On a Loop

4| "IF YOU AIN'T NASTY, DON'T @ ME" - BRENT FAIYAZ

Lauren woke up on Saturday morning to her head pounding and mouth dry. She opened her eyes slowly. The sun had barely risen, as dim streaks of light streamed through the apartment's back windows. She was home, but not in her bed.

As her senses returned from deep slumber, the rank scent of vomit filled her nose. She quickly prayed it wasn't on the rug and braced herself to investigate.

Lauren peered down and was relieved to see their small, black bathroom garbage can filled with puke. She set it aside cautiously, suppressing a gag, and lazily tried to get up; but stopped and gripped the couch for support. The room spun. Once she steadied herself, she realized her outfit from last night stuck to her body like liquid latex. She grabbed a glass of water from the coffee table, likely left there by Toni (bless her heart), and chugged it all. Lauren felt dead. Her body was heavy, sluggish and her stomach was still queasy as she headed to the kitchen to make toast and a coffee to re-energize.

While eating, Lauren looked around for her phone and spotted it on the foyer floor next to her heels. She picked it up, squeezed the lock button and it illuminated with what looked like hundreds of notifications. She opened IG reluctantly, hoping she hadn't done anything too scandalous and drunkenly plastered it on the internet.

To her pleasant surprise, Lauren only saw an overflow of positive comments and emojis. Toni had captured her twerking on some stranger, and drinking straight from a random assortment of bottles. She looked good, but mixing all that liquor explains her blacking out and currently feeling like shit.

The time on her phone next to her nearly dead battery read 6:43 AM. It was early, but that only meant Lauren had plenty of time to enjoy her light breakfast, shower, read through her messages and go back to bed. She sat munching on the remainder of her toast when she opened a DM from @mcmtrent:

4:04 AM

Fuck. You look good L. Pls wear this on Monday. How tf am I supposed to sleep now?

Lauren smiled to herself for a minute and then scowled.

Fuck him Lauren, he made you look stupid and cry, remember?

Yeah, how the fuck could she forget, it was yesterday. Nevertheless, Lauren was happy to know he was thinking about her at four in the morning. She left him on read and gulped down her now cooled coffee. She cleaned up the living room, ridding the space of that awful vomit smell, and headed to the shower.

Once out, Lauren brushed her teeth and felt oddly more energized and motivated than she ever had been before 8 in the morning. She dressed in workout gear and went for a quick run around the block.

Lauren returned to the apartment and found Toni was sitting at the breakfast bar in a black satin robe, with a matching headband eating an avocado with a spoon and drinking black coffee. Toni rubbed her eyes in disbelief, as Lauren took off her running shoes and strode into the kitchen to pour a glass of water.

"Excuse me, who the fuck are you and what have you done with my best friend?"

"I'm right here, Love!" Lauren said, squeezing her tightly, still panting from the run and the flight of stairs.

"Fam, you almost died last night. Drove the boat too hard." Toni giggled.

"Thank you for taking care of me. Your top tier health care is probably why I'm feeling like a million bucks. That and —" Lauren swiped open her phone to Trent's DM.

"Zayum girl! Sounds like he wanted to send you a few eggplant emojis too, eh?" She squealed in delight, wiggling her eyebrows as she spoke. "I told you a night out was what you needed!"