Fire and Freedom - Book One of the Café Latte Trilogy

Chapter Eleven - Jasper

CW: physical fighting

Chapter Eleven – Jasper

I looked like shit; that much I knew. I'd stayed at Fruits with Raven, Edward, Harper and Cyri for a few hours after Ross had disappeared with a guy, and we had hit the shots pretty hard given they were so cheap. I'd gotten a ton of offers from other men, but I'd turned them down. I didn't want to ditch Cyri, for a start, but also none of my group knew any of the guys that approached me. I wasn't sure I wanted to go home with a complete stranger, someone I didn't even know was safe to go home with.

"It's cool," Tom had said, grinning. "Between all of us, we know a lot of people who would bend over backwards to have a go at you. Literally, in some cases."

I had laughed and agreed Tom could set me up next time we went out together. After three solid hours of dancing with everyone, Raven had picked up a girl and left. After that, everyone had started to disappear; Harper had to get home and rest due to side-effects of new medication, and Edward was shattered after performing. Cyri had been persuaded to risk it and stay out with us until three, and we had all giggled our way back to our respective houses.

Unfortunately, my parents had decided that a bank holiday Monday was the perfect time for a mid-morning hike, and I had had to drag my hungover ass across the countryside, sipping coffee desperately out of a thermos. They had practically forced us into family bonding activities for the rest of the day, and I had collapsed at ten in the evening into restless sleep, waking only to discover I still felt like utter shit. My days of partying had caught up to me.

"Wow," Andrew whistled as I trudged down the stairs, my hair sticking up at all angles. "What the fuck happened to you? Did you sneak out again? Didn't you learn your lesson yesterday?"

"No, I didn't sneak out," I sighed, picking up a cereal bar. "I didn't sleep well - turns out I am fully useless when hungover. I did, however, make myself promise that I'd get into school a half hour early to work on an essay."

Andrew looked as though he was repressing laughter. "Are you sure that's wise?" he asked, gesturing to my appearance. "You look like shit. Take the day off."

"Can't," I sighed, pouring myself a comically large mug of coffee. "Got English coursework to do, and we already had the day off yesterday. Remind me why I thought it was a good idea to go back to school?"

Andrew patted me sympathetically. "I can drive you in, if you want. If you're this tired, you probably shouldn't be driving."

I sighed, and lay my head down on the kitchen island. "I haven't done my driving test yet anyway, so I can't drive myself in alone - are you sure you don't mind? I just can't deal with mum right now."

"I don't mind, I want to get out of the house and go shopping anyway," Andrew nodded, and then asked slyly, "How long will you be at home for tonight?"

I groaned at the mere thought of going out again. "The whole night. I'm too tired to go out. I think I drank so much I'm still slightly hungover two days later."

"Alright," Andrew laughed at my pain. "Do you want to watch a film or something? We can order in Chinese food."

"Sure," I managed to grin despite my stomach protesting at the sheer thought of eating something. "Sounds like a plan."

Suddenly, my mother rushed into the kitchen. She was wearing jeans and a loose shirt, with her hair pulled back tightly. This usually meant some serious gardening was about to happen, and my suspicions were confirmed when she pulled some weed killer out from under the sink. "Sorry, boys," she said, inspecting the back of the bottle for the instructions. "I can't make breakfast this morning - I've got some particularly angry thistles to deal with."