It took a second for Sienna's brain to catch up to what her body had just instinctually done. Her head began to spin, partially due to the amount of alcohol she had consumed but mostly as her body's response to kissing Paige. Right before Paige released Sienna from their kiss, she sucked on her bottom lip and for a second she felt like she was a piece of steel while Paige was a magnet pulling her in. She had never been kissed that way.
Instant regret came over her and she took a step back. She looked at Paige who looked just as flustered as she was. As confident as Paige appeared, that confidence seemed gone the second Sienna stepped back.
"Shit. I'm sorry, Paige." Sienna said, her cheeks flushed and her voice slurred.
"Come on, Arkansas, what are you apologizing for? It's not college if you don't kiss at least one girl." Paige replied, shrugging and immediately snapping back to her normal self.
Sienna gave Paige a half smile, she could still feel Paige's lips on hers. Sienna concentrated on maintaining her balance but couldn't help but stumble as they walked back in the direction of their dorms.
"I got you," Paige said, grabbing her hand in order to help her keep her balance. The warmth of Paige's hand felt good, and their fingers interlocking felt like a puzzle coming together, like nothing Sienna had ever felt with anyone.
---
The following morning Sienna woke up in her bed. She turned to her side and looked around the room. The curtains were drawn, which made it impossible to know what time it was. She reached for her phone but it wasn't on the nightstand.
"Good Morning Sunshine," She heard a familiar voice say.
Sienna laid in bed with her eyes closed, she heard Paige walking around the room, opening her mini fridge and then the rattle of a pill bottle.
"Here," She heard Paige say, who was holding out a bottle of water and two aspirin in her hand.
Sienna sat up, picked up her auburn hair in a messy bun and took what Paige offered. She laid back down the second the room began to spin but not before she noticed she was in her pajamas.
"I don't remember getting into these" She said, scrunching her face, unable to remember anything from the night before.
"You don't remember? Let me tell you, you're a lot of fun when you're drunk" Paige replied, unable to hide the grin that spread across her face. She took a seat in her bed, as if the conversation about to occur was gossip being shared by two friends at a sleepover.
Sienna looked at Paige, confused. Her blonde hair was up in a pony tail and she looked fresh as a daisy. Tiny flashbacks of the previous night began to come back to Sienna but none answered any of the more pressing questions.
"Ok...what am I not remembering. Did I do anything at the party that will keep me from showing my face on campus again?" Sienna asked, raising an eyebrow and studying Paige's face hoping for an answer by just reading her face.
"Well, when we got to the dorm room you decided to channel your inner gymnast, which is not very smart when you've been drinking all night. After some floor exercises and some cartwheels, your stomach betrayed you." She said, looking at Sienna who looked absolutely mortified.
"I puked?!" Sienna asked, sounding like she wanted the ground to swallow her whole.
"Yeah, but if it's any consolation you did it like a total champ." Paige replied, shrugging and biting her lip. "Like, 10's, 10's, 10's across the board" Paige continued, knowing that Sienna would never get the reference she had just made.
"I just remember getting there, running into you, and playing flip cup. After that, it's all a blur, I can't believe I got drunk so quickly. You must think I'm such a lightweight." Sienna said, looking down on the Trace Atkins t-shirt she had stolen from her dad right before leaving home for college. She tried to look at the bright side, at least she got the shirt on the right way. It was a tiny win but a win nonetheless. "Can I trust that you were a total gentleman and at least looked away while I drunkenly dressed myself?" Sienna asked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Absolutely not! Have you met me?," Paige replied jokingly.
Sienna's eyes widened "You did not!" she asked, holding back a little chuckle. The idea of Paige getting a glimpse of her undressed intrigued her.
"No, I didn't but that doesn't mean you can go around getting drunk all the time. I'm not your babysitter." Paige responded, unable to hold back her sassy remarks for even just a minute.
Even though Sienna felt embarrassed, she was enjoying the moment. Somehow Paige had managed to wiggle her way into friend territory and she was a little glad she had such a good roommate to show her the ropes of college life.
"Fine. No more babysitter duties for you but thank you for making sure I didn't make a fool out of myself last night and for getting me home safe. I really appreciate it and so does my reputation." Sienna said, feeling at ease for the first time since she opened her eyes. The idea of feeling safe was one that wasn't to be taken for granted in a strange new place but something inside her told her she was safe around Paige.
Then, like a ton of bricks, Sienna was hit with the memory of kissing Paige. It was still a little blurry but she remembered it being a good kiss. Sienna's heart began to race and she felt a wave of anxiety hit her.
"So, that was it then? Amateur gymnastics and hopeful flip cup champion? Nothing else happened?" Sienna asked, feeling her palms begin to sweat, praying that Paige had somehow forgotten the kiss.
"Nope. Not that I can recall, at least." Paige replied, putting her feet up on the rolling desk chair and scrolling through her phone.
Sienna made an effort to keep it together. She wasn't sure what to think, she looked over at Paige who sat next to her looking like she didn't have a care in the world.
"Hey, have you seen my phone?" Sienna asked, feeling around the bed for her phone. She hoped that maybe the request had come off more casual, the last thing she needed was her panic showing itself.
"Oh yeah, I had to take it away from you. You were texting a bunch of people, I didn't want you to do something you'd regret. Check it though, there was a moment I left to shower and I had to leave you alone." Paige responded, getting up and walking over to the desk drawer where she had hidden the phone. She tossed it at Sienna who missed it entirely. "Watch out. She has the reflexes of a cat." Paige said, mocking Sienna as she laid back in bed mindlessly playing a game on her phone.
Sienna couldn't help but find Paige's smart mouth incredibly amusing. She rolled her eyes at her playfully and grabbed her phone from the bed. She texted her best friend endlessly, there were drunken selfies of her and a bunch of people she didn't recognize. It was safe to say that she seemed to have a really good time and up until this point had really managed to come out unscathed. She looked through her call log only to notice she had called Andrew. A lot. Hoping she hadn't said anything embarrassing to him, she decided to get the check-in call out of the way.
"Hey!" Sienna said, mustering all the chipper she could muster.
"Hey." Andrew responded. His short response was unlike any of Andrew's responses. Andrew was known to be chatty and by now she would have already been halfway into hearing about his morning
"How are ya?" Sienna asked, trying to get the conversation rolling.
"Are you alone?" Andrew asked, the tone was enough to terrify Sienna. Why did he seem so upset?
"I'm in the dorm with Paige." She said, confused. She knew she should have kept the answer short so that Paige wouldn't feel awkward but she was doing her best to keep it together.
"I'll leave." Paige replied, rolling her eyes. She quickly grabbed a pair of sneakers from her shoe rack, some compression pants and a t-shirt from her drawer. She was clearly going to go work out. Paige wondered for a second how she was able to work out considering she had also spent the night drinking. That dedication was probably why her body looked as good as it did.
Sienna waved at Paige whose face gave away her annoyance. She didn't blame her, it was her space after all and she was being inconvenienced. If it wasn't because she was in a complete panic and unable to think quickly she would have offered to leave the room instead.
"What's up?" Sienna asked, laying back down on the bed but sitting right back up, the anticipation of Andrew's response preventing her from relaxing.
"You don't remember calling me last night?" He asked, he sounded angry which was an emotion Sienna had never really experienced from Andrew.
"No, clearly I do not. What did I say?" Sienna asked, searching her brain for any clue as to what may have happened.
"You broke up with me, Sienna. You called me a fucking golden retriever. Ring any bells?" He asked, his tone went from angry to hurt.
She didn't remember the conversation but could see how the term golden retriever may have stayed in the back of her mind from the conversation with Paige a while back. Why couldn't she remember anything she had said to him? She took a deep breath to see if she could center herself, she was making a huge effort to focus. She had to come up with the right words in order to salvage whatever little relationship she had left with Andrew.
"Andrew, I was drunk and I was probably upset because I missed you. I don't think you're a golden retriever, I think you're sweet and an unbelievably good guy." She said, feeling herself become nauseous. She hated having to placate him but it was all she could do, he didn't deserve to be treated poorly just because she had been drinking.
"Sienna, it sucked, you know? You mentioned a lot of things I didn't even know were an issue between us. It was like you pulled the rug from under me. So, if we're going to move on from this I need to know you're in this for good." He replied, sounding like he had finally grown into his big boy pants.
Sienna had never seen this side of Andrew. It was a side that sprung from being hurt and from trying to protect himself. She felt awful for making him feel the way she did.
Guilt came over Sienna. As if she was hitting every emotion possible in the chart of human emotion. The memory of kissing Paige was even stronger this time. She felt a chill go up her spine as she reached up and ran her fingers across her bottom lip.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you and of course I'm all in. I love you, Andrew" She said, sounding as convincing as possible but not so much to convince Andrew, she knew that as usual she was saying it to convince herself.
After a little back and forth and hearing about the rest of the things she said while drunk, Sienna and Andrew made up. It wasn't like Sienna didn't expect them to have little fights, especially being so far away but what she didn't expect was her drunkenly telling him things she didn't even know she felt. She felt slightly relieved that they could move past last night's events.
Had Paige overheard her conversation with Andrew and just let it happen? Why hadn't she spoken up about them kissing? Maybe she was looking for an excuse to find something wrong with Paige. After all, if she wasn't upset at her she'd be left with the constant reminder of how good that kiss actually was.