Alice
Headache.
That’s really all I could feel when I woke up the next morning. I didn’t open my eyes in attempt to make the pain go away, I just laid there and kept breathing heavily as if I was still sleeping, maybe that’d help the pain go away.
“I know you’re awake.” I heard Lance’s voice from somewhere around the room. Was I in his room? “I have Aspirin.”
That made me open my eyes. And when I did, I saw that I was indeed in Lance’s room, sleeping in his bed. It smelled like him. Just as my eyes landed on Lance, he sat down on the bed beside me, handing me a glass of water and two small pills.
I eagerly threw them down my throat and prayed for them to work fast, my head was pounding. Luckily, Lance had the curtains covering the windows so that it was pretty dim in the room. “Thank you.” I croaked, laying down again and closing my eyes. Damn hangovers.
“Sure thing. Ben should be bringing some toast up to you soon.” He told me as he studied me with a weird look on his face.
“Zoey hasn’t woken up yet?” I asked, very confused as to why he was looking at me like that, like he couldn’t quite figure me out.
“Nope, still out like a light.”
I attempted to nod, but grimaced when all it did was bring more pain to my head. “Alright.” I mumbled awkwardly. “Um, Lance?” I asked slowly.
“Yeah?” He asked, continuing to look at me with that weird look on his face.
“Why are you looking at me like I have two heads?” I asked slowly.
He blinked a few times, surprised by my question, and then looked away. “I didn’t know that I was.”
“What’s going on?” I asked quietly. “You’re acting all weird and stuff.”
He closed his eyes, as if he was thinking, and then opened them again and looked at me. “What do you remember?” He asked me.
“From last night?” I asked in confusion. When he nodded, I tried to think of what I remembered from last night- which wasn’t much. “I don’t know. I remember drinking and then dancing, that’s pretty much it. Why? What’d I do?”
“Nothing!” Lance said very quickly and way to loud, causing me to wince at the painful volume. “S-sorry.” He stuttered. “You, uh, you didn’t do anything.”
“Something tells me your lying.” I mumbled, now concerned for my sake. “What happened?”
“Alice, I said nothing, okay?” He said with a forced laugh, but I could tell that he was lying and his eyes were buzzing back and forth and it looked like he was trying to decide what to do. Most of the time, he's a good liar but not when it comes to me. I can tell when he's lying even easier than Zoey most of the time and it absolutely drives her crazy. Anyway, right now, I know for positive that he's lying out of his butt. I will get to the bottom of this.
“I may have half a mind right now, but I think I can still kick your ass.” I told him, only 20% joking.
He laughed again, only this one wasn’t as forced. “You can’t even kick my ass with a full mind.”
I smiled, but didn’t do anything else, knowing it would only make my head hurt more. “Seriously, Lance. Please tell me what happened.”
“Nothing bad.” He croaked, standing to his feet just as Benjamin, the head butler for the Chase household, walked into the room. “I’m going to go check on Zoey.”
“I’ll squeeze it out of you later.” I warned him.
He smirked at me. “We’ll see about that.” And then he was out the door.
Benjamin handed me a small plate that had two pieces of toast that was already buttered with regular butter and apple butter- my favorite.
“Thanks, Ben.” I sighed, taking the plate and sitting up in the bed.
“You’re welcome, Miss. Bowman.” He said with a nod. I used to try to get him to call me Alice, but it never stuck and he refuses to call anybody by their first name- which I don’t understand at all, but being called Miss. Bowman all the time is… annoying and suffocating. And why is there a head butler? I think one butler should be enough for a family of five, but they have a whole team of them. So does the Bowman family and it’s just aggravating.
Just as fast as he came, he was back out the door as I munched on the toast, filling my way-too-empty stomach.
“She’s still asleep.” Lance announced, coming back into the room and sitting down on the edge of the bed, like he was before.
“Figured she would be.” I muttered through my bite of toast.
“Yeah.” He sighed.
“So are you going to tell me what happened or do I have to bite it out of you?” I asked him with the threat glaring in my hungover eyes.
“Ali, I really think you’re better off not knowing what happened.” He admitted sheepishly. “But it really wasn’t a big deal and you’re worrying way to much about it.”
“Good, then tell me if it’s not so bad and I won’t be worrying about it.”
“Is there any possible way that I can get you to just let this go?” He pleaded.
I shook my head, slowly to ensure that I didn’t worsen my headache which wasn’t too bad at the moment considering the aspirin and toast were doing their job. “No.”
He sighed heavily and then ran his fingers through his tousled brown hair. “Don’t freak out, okay? Or jump to conclusions or panic. You have to hear me out first, got it?”
I nodded. “Yeah, okay.” But I was growing nervous because Lance was nervous and I’ve never seen him look so nervous, which is saying something since I’ve known the guy my whole life.
“Last night, we were driving back home…” He trailed off. “And Zoey was passed out in the back…” He trailed off again as if procrastinating the blow. “And you kinda… um, said stuff.”
“Okay, well what did I say?” I asked, growing even more nervous.
“Well, you were talking about the lights and then-“
“LANCE!” A shrill voice rang through the room and we could both hear the footsteps quaking through the house. The voice almost sounded like it belonged to Zoey, but I knew better. It belonged to her older sister, Margaret. She looked a lot like Zoey, but they were complete opposites.
Margaret was obsessed with perfection and fulfilling her parents’ wishes. Which is why she’s returning to Harvard to study law next week because she was home for the summer. Thank god, she’s going to be gone again, the woman’s a nightmare to be around.
“Yeah?” Lance called out into the hallway with an eye roll. He also wasn’t very fond of his outshining sister.
Moments later, her tall, stick thin body appeared in Lance’s doorway with an icy brown glare shot right at him. I didn’t know that brown eyes could be icy until I got to now Margaret Chase.
“What the hell were you thinking?!” She shrieked, furiously waiving her manicured hands around in the air as her high heels clacked obnoxiously into the room.
“Um, well I’m not sure.” Lance mumbled, just as confused as I was about what Margaret was talking about. “What’d I do?”
“You didn’t book my flight, you jerk!” She yelled at her uncaring brother.
“I wasn’t supposed to, I’m not your servant.” He justified. “You have a bazillion people that are paid to be at your beck and call, Margaret, I’m not booking your stupid flight for you, that’s ridiculous.”
“But I asked you to do it!” She wailed.
“No you didn’t.” Lance denied with a small laugh. “And if you did, I would have said no anyway.”
“Well, book it now then.” She ordered, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at Lance as we both sat on the bed. Margaret’s voice was worsening my headache times ten, and that was just not okay with me.
“Get out of my room.” Lance told her, rolling his eyes.
“I’m your sister, why can’t you help me out?” She whined, stomping- yes, she actually stomped- her heel on his floor.
“You know, I think I’ll go check on Zoey again.” I spoke up, not being able to tolerate that stupid, whiney voice any longer as I stood to my feet and mumbled a soft ‘thank you’ to Lance. “We’re so talking later.” I told him with a small glare as I passed the fuming Margaret and headed into the hallway. “Later, Maggie!” I called with a small bubble of laughter, knowing that she absolutely hated it when people called her that.
I hurried down the enormous hallway and into Zoey’s room without as much as a knock, knowing that she was most likely still passed out in her bed, and when I stepped into her huge, extravagant room, I saw that I was right- and she was snoring, which I found to be hilarious.
To pass time, I curled up on her large couch and grabbed the remote off of the coffee table. There was like two halves to Zoey’s room- the bedroom half, and then the living room half. Why there is a living room in her bedroom is beyond me. Why there’s a living room in any bedroom is way beyond me. I have one in mine, but that was only because the interior designer insisted on it, and I didn’t even want an interior designer when I got to redo my room a few years back, I wanted to do it by myself, but my mother insisted that we get the best of the best because they “know what they’re doing”.
I started watching the Disney movie, Up, [IT IS DISNEY. IT IS PIXAR. IT IS A DISNEY PIXAR FILM. PRODUCED BY PIXAR. RELEASED BY DISNEY. DISNEY OWNS PIXAR. UP IS A DISNEY PIXAR FILM STOP YELLING AT ME I KNOW MY DISNEY] On Demand and laid my head on the arm of the couch, feeling my headache fading, thankfully. Margaret sure is a lot to handle, and throwing a hangover in there, it was smart for me to get out before I snapped her chicken-like neck.
Up is such a lovely movie, but the story about the old man and his late wife is probably the saddest thing I’d ever watched. I mean, really- who knew that Disney movies could be so deep? Well, I’m just a sucker for all Disney movies, I suppose. Especially the newer ones, I’m secretly a tech buff and the animation is fascinating, even though I’d never tell anybody that ever. My favorite movie is Brave, mostly because I think their accents are cool. The only Disney movie and I’m against, really, is The Princess And The Frog. I don’t know why, I’ve just never cared for that movie at all.
As the movie ends, I look up to see Zoey’s tangled brown hair still nesting (it was literally a ratted nest) buried in her pillow and she was still snoring away the afternoon since it was now two p.m. and she was still sleeping. I would have gone home, but I assumed that Margaret was probably still yelling at Lance, even though it’s been hours, so I’d have to be the to take care of her when she really does wake up.
Realizing that she wasn’t going to be up for quite a while, I started on my second movie- Tangled. Flynn Rider is probably my favorite Disney male character, to be honest. He’s so adorable. I got to the part where Rapunzel and Flynn were in that bar full of tough guys when I heard groaning from the bed.
I looked over to see Zoey with her eyes scrunched close and her hands on her forehead. She was awake, and writhing in pain. Her dark brown- almost black- hair was a tangled mess on her head, and she looked hilarious. Granted, I probably looked just as crappy as she did. Immediately, I turned off the TV to reduce the sound in the room and then hurried over to the side of the bed.
“Everything’s right here. I’ll make Lance make us some bubbly water.” I said softly, motioning towards the nightstand, where there was a plethora of hangover curers.
She mumbled something incoherent and then I stumbled out the door, my headache was still ringing in my ears, but it was tolerable. When I got into the hallway, I walked down the long hallway and back into Lance’s room after knocking and getting an okay to come in.
“Zoey’s awake and we want bubbly water.” I told Lance, who was sitting at his desk, typing on his laptop.
“Ask Ben.” He called over his shoulder. “I’m not the butler.”
“But-“ I started to protest, but I knew that Lance was almost as stubborn as me, and I was in no mood to fight. “Fine, where is he?”
“Intercom, Ali. Use the intercom.” He laughed.
I would have rolled my eyes, but it would have only worsened my headache. “You sure are bossy today.” I mumbled, moving over to his door where there was a white panel with a speaker and a small red button. I held down the red button and started speaking into the speaker. “Can we get two bubbly waters in Zoey’s room, please?” I asked before turning it off. I knew there’d be no response because they don’t respond, they just do it.
“Alka-Seltzer.” Lance called.
“Alka-Seltzer, sorry.” I said into the intercom, releasing the button once again. “Why don’t they call it bubbly water? It’s water and it bubbles, it’s so much easier to remember.” I muttered, opening his door again to return to Zoey.
“This world isn’t cut out for simple-minded people like yourself.” Lance called to me with a small smirk.
I stuck my tongue out at him before closing the door behind me and returning to my best friend.
“Where’s the bubbly water?” She whined, scarfing down the heaping serving of bacon.
“Ben’s bringing it up.” I told her. “On a scale of one to ten?”
She shrugged. “I’d say a seven.”
“Well, that’s not too bad.” I mumbled, lying beside her on her comfy dark red bed. “You’ve missed most of the day, though.”
“Good. Maybe I’ll miss tomorrow, too.”
I laughed softly and rested my head on her bony shoulder as she ate her bacon. Zoey liked to eat her hangover, but not me- I preferred a light breakfast during this time. “That would be nice, wouldn’t it? But it’s senior year, it’ll be over in the blink of an eye.”
“Your optimism is ridiculous and ill-timed.” Zoey told me. “School is school. And school is shit.”
“Okay, that’s true too. But if you choose today to be so pessimistic, somebody has to use optimism to contradict you.” I defended.
“It’s not pessimism, it’s realism.” She told me matter of factly, finishing her bacon. “For example, I don’t have bubbly water, that’s realism.”
“Ben is only one man.” I defended.
“With a team of butlers.” Zoey snapped. “Surely one of them has two seconds to bring me my bubbly water.” Now, let me stop you before you think of Zoey as some prissy kind of girl, she’s not. She’s as against the butler system as I am, but when she’s crabby (or hungover) she’s one force not to be messed with.
Speaking of butlers, before I could defend poor Ben again, there was a knock on the door.
“Don’t come in!” I yelled quickly, springing out of the bed and towards the door. I swung it open and smiled at Ben, who was standing on the other side with two glasses of water and packets of the bubbly water pills on the side. “You didn’t put the bubbles in yet.” I grinned.
“Well, I know that’s your favorite part.” Ben said warmly.
I chuckled, taking the glasses and cylinders of bubble-inducing pills. “It is, you’re the best. I wouldn’t suggest coming in right now, Zoey’s a little moody this afternoon.”
“I heard that!” She called from inside the room.
“Run now!” I whispered to Ben, hurrying inside of the room, watching Ben give me a small nod and turn, walking back down the hallway.
“He didn’t put the bubbles in yet?” Zoey observed my same observation.
“Nope, he’s letting us do it.” I chirped.
“Sweet” She grinned, tearing open her Alka-Seltzer packet and dumping in the two little pills into their doom of a small clear glass of water. We watched hers for a moment before I took my turn and we watched the process again with much amusement.
“I think I’ll stay here tonight.” I brought up after we’d both sipped on our Alka-Seltzer.
“Duh, you always do for the first day of school. And we are not breaking tradition this year.” Zoey told me, inhaling her last piece of bacon.
“Okay, that’s true.” I chuckled. “Is Lance going to drive us?”
“No.” Zoey scoffed. “Lance is a lazy shit, he won’t get up that early just to take us to school. I know, it might be hard having to go to school without your boyfriend, but you’re going to have to deal.”
I gave her a dead “that’s not funny” look. “You’re such a bitch when you’re hungover.”
“Oh, please,” She laughed. “I’m hilarious when I’m hungover, you just don’t appreciate my humor.”
“It’s bitchy humor.” I mumbled. “But, while we’re on the topic of Lance, I think something happened last night.”
“Happened as in…” She trailed off, waiting for me to continue.
I started twirling a piece of my hair in my fingers and then took a sip of my bubbly water before shrugging. “I don’t know, he won’t tell me.”
“He won’t tell you as in…”
I rolled my eyes, which I regretted a moment afterwards. “On our way home, you passed out in the back, and then we were talking, but that’s all I remember.”
“So why do you think something happened?”
“Well, when I woke up this morning, he was acting all weird and stuff so after a lot of pestering, he told me that I ‘said some stuff’ and I almost got him to tell me what I said, but your devil of a sister interrupted.” I explained.
“He has the hots for you.” Zoey said bluntly, taking a sip of her bubbly water. “It’s so obvious.”
“Will you shut up?” I nudged her playfully. “We can have a duel wedding, me with him and then you with Leonardo DiCaprio because they’re both just as likely.”
“Oh, that was a low blow.” She muttered.
“You’ve been chock full of low blows since you’ve woken up, so I don’t want to hear it.” I mumbled.
This made Zoey giggle. “Yeah, you’re right. But since I’m being a realist right now, I’ll be realistic. We’re both way too fucked up for any guys, let alone the one of our dreams. Even though I still can’t figure out what the hell you see in my brother, even though it’s been what? Six years?”
“Four.” I reminded her meekly.
“Okay, it’s been four years and I still don’t get it. I approve of it, don’t get me wrong, but I just don’t understand it.”
“You think my brother is hot.” I reminded her.
“Yes, your brother is beyond hot. But I don’t have a full blown I-want-to-have-your-babies crush on him.” She countered.
“It’s the same thing.” I defended.
“No, it’s not the same thing.” She laughed. “But the point of this whole speech is that it doesn’t matter. We only have each other whether we like it or not, it’s how our stupid minds work.”
I sighed, knowing that she was right. Growing up in a family of money and fame, everybody wants to be your friend, everybody wants to date you, to hang out with you, to talk to you. And living like that grows on you, it gives you trust issues. Who’s only talking to you for your money? Who only wants a glimpse at the lime light? It’s hard to say, so instead of having to make that decision, we just kind of distance ourselves from everybody outside of our little bubble. It’s lonely, but it protects our fragile mental state “Yeah, I know. We only have each other.”
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To the side is Julianne Hough, who plays Alice.
Thank you for reading, do you like it so far? (: