Escaping Reality

Chapter 23: Empty House Lounging

I woke up and the first thing I saw was white. Just white. Panic struck me for a brief moment. It took me a second to realize that someone had taped a piece of paper over my face. I carefully untaped it from my forehead and read the message.

"Luke,

You seemed to have a good time last night. It was fun dancing with you and watching you enjoy yourself. I have work today and I should get done just before dinner. My parents already left for work so feel free to help yourself to any food at my house. I put a spare key in your left pocket and your car keys should be upstairs in the basket. A couple of the guys mentioned that they might take The Boat out today so I gave them your number. Be sure to have your phone on, they might give you a ring. See you later.

Xoxo, LOLA"

Her handwriting was just as mysterious as she was. It was so smooth but almost too smooth and perfect that it was scary. I wonder if she had taken up calligraphy courses in her spare time. Her name was also signed in all caps which I thought was kinda funny, I dunno why. I was also confused about why The Boat was capitalized but I dismissed it and figured she probably wrote the letter last night while she was still riding a little buzz.

I smiled to myself as I sat up. I had to lay back down. My head was pounding, it felt like someone was blasting heavy metal inside my head, the notes bouncing around growing more intense after each volley off my empty skull. A subtle but persistent pain struck my left temple in a pulsating manner. So this is what it feels like to be hungover I thought, I had never really drunk enough to know. I grimaced as I attempted to sit up again. This time I was successful and gingerly swung my feet to the ground. I checked my phone, it was still pretty early, only 9:15 am. I looked around at everyone else, all passed out in positions that undoubtedly would grant them back problems when they woke up.

I crept up the stairs trying not to wake anyone.

"Good morning Luke," Nico's mom said, startling me.

"Oh, uh good morning," I said, offering a smile.

"You had a good time last night huh?" she asked "I heard the boys chanting, I hope that they didn't go too crazy on you - they can be a lot to handle sometimes"

"Oh no not at all, it was a fun time," I responded with a soft smile trying to hide how much I was hurting.

"I'm glad," she said, "Your keys are in the basket over there and there's also a plate with some to-go breakfast if you want something for the road."

"Thanks so much! I hope I see you guys around," I said as I waved and somberly walked out of their house hoping the to-go orange juice would help the headache a little.

As I stuffed a cream-filled doughnut into my mouth I thought "damn these people are operating a whole ass bed and breakfast for high schoolers." I'm pretty sure that knowingly hosting high school parties and offering drinks was illegal but who was I to complain? I had a great time and everybody was safe, seemed like a good system to me. I unlocked the Porsche and lowered myself in slowly.

The drive back to Lola's place was lonely. Wait, I paused, how did she get home? Musta caught a ride with one of her girlfriends I concluded. I hooked up the Bluetooth speaker and played some oldies to help pass the time. I arrived at Lola's before the song had finished and had to sit in the driveway until it finished up. I let myself in welcoming their home's unique scent. Isn't it funny how everybody's house has its own scent I thought to myself, wondering what my own home's scent smelled like?

I sauntered into the kitchen and opened up their freezer. They had an assortment of frozen breakfast foods. Breakfast burritos, mini pancakes, waffles, egg and bacon bowls, acai fruit bows, the whole nine yards. After eating a doughnut earlier I decided to settle on the healthiest option, the acai fruit bowl. I took it out of its packaging and let it thaw for 10 minutes just like the packaging suggested.

I wandered into the living room clicking on the TV. I changed the channel to Sports Center, I hadn't caught up with the sports world in a while. With a couple of minutes until the acai bowl was ready I decided to go for a quick shower. The cold water seemed to strip the hangover away and I walked out a new man. I threw on some loungewear and headed back upstairs excited for my acai bowl.

I got a spoon and brought my second breakfast out into the living room. With an acai fruit bowl in one hand, the other hand in my pants I was truly living life.

Within the hour I had caught up on all the latest sports happenings and checked to see if they had a Netflix subscription. They did have a Netflix account and I shuffled through the recently added before settling on some low-quality Adam Sandler movie. About twenty minutes into the movie I got a text from an unknown number. This must be The Boat guys Lola had written about in her morning note.

"Hey Luke, a couple of us guys are heading out on the ocean around 1 if you want to join us. If you're up for it meet at the port just off of the main drag. Bring a suit and be ready to have a good time" the text read.

I shot back a quick response "Sounds awesome, I'll be there. Thanks for the invite!"

I closed out of the conversation and decided to explore the texts I had ignored up until now. I had over 500 messages, so I started going through them. Most of them were just big group messages I had been added to at some point over the semester. I hadn't been gone that long, a few people had texted wondering where I was and a couple of group messages had commented about my recent absences from events but I don't think anyone realized I had left the state yet. 

Naturally, I had about a bazillion texts from my parents. I had left a note that they had undoubtedly found by now but that didn't stop the stream of texts from coming through. I was tempted to respond and just let them know that I was okay. Finally, after a rigorous mental battle, I restrained and clicked out of messages.

I swiped right habitually looking for my social media apps. It was tougher than I thought, not being able to use social media. My fake account made for Miami gave me a little taste but I didn't actually know anyone in my feed which made the experience impersonal. My screen time had decreased drastically and I found myself checking the news and my email in my spare time.