Blood And Devotion

Chapter 9

Ethan

I was never, I say, never going to drink again. Ever.

I woke with a horrible headache. My stomach churned as I got up and I rushed to the bathroom, throwing up in the toilet. I felt tired and hungry. The events of the night rushed to my brain, adding up to the headache. I stood up and turned on the shower. The water helped clear my head a little.

Only when I came out of the shower, feeling much better, did I realize that today was a weekday? And that I had college. Holy cow. I threw on some clothes, not even bothering to check if they were ironed, grabbed my bag, and ran out.

I walked to class quickly, avoiding looking at anyone. Fortunately, the teacher had not arrived yet. I saw Connor on the last bench, waving at me. I sat beside him.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" I asked.

"I tried but you wouldn't budge."

"How drunk was I?" I said.

Connor looked at me as if deciding what to tell me and what not to. He ran a hand through his hair.

"You kissed Siara."

I choked on my own spit. I did what? No, I couldn't have. Was I really that drunk? Connor slapped my back, laughing.

"Chill man, I was just pulling your leg. But you did a lip sync to Criminal by Britney Spears using a whiskey bottle. You were all standing up and bleating out, 'But Mama I'm in love with a CRIMINAL!'"

"I did not."

"You want to see the clip?"

"No, I'll take your word for it," I muttered. I didn't want to make my day worse by watching me lip sync.

When the bell for lunch rang, I practically ran out of class. I had not eaten anything since last night. The hallway was filled with some sort of flyers, in people's hands, on the lockers, on the floor. Everyone was holding them. I picked one up. They were flyers for the party on Saturday. The one Siara was throwing. Connor and Sophie were asking me to come. To loosen a bit. But after last night loosening up seemed like a really bad idea. The teacher had told me to come to his office later, after college. I was scared out of my wits as to why he might have called me. And-

"Ethan!" Laura stepped in front of me.

"Uh, hey."

"Where were you? You missed half of the classes, I called you about five times but you didn't answer." She held up her phone and then scrutinized me. "It looks like you didn't sleep last night. Are you okay?" Her eyes ran over my rumpled clothes.

"I'm fine. I...was out last night."

"Oh, um, okay."

"I went to a party last night." I blurted out. It was wrong to lie to her. She had been worried about me and here I was, thinking about the stupid Saturday party. "And I got drunk."

"You got drunk. You got drunk?" She said, her eyes wide, like she couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe it myself.

"It's not like that. I'm not the kind of person who goes out and gets drunk every other night. It was my first time and I drank very little but it affected me more than I expected it-" I tried to justify.

"I get it." She smiled. I looked up. It looked like she was trying not to laugh. I flushed. She burst out.

"So, it was Sophie's party, wasn't it?" She asked as we headed to the cafeteria.

"How'd you know?"

"Only she keeps parties during the week. All others keep it on weekends."

"How do you know that?" Only someone who went to Sophie's parties on a regular basis would know. And Laura didn't exactly seem like someone who'd go to a party. You didn't seem like someone who would go to a party too, until last night, my mind said.