Stupid Cupid

Sorry I threw up all over you and made you strip

As the wave of nausea subsided, I looked down at the clothes I was wearing. My shirt was fine, but what I was wearing on the bottom half of my body wasn’t. I was wearing a pair of shorts from when I’d been overheating earlier, but I hadn’t shaved recently and that fact was obvious.

I stood up and walked slowly over to my dresser, but when I bent over to grab some sweatpants from the bottom drawer, I felt the vomit rise in my throat. Quickly, I stood up and took a big breath of air to force the bile back down.

Parker was just going to have to deal with a little hair.

I grabbed one of the many mismatched throw blankets from the end of my bed, and I padded out of my room and down the hallway. I stepped slowly down the stairs, wincing slightly, and then I walked down the hall and into the kitchen.

Despite the fact that it was only a little after eight in the morning, I grabbed a can of Coke, which I heard could settle one’s stomach. I also dumped a bunch of saltine crackers into a plastic bowl, and I carried all of my supplies into the den, which was a lot more comfortable than our living room.

However, just as I settled down on the couch, the doorbell rang. I moaned and let my face fall onto one of the throw pillows unceremoniously. I thought about not answering the door, which might make Parker go away, but the avid ringing and knocking on the door was making my head hurt.

I stood up and walked slowly to the front door, and I hesitated a moment before unlocking it. I pulled the door open, and there stood Parker. To my surprise, however, he was holding a clear, plastic container full of soup that I could tell was hot. What was even better, though, was the stack of DVD’s he had under his arm.

“Hey,” I said, and I tried smiling, but it probably looked more like a grimace.

“You really do look sick,” Parker commented as I moved to the side to let him in.

“Wow, thanks for that,” I replied, shutting the door, “That makes me feel better to know that I look like crap.”

“I didn’t say that!” he said defensively, and I rolled my eyes. I led Parker into the den and sat down on the couch. “Where do you want me to put this stuff?” Parker asked, holding up the soup and gesturing towards the DVDs.

“You can just put it on the coffee table,” I said, nodding towards the small wooden table that already held my can of Coke and my saltines. Parker placed the soup down, and then he plopped down next to me on the couch.

“I brought Dawn of the Dead, Hostel, Paranormal Activity, and The SpongeBob Squarepants movie,” Parker stated, spreading the DVD cases out on the small stretch of couch between us.

“Wait,” I said, tipping my head to the side and looking at Parker with curiosity, “Why did you bring that last one?” Parker knew about and shared my love for horror movies, and that SpongeBob movie stuck out like a sore thumb.

“Because you like SpongeBob, right?” Parker replied, shrugging, “I remembered that shirt you were wearing a while ago, and I had this movie. Plus, I wasn’t sure if you could really handle a scary movie if you were sick.”

“True and true,” I confirmed, commenting on each of his assumptions, “SpongeBob it is then.”

I started to get up to put the DVD in the player on my TV, but Parker stopped me before I got too far. “I’ve got it, Reed,” he said, and he boosted himself off of the couch and grabbed the television remote.

I watched in surprise as Parker changed the television input and turned on the DVD player, which I’d always found to be complicated. However, Parker made it look easy. The dude understood my technology better than I did.