11. Emma
11
EMMA
“ Y ou aren’t serious.” Meghan stares at me with wide eyes. “Are you serious?”
“Oh my God!” Ana throws both her arms around my shoulders and pulls me close into a tight hug, then thrusts her half-drunk vodka into my hands as she laughs. “I knew it. Did you change your perfume or something? Or maybe he heard about just how delectable you are from Caspian!”
“Caspian?” Meghan slides to the edge of the couch. “Him too?”
“Whatever.” Ana dances away, waving her hands to the music pumping from her phone and she quickly pours herself another glass. “You’re doing something right. I wish I had this much luck with men.”
“You would if you tried to get men,” I point out with a laugh. “Instead, you focus on boys.”
“Ah, my downfall,” Ana groans, pressing the back of her hand to her forehead in faux dramatics. “I need a man.”
“You slept with my teacher? How am I going to face him again?” Meghan snaps and her cheeks turn pink.
“Just try not to think of him naked,” Ana snorts.
Pre-drinks are going swimmingly, as always, although my best friends had very different reactions to my confession of getting fingered against Finn’s desk. My body still tingles and if I clench my abdomen, I can still feel how deeply his fingers reached inside me.
“I can’t face him, not after this!” Meghan seems genuinely distressed until Ana drops onto the couch beside her and slaps her bare thigh.
“It’s not about you, Meghan. Geez, loosen up a little will you? Emma is in her young, sexy and fuckable era!”
My cheeks warm at the thought and I quickly drain the glass in my hand. The alcohol burns down my throat, forcing a shiver out of me.
“You’re being a cheater, you know?” Meghan says, bringing my bubble of excitement to a swift end.
I meet her gaze. “Excuse me?”
“You’re being a cheater, flouncing around with all those men.”
“Oh, Meghan,” Ana sighs sharply.
“One, it’s not cheating because in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not in any kind of relationship so I am free to sleep with whoever I want to.” I set the empty glass down and Ana moves to refill it. “Second, it’s not that deep. Really, I’m just having some fun and no one is getting hurt.”
“Exactly.” Ana backs me up. “There’s no rules like that with a one-night stand and you would know that if you unbunched your panties and let someone in to clear out the mothballs.”
“Ana!” Meghan snaps. “I just think it’s not nice, that’s all.”
“For who?” I ask, genuinely curious who she thinks is getting hurt here. “I’ve been having the time of my life and frankly, I think I deserve it after what happened to my car.”
“But they’re teachers!”
“No one will find out.” Ana hands me my topped-up glass, then drapes back over to Meghan. “Besides, haven’t you ever fantasized about a teacher?” Ana wiggles her brows and Meghan blushes deeply.
“That’s not the point?—”
“You have!” Ana screeches with laughter. “Okay, tell me who.”
I leave them to work out the details of Meghan’s fantasy and head for the bedroom. Forgoing a shower since we’re already running late, I decide to change into a silver halter top and black leggings but just as I finish dressing at top speed, a light behind me catches my eye in the mirror’s reflection.
My phone sits neatly on top of my pillow.
“Oh my God!” Flying toward it, I scoop it up and then pause. Thinking back to earlier, I didn’t remember leaving my phone there but given how tired I was, it’s not unusual.
“Everything okay?” Ana comes flying into the room with Meghan close behind her, so I hold my phone up with a big smile.
“Found my phone!”
“Yay!” they cheer in unison, then Ana reaches out for me. “Come on, let’s go get drunk.”
The club is heaving with people and if it wasn’t for the fact that we refused to let go of each other's hands, there’s a chance we all would have gotten separated pretty early in the night. Drinks flow, music thrums, and we dance like there’s nothing left in the world to care about. I’m walking on air, completely wrapped in a cloud of satisfaction. Asher, Caspian, and now Finn. Men really knew how to take care of a woman, and I knew right then that no one else would ever compare to how they made me feel. If I was lucky, really lucky, maybe I would get a round two with each of them. Or any of them. One thing was clear though; my desire for Finn and my growing infatuation for the other two were not going anywhere. I wanted them as desperately as I wanted air.
The night passed by quickly, but just as Ana suggested shots, something cold curled in my gut. A strange foggy sensation began to fill my head and my throat grew terribly dry.
“Can you order me a water?” I call over the sound of the music.
“Boring!” Ana yells.
“Please! I think I’m dehydrated.” With a chuckle, Ana rolls her eyes then nods.
“Thanks, I’m just gonna use the bathroom, be right back.”
“You want me to come with you?” Meghan asks, clutching at my hand.
“No, it’s okay. Help Ana with the drinks.”
Meghan turns back to the bar and I step away, only to lose my balance on my heel and stumble into a stranger. She catches me with a laugh though, and after asking if I’m okay, sends me on my way through the crowd toward the bathroom.
I need to pee, splash some water on my face, and then drink something without alcohol content. I stumble with each step as if my heels have suddenly softened in the heat of the club, and the dryness in my throat becomes so scratchy that I need to cough after every couple of breaths.
What the hell is happening?
The strange foggy sensation in my head grows, muffling the world behind me. As I walk, keeping one eye on the glowing bathroom symbol, it begins to blur and glare which forces me to look away with a wince.
When did the lights get so bright?
When did it get so hot? Suddenly, each breath highlights just how tightly my clothes are clinging to me. I need to take them off, just for a moment, just so I can cool down. The path to the bathroom stretches out before me, somehow getting further and further away, then suddenly it clicks in my dull mind.
Something is wrong. This isn’t dehydration.
I reach out to the person closest, struggling to get my tongue to work so that I can ask for help. A sea of drunken faces swims before me, each seemingly uncaring and annoyed at my presence. Since the bathroom seems impossible, I turn back to find my friends, but the moment I do, my world tips. My stomach lurches, and the floor rises to meet me, but as I place my jelly arms out to catch myself, something stops me.
A strong grip winds around my waist, hauling me upward and against a strong torso that smells like grease and something sharp like mint. I turn my gaze upward and the faceless figure melts into darkness.
Need to pee. Need to get up and pee. Just wake up and ? —
Waking with a jolt, my eyes snap open and then immediately close as a throb at the base of my skull makes itself known. I screw my eyes closed and shove my face back into a pillow with a long, low groan that scratches at my dry throat. My entire body aches, my head throbs, and my bladder screams so loud that I’m a little scared I’ll piss myself the second I try to move.
Where … am I?
Breathing in, the familiar, cozy scent of cotton and vanilla fills my nose. I’m home.
I’m home?
How did I get home? Cracking open one eye, I peer past the fuzz of my pillow and sure enough, my room blearily comes into view. Pink wallpaper with gold swirls stretching from the floor to the ceiling, my wooden dressing table with three mirrors—one cracked from a rambunctious karaoke session years ago—and my closet, closed with my denim jacket hanging from the handle. The window is open with my curtains drifting listlessly in a soft breeze so warm that I can’t even feel it.
Definitely home.
But … how?
Thinking back, last night was just a dull blur. I remember leaving here, dancing and drinking, but then it gets foggy, and everything else is just dark and empty. Releasing a groan, I push up onto one elbow and yawn. I simultaneously feel like I’ve slept for a week and yet not a wink. My phone sits neatly on my bedside table so I reach for it, surprised to see that it’s turned off. Sluggishly, I press the buttons, and it flares into life, burning my eyes, and I close them with a whimper.
“Ow.”
Moving to sit up, my bare legs slide against the sheets, and it’s then I realize I’m in my underwear. My clothes from last night are folded neatly at the end of the bed.
What the hell?
The moment my phone turns on, it floods with missed calls and text messages from Meghan and Ana all demanding to know where I am, what happened to me, why am I not answering the door, and if I went home with one of the sexy teachers.
Did I go home with one? No, no I…I can’t remember.
The date flashes up, followed by the time and my stomach sinks.
Wait a second—I was asleep for a whole day?!
It’s 7:00 p.m. the day after, which means I slept the entire day and missed class and God knows what else.
What the fuck?
The ache in my head grows, developing into a thump that matches my heartbeat. My bladder complains louder so I throw back the duvet and slide from bed.
Suddenly, something flashes in my mind. Someone pressing against me, hands on my skin as they tuck me into bed, a press of something on my lips—any thought I have at that moment that I try to grasp just slips away instantly, and I’m left with nothing.
Remnants of a dream, maybe?
My thoughts continue to jumble as I stumble to the bathroom, and as I’m relieving myself, I suddenly notice that the thumping is not from inside my own head. Someone is at the door, knocking furiously.
Cleaning myself up, I splash water on my face then slip into a fluffy robe. The thumping makes my heart skitter in my chest, so I pull the robe tight around my body. At the door, I unlock it and pull it open.
Finn stands on the doorstep with his face pinched with worry, and his brow furrows the moment we make eye contact.
“Finn? What—what are you doing here? How do you even know where I live?”