The Checklist (Explicit Version)

Chapter 2

CHAPTER II
Hungover

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   I woke up slapping myself in the face. Even though I expected to be hungover, my pounding head had me swearing to the God's that I wouldn't drink anymore so they could take the pain away. Unsurprisingly, my prayers weren't answered.

   Begrudgingly, my eyelids peeled open and cringed when I saw sunlight coming into my room. I had periwinkle mesh curtains and for the last year, I've wanted to buy blackout curtains. My window faced the right side of the bungalow, and even though there was a house next to ours, that didn't stop the sun from waking me up at nine in the morning every day.

   Nellie and Valerie never had to suffer. Their rooms were on the left side of the house.

   The thought of Valerie made me tense. Next thing I knew, I reached for my phone on the nightstand. Unplugged and in front of me, I tapped on the screen. Tears burned my eyes when I saw the messages waiting for me. From Remi.

   Hey baby did you finish your assignment?

   He sent the text before eight, leaving an acidic taste in my mouth. Did he send this before fucking Valerie? I caught them together at nine.

   I continued scrolling through his unread texts, seeing timestamps hours later.

   Thea? Are you sleepibg? I thought you couls't come over bexause you had to work. It's my birtdsy. I wnted to see you.

   Bavy I love yoi. Im sorrt Im suck.

   There was another message. This one came only ten minutes ago.

   I missed you last night. Can we meet up today?

   Bitterly, I thought, "You didn't seem to miss me while you were fucking my roommate." 

   But I didn't say that. Instead, I scrambled to his contact and forced myself to ignore his profile picture. It was us as kids. His contact name had a purple heart next to it.

   My thumb hovered over the block button. I pressed it hard, sealing our fates.

   Eventually, I would have to talk to him. It was the mature thing to do. But I didn't feel mature right now. I wanted to burn his house down, so this was the most reasonable reaction I could come up with.

   There was a knock on my door, followed by Nellie's soft, "It's me."

   I relaxed against my pillow the same moment my best friend and roommate cracked my door open. Her familiar face made me smile wobbly.

   "Fuck," she whispered before rushing toward me. I noted the bottle of pills she was holding, along with an omelette and a bottle of water. She settled everything on my cream comforter before moving my hair away from my face. "You don't look good, hun."

   "I don't feel the best," I admitted, taking the pills she handed me before sitting upright. I flinched when the movement made spikes attack my head. "I drank a lot."

   There was humour in her voice. "I could tell. You were passed out in the Uber. He had to knock on the door to get me to help you out. By the way, you drooled on his backseat. Never heard an old guy cuss so much."

   I cupped my face and groaned. "I'm despicable."

   "You didn't throw up on the floor this time, though. Take the win." She offered an encouraging smile before placing the omelette on my lap. "Eat up and take the drugs. Because I need to know what happened to make you spiral on Remi's birthday."