Off the Field

Chapter Seventeen

Hey! I am SO sorry that it's taken me so long to update - I was on the March for Life in DC (always fantastic) and I missed two days of school so I had to catch up on that. And this past week was literally the worst week of school ever. So long and so awful. Ugh. But right now it's predicted that we get, like, a foot of snow tonight, so hopefully a snow day tomorrow! And more writing time! Though I take the ACT Saturday and have a chem test and ahhh stress. But whatever, hope you like this chapter! Please shoot me a comment and a vote :)

Oooh and a pic of Danny's brother Jack on the side (hint hint!) ---->

Gracias! <3 vb123321

Chapter Seventeen

The morning light was like a sledgehammer against my head.

Groaning, I placed my hands over my eyes and rolled over. Tangled in sheets, I fell with a thump to the floor and lay facedown, my mind swimming as I tried to orient myself. Above me, I heard someone laughing and so I propped myself up on my elbows, squinting from the sun slanting in from the window.

“Man, you look rough,” Ray observed from his bed, smirking. Peering around, I realized I had fallen off the couch in his bedroom – how had I gotten there? The last thing I remembered was the party – and Kasey – and breaking down in the car –  

I rubbed my forehead, squeezing my eyes shut. “How much did I drink?”

“A lot, trust me. You don’t remember anything?”

“I wish I didn’t.”

“Darn, I was kinda hoping I could give you crap all over again.” He looked down at me, one eyebrow raised. “This is why we agreed you weren’t gonna do something dumb like this again after last June, remember?”

 I struggled to unwrap the sheets from my body as I avoided his eyes. Last night had hardly been the first time Ray had seen me wasted, and usually I felt pretty rough afterward, but I’d never felt worse than I did right then. My stomach was rolling and my face felt puffy as my head pounded, but mostly I just knew I’d screwed things up bad.

Ray got up from the bed and tossed a pill bottle and towel down next to me. “Take some aspirin and get your ass in the shower – you smell like crap. Maybe it’ll help you remember what a moron you are.”

I wanted to stay in the cool sheets forever, but as Ray left the room, I forced myself to swallow a couple aspirin and shuffled into the bathroom to drown myself in his shower. The steaming water pelted my back and head, relieving the built-up ache, and by the time Ray came banging on the door telling me not to waste their water bill, I felt somewhat refreshed.

“Good thing my mom’s not home,” said Ray as I nearly puked at the sight of breakfast; he looked highly amused. “She’d force you to eat a four-course meal.”

Collapsing at the kitchen table, I ruffled my damp hair with one hand, studying my reflection on the back of his spoon. “Do I look hung over? If my dad gets suspicious –”

“I think you’re good.” He took his spoon back and eyed me with a strange look. “So do you remember anything about last night?”