The Shadows Of Yesterday

The Shadows Of Yesterday {2}

"Jeremy!"

I'd been awake for a half hour, but blatantly ignoring Seth that whole time. Something struck me and I winced, finally rolling over to glare at him.

"Did you just throw a shoe at me?" I demanded.

"Unless you left a shoe on your bed last night, then yes, I suspect I did," Seth said. "Get your lazy ass up. We're going to shower and meet the others for breakfast."

I dragged myself out of bed before he could throw another shoe at me. Seth waited impatiently by the door while I gathered my stuff.

We made our way to the bathroom and claimed showers for ourselves. The water was, as always, lukewarm. It woke me up the longer I endured it.

I shut it off once I was clean and got dressed, going out to the sinks to brush my teeth. Seth was already there, styling his hair in the mirror.

I ran a hand through my hair, figured it was good enough, and washed the toothpaste out of my mouth. "I'm ready."

"You look homeless," he said.

"Don't I always? Let's go," I said.

We dropped our stuff in the dorm and left the building. I'd thankfully slept off my headache from the party, and Seth, as usual, seemed just fine. I swear the guy was immune to hangovers.

"Did you even drink last night?" he asked.

"Sure. But that beer tasted like piss, and you know I don't like the punch," I said.

"Where'd you even disappear to? I couldn't find you for a while," he said. "Finally being a man?"

"Sure," I repeated, then forced a grin. "But I'll leave things up to your imagination."

"That's my boy!" he said, punching my shoulder and laughing. "See, I knew you'd enjoy yourself if you'd stop being a damn wallflower all the time."

I let him fill in the gaps of last night with whatever his mind pleased. Seth would think how I'd actually spent the night was boring, and I didn't want to hear him bitch about it.

We reached the dining hall and went upstairs, swiping our IDs and grabbing trays. I drifted away from Seth to browse around for anything semi-edible, settling for a sandwich and some chips.

Seth was waiting for me by the drinks, tossing a cup at me as I approached. We filled our cups and he led me through the seating area to a table occupied by one other person.

"About time you showed up," Brynn said.

"Blame him," Seth and I said at the same time, pointing at each other. "Me?!"

"You take forever on your hair," I said.

"You take forever getting out of bed," he said, shoving me into a chair and taking the seat next to Brynn.

"Because someone had me out late last night," I said.

"For the love of- you're twenty, not two!" he cried. "Toughen up, Jer. There is no bedtime anymore."

"I heard it wasn't even a good party," Brynn said.

"It would've been a lot better if you were there," Seth said, grinning and kissing her jaw.

I made a loud gagging noise, and Seth kicked me in return. "I'm trying to eat. Can you go poorly flirt somewhere else?"

Brynn pushed Seth's face away from hers. "He's got a point. I'm hungry."

"Fine, later, then," Seth said. "And where is- oh, there he is."

Vin dropped into the empty seat next to me, his tray smacking down on the table and making our drinks slosh in their cups, dangerously close to spilling. "I had to wait for tater tots. This place is a fucking joke."