Behind Me

17: Princess Package

My thoughts were hazy and I felt  a bit disoriented. My body felt weak and irresponsive... Disconnected. within my line of sight was the sky and a few trees creating a frame... and a lady, with the most gentle smile I thought I would ever receive, skin like clay dipped in the night, hair in fluffy curls hanging like clouds in the night sky. Her eyes... A sky blue so lovely they attracted me like moths to a flame.

Where was I?

Her fingers, cold and gentle, caressed my cheeks like a soft breeze... I've seen those eyes before... That smile...

Her voice reached out to me in soft whispers while I couldn't fathom a word of what she said. The uneasiness I felt with the inability to move my body however, made my heart pound.

Suddenly she was gone, so was the lovely sky view, but her touch remained along with the the new found turbulence in my heart. Then there was the roof of my room... Familiar yet unexpected.

How did I get here? What was going on? Why my memory was so muddled was a puzzle I wasn't prepared to solve, save for the nasty headache.

I rose from my bed at once to the burning sensation rising dangerously fast from my stomach up my throat. I raced against time to the bathroom and planted my head in the toilet bowl to get rid of the vomit.

After watching, a bit disoriented, the remnants of whatever it was I ate swirl away, I sat there trying to regain myself on the bathroom floor, wondering why I was in my uniform. What the hell happened?

I slowly began to regain myself, not to say the sickness was anywhere near gone. What happened? I struggled to pick myself off the floor and got in the sink immediately rinsing my mouth. Found my toothbrush and paste and went to work.

I felt really bad.

I found my way to my room and  checked the time. Everything was still a little fuzzy but I knew it was way past morning classes.

How did I even sleep in?

I sat back in bed against the pounding headache and tried to remember what had happened last. I was crying in the car after what had happened had happened, fear to even think about the occurrence that led to me turning to a blubbering mess in the passenger seat was strong. Alpheus attempted comforting me because the situation was more or less uncomfortable for all involved. Then we drove around a bit. I found myself at a bar and the drink I'd shoved down my throat knowing full well I had next to zero tolerance for the amount of alcohol I was going to consume... Ugh! The hot and dry taste of the thing still lingered in my mouth.

Did he really let me drink? Did I really do that to myself?

I staggered to my living room to get myself a glass of water. Something told me I wasn't done emptying my guts yet. Of course I didn't register my unlocked front door till the aroma of a hearty breakfast hit me.

I rushed to the kitchen to catch the burglar who had broken in but was met with the smiling dork happily doing his thing shuffling the eggs in his pan.

Alpheus...

"Good morning princess." He was awfully cheery while there was absolutely nothing good about the morning.

"Why are you here?"

"I had to let myself in to put you to bed. It was either that or you would've spent the entire night at my place instead."

"And now you're making breakfast?"

"Think of me as a multipurpose bodyguard, princess. "

"Is that so?"

"What else would you have me be?"

"Outside."

He snickered.