Emotionless

“Ugh,” Pippa moaned into the pillow, clutching the squishiness to her ears as if to block out mine and Molly’s conversation on my bed. I giggled, throwing a pillow at her as she held her middle finger at me. “How the hell did I get back here last night?” Pippa reluctantly raised her head from the pillows, her hazel eyes cloudy with tiredness and a hangover that must have been murdering her head. Molly and I rolled our eyes at her, Molly rolling off the bed to go make some coffee for her.

“Johnny was kind enough to phone me at two in the frickin’ morning for you, seeing as you were pretty much plastered with this Brian guy and the two of you were attempting to play strip poker,” I explained with a straight face. Pippa’s features lit up with remembrance, a smirk pulling at the edges of her lips as she giggled and laid her head sideways on the pillow.

I just rolled my eyes again. Molly reappeared with two mugs of coffee, placing one down next to Pippa with a couple of tablets and passing me one before going on to get her own. I sat cross legged on the bed, staring down at the milky coffee in my hands as I traced the rim with one of my fingers. Coffee grains had risen to the top, swirling around like a whirlwind in the centre of the mug where Molly had been stirring sugar into it.

“What’re you thinking?” Pippa asked quietly. I could hear Molly on the phone to someone in the kitchen, a bashful giggle that I’d never heard before penetrating my ears. Pippa sat up in bed, holding her temples for a moment before dry swallowing the two white tablets that had been set on the bedside table. The words she’d spoken only just sunk in, causing my eyes to dart towards her hazel –almost golden- eyes and try to force a smile.

“Nothing, just tired,” I mumbled, taking a sip of coffee. I hadn’t been hyper since last night. I was just too numb from hitting Shadows, or Matt as Molly insists I call him rather than a sexist pig. Pippa raised her eyebrow at me, obviously seeing through my facade. I sighed, taking another sip of my coffee before running a hand up my hair to tease it out a little more and standing my mug on the bedside table. I didn’t want to explain to Pippa what happened last night when I got thinking, I wasn’t ready to admit a thing.

Molly bounded through from the kitchen, forgetting completely about her coffee as she bounced up and down with her phone cupped in her hands. Pippa and I looked at her weirdly, raising our eyebrows at the youngest member of our group as she grinned. “Matt and the guys want to meet up later!” she shrieked, bouncing and jumping and laughing and squealing. Pippa groaned, clutching her head against a moaned and fell back onto the pillows.

“I’m working tonight,” I lied, covering my hands with my eyes. Well, it was half a lie. The truth was I couldn’t remember whether or not I was working a shift at the bar tonight or not. I never wanted to work in a bar; I always wanted to be a photographer. But, my father leaving smacked reality into my face and also made my family broke. So, I couldn’t have been a photographer anyway because I wouldn’t have had the money to go to university.

Molly whined, sitting next to me on the bed with a puppy pout that could rival even mine. I taught her well. Taking a hand away from my eyes, I shot an evil glare before sticking up to fingers and letting my hand flop down on my face again. Molly giggled a musical laugh, poking my stomach as I squirmed. She poked it again, and again, and again until I was in fits of laughter. Clutching my sides, I fell off the bed and glared with teary eyes at Molly.

“Please come out. It’ll only be a couple of hours this afternoon playing pool in Johnny’s.” Pippa and I looked at each other, wondering what the hell got into our little friend. Molly never goes to bars. She finds them sinful because it involves alcohol and alcohol is bad. She learnt that the hard way. Her mother was a raging alcoholic who died of lung cancer. Ironic, huh? An alcoholic dying because of her fags! I personally find it quite funny in a savage, bitter way. But that’s just me.

Pippa and I nodded, finally caving and deciding maybe this would be a good idea. But Molly… begging us to go to a bar… where there’s alcohol? She’s up to something.