Hazy. That's the current state of my mind. Everything was hazy to me. Last night must've been so wild that I don't even recall anything that happened. All I know is that I woke up in my own bed, dressed in one of my oversized shirts. My head was pounding, but then again, everything hurts right now. I dragged my exhausted body out of bed and stumbled over to the bathroom. It was only when I made it inside my bathroom that I saw the state I was in.
My hair was all over the place. I wasn't going to do much but wash up and go back to bed. But as I was staring at my reflection on the mirror that I noticed something on my neck. There was a mark just below my jaw was a purple mark. And then there was another. And another. And another. By now, I was panicking. Hastily stripping out of my shirt, I finally saw how much damage there was! I stared at my state in disbelief. My body was covered in purple and red. There were also bite marks and scratches. My expression shifted from disbelief to pure horror. Something definitely happened last night. But I still can't recall anything!
My legs wobbled until I couldn't support my weight. I felt my body fall and hit the cold bathroom floor. But I didn't care. My mind was still processing what I had just seen on my body. I completely zoned out as I let myself process everything. I was completely inside my head until a knock on my bathroom door brought me back to reality. I froze once more as I thought was completely alone. Instant relief flooded through my system when I heard the familiar voice of my best friend.
"Ami?! Are you in there?!" he sounded worried. Once again there was frantic knocking on my door.
"Y-Yeah! I'll be out in a few!" I called back, immediately pulling myself together so I could wash up.
Warm water covered my body, making me relax instantly. As much as I wanted to stay under the warm shower, I knew I'd face a fuming Noah if I took too long. Not wanting to agitate my friend further, I quickly wash up and get dressed. A smug yet worried looking Noah greeted me as I entered my room. His eyes quickly scan me, widening once he saw the red and purple marks.
"Damn! What happened to you?!" he was now far from being smug.
"I don't remember. Everything's hazy. At least I woke up in my own house." I mumble, carefully pushing past him and flopping back on my bed.
"How bad is the damage, Ami?"
"Umm…" I hesitate, afraid of how he'll react.
"Amileigh Jones! How bad is the damage?" he sounded so stern that I sighed in resignation before finally facing him.
"Aside from how tired and sore I am, I have red and purple marks all over. There are some scratches and bite marks. But all in all, I feel fine. Except that I don't really remember much of last night after getting smashed with the amount of alcohol I had." I tried to be nonchalant. But deep down, I was slightly panicking as everything was unknown to me. And now, I'm afraid of how Noah will react. There was a moment of silence between us. By now, I was bubbling with nervousness as I braced myself for Noah's outburst.
"Fuck! Just how wild could you be my little baby?!" he burst out laughing. His reaction was far from what I was expecting from him. But I'll take his amused outburst any day over his angry outburst.
"Well, once was enough. I will not be going out to clubs and drinking again. One night was enough." I groaned as I tried to bury myself back under my covers.
"Uh-uh. You are not going back to bed, Ami! It's almost dinner time and I came here to take you out to eat." He tutted, pulling the covers away from me.
"You don't need to buy me dinner. Just let me go back to sleep Noah." I whined, thrashing playfully on my bed.
"Nope. You're getting up now and will get dressed so we can go eat dinner. I felt bad for leaving you alone last night. So, I'm going to make up for that now. Everything will be my treat." He then got off my bed, pulling me up with him.
"Fine. But you'll buy me ice cream after." I resigned.
"Deal!" he agreed, successfully getting me out of bed and pulling me to my closet.
I let out a deep sigh before lazily getting dressed. Stripping myself of my loose clothes, I pull out a pair of jeggings and a hoodie from my closet and put them on. I sigh once more as I grab my phone, wallet and keys from my bedside table and slip them into my hoodie's pocket. Dragging my feet, I make my way to the living room. I don't bother tying my hair up since I don't want too many marks showing. I was too lazy at the moment that Noah was practically dragging me with him to a nearby diner. I wasn't whining anymore. But I wasn't cooperating with him at all. He got fed up with my lazy self that he lifted me up and walked the rest of the way with me hanging on his shoulder.
Dinner was pretty uneventful. Until I was made aware that both me and Noah had been so out of it that I didn't notice that I wasn't asleep for a day. I was completely out for almost 48 hours. I was about to panic when he reassured me that everything was fine and that he was in the same state as I was. As promised, we went for ice cream after dinner. Noah spoiled me by buying as much ice cream as I wanted. And to show him my gratitude, I offered to buy him coffee some time.
…
Our time off from school was a blur to me. It was over too soon. But I knew we had to go back to school. We were graduating soon and breaks from school would just add more days to the countdown. Most of the marks that littered my body had already faded. But some were just too dark that it was still slightly visible. After that one night at the club, I refused to go out at night again. Noah didn't push me as he knew that once was enough for me.
Walking through the busy hallway of the school was annoying. People kept bumping into me and it was really unpleasant. Finally managing to reach my locker, I let out a sigh of relief. A little bit of peace came to me once I opened the locker. I grabbed everything I needed for the morning and rushed to my classroom. Whines and complaints reached my ears as soon as I entered the room. I could feel that all of us felt the same way. No one wanted to go back to school. With only two weeks remaining before our graduation, everyone was now lazy.
The day was a blur. I mostly zoned out and observed everyone. Noah skipped today so I was alone all day. I didn't really mind though. As soon as classes ended for the day, I made my way to my locker to leave my books. I didn't really need them now. I could take them all home, but I was too lazy to do it. I've already completed all my projects and exams. I was mostly just waiting for graduation now. My phone buzzed as I was exiting the building. The corners of my lips raised, and my mood improved when I saw the message on the screen.
'Hurry up, loser. I'm taking you out on a date.' That was all the message said. But it was enough to lift my spirits. With that, I take off. Running all the way to the parking lot until I found myself panting beside a red Porsche. I hear the door open but I kept my eyes on the ground as I panted.
"Get in, loser. We're going shopping." The voice of my favorite person said, making my heart leap with joy.
"It's nice to see you too, Amanda." I say, finally lifting my head up and turning to my sister.
"It's nice to see that you're doing well my little Leigh. Now, get in." she returned my smile and then we both settled into the car.
The whole car ride to the mall was filled with chattering and laughter. I was glad that my sister missed me as much as I missed her. We haven't seen each other since she moved out of our apartment and to be honest, it was lonely without her. Just like how it's been with me recently, everything was a blur. It was like time was going too fast. Because I now found myself sitting in front of my sister at a café. Our shopping bags were in the car and dinner was over.
"So, I heard from Noah that you had a wild night a couple of nights ago." I froze at her words. I was hoping that we wouldn't talk about it. But I guess I was going to choke Noah when I see him.
"He can't keep his mouth shut. I was hoping that we won't talk about it. But here we are. So, what do you want to know, sis?" I sighed, making eye contact with my sister.
"Well, tell me everything! You can't believe how shocked I was that you even agreed to go to a club with Noah! The icing on the cake was when he told me the state you were in when he came looking for you! I didn't know that you were capable of being wild Leigh!" she seemed excited. I paused my mental planning of Noah's murder and decided to tell my sister the truth.
"Well, I can't tell you much. I drank so much and then I don't remember what happened after that. And then everything was just hazy and a blur to me. But one thing's for sure. I am never going to drink again."
"Okay, sis. Geez, you just went all out for one night and then that's it. By the way, mom wants us to visit them soon."
"Why so suddenly? I'd understand if they wanted to see you. But they rarely want to see me. Is there something going on?" I was having a hard time believing that our parents would want to see me.
"Well, they said that we should go and visit them soon. When will you be free to go and see them?"
"I think we can go after my graduation. It'll be easier to travel then." And that's when I zoned out.
The rest of the evening was a blur. After coffee, my sister dropped me off at home and I was left alone with my thoughts. I felt uneasy. My relationship with my parents weren't the best as they were expecting me to be a perfect daughter like my sister. So, when they realized that I was different from her, our relationship soured. That's why their invitation bothered me. There was definitely something going on. And it's making me uneasy.