on 22nd street, drunk off your ass, sobbing on a bridge about how Cher cheated on you, like we all told you she would. But it would be mean to leave you on the bridge and I'd be an accomplice to a murder if I brought you back to your mom, so here you are! Any of that ring a bell?"

He bit back a sob, look of pure shame passing across his face as he buried it in his hands, ears a bright red. "That's uh...starting to sound familiar," he choked.

I knelt down and gave him a cold stare. "What the hell were you thinking?" I asked after a long pause.

Shaking his head, he ran his hands through his hair, screwing his eyes shut and trying to sink into the couch. "I don't...I just don't know."

I could feel my anger rising as I looked at him lying on my couch, looking absolutely pathetic. "Here, let me connect the dots for you! Obviously, you decided that breaking one law wasn't enough, so you went and decided to break like three more! Underage drinking, trespassing, stealing, probably more than just that too! You, the brown-nosing tee totaller, get cheated on again, by the same girl, and just lose it? I mean what were you thinking?! Honestly Chaim, what the fuck were you thinking?" I shouted.

He cringed, nestling deeper into the couch. "I don't know why I did that. I'm sorry. You were right, again. She cheated on me, again. I messed up. You're a good friend and I threw that away for a girl who used me, just like you said she would. I'm sorry."

I sighed, rising to my feet. "Take your shirt off before you get vomit on my couch. When you're feeling better, come upstairs for some water and Advil. Then I'll take you home."

I left him trying to bury himself in the couch and turned off the lights as I walked upstairs, closing the door to the basement behind me and turning on the stove, pulling a pan out of the drawer and cracking some eggs.