Miles Away

Chapter 4 - Pounding Heads and Rotten Mistakes

I wracked my brain for some kind of clue but came up with nothing. My brain was pounding against my skull and my stomach was twisted in knots at the thought of what I had just done. I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. I was not someone who went through things like this.

“I don’t know!” I whispered again. “Why didn’t you make sure I left with you?”

“I thought you went home without me! I turned my back for one second and you were gone with some boy. I didn’t know you were that drunk,” she mumbled.

“And you thought it was okay to let me be alone with some guy we don’t even know?!”

“I’m sorry, okay! Just get out of there and come home. I’m at your apartment,” she said, hanging up and leaving the line dead.

As I slipped on my black ballet flats, I swallowed hard and slowly opened the bedroom door. The house reeked of spilled beer and sweat from last night. I even thought I caught a whiff of vomit, which made my stomach churn at the smell. I covered my nose with a hand and slowly walked down the hallway and into the living room.

Red plastic cups were strewn across the room, some even still in the hands of sleeping guests who never seemed to leave. I walked over dark spilled markings in the tan carpeting, careful not to step in the. A girl with nothing but a bra and a skirt on was lying on the dark green couch, her limbs lying freely against it. Another was lying on top of a boy I could have sworn I recognized as I stepped over another wet spot on the floor. I tip toed over a football player who was snoring and looked over at the boy.

It was Luke.

He had his arm wrapped around a girl with bleach blonde hair, their half naked bodies covered with a throw blanket. She had a few visible tattoos, some in places I wouldn’t dare to have an artist touch, and piercings in her lips and nose. His black hair was sticking up all over and drool was slowly drying against his chin. I felt a wave of relief wash over me, knowing Luke hadn’t been the one I slept with last night. But a second wave of panic went through me at the thought of still not knowing who it was.

I stepped over the football player again, making sure I didn’t hit him with my foot and wake him up. I slowly turned the doorknob and opened the door, wincing at the light creaking noise it made as I did. I froze as I watched the bodies lying around the living room, waiting for someone to wake up and make things awkward for me. When not one of them stirred, I breathed a sigh of relief and shut the door quietly behind me as I left.

Luckily, my keys were still in the front pocket of my shorts, and I pulled them out as I made my way to my car. I still didn’t know how Charlee got home if she hadn’t even asked me for a ride. I turned down the radio when I turned the car on, trying to give my mind a moment of peace and quiet. I needed to figure out who this mysterious guy was.

I wasn’t the type of girl who went around and hopped into bed with the first guy she meets. I took time with relationships and only ever had sex with a boy who I was dating. I’d really only had sex with two people, both whom were my boyfriends at the time, and that was it. I didn’t like the idea of crawling into bed with a guy I didn’t know and it shocked me that I did so last night without even a second thought. It made my skin crawl at the thought of what could have happened and made me believe that I needed to schedule a doctor’s appointment to make sure I was clean.

With some guys, you just never knew who they went to bed with before you.

My brain was strained and throbbing by the time I got back to my place, and I was just ready to get this day over with, even if it just started. I felt dirty just thinking about everything that happened and I wanted to throw myself into bed and make it all go away.