A Twist in My Story

The grass moved like waves under his feet. He’d dropped Serena off at her dorm, peeling her off him long enough to get her through the door. All the alcohol they’d both consumed clouded his judgment and they’d been making out in every corner they could find. It felt good to breathe in some clean oxygen.

Nick felt like death as he stumbled up to his dorm. He was soo tired. It took him twice as long to master the stairs with them continually tilting under his feet. Waves of nausea kept rolling through him. Being drunk, aka feeling a buzz as Serena put it, definitely made him feel crappy, but he took pride in his first decision without any family influence.

Blinking his eyes rapidly to keep them open, he managed to unlock his door after the fourth attempt to get the key in. The room was pitch black which was typical for 3am but his roommate wasn’t there. It was then that Nick remembered Tim went to visit his cousin this weekend and wouldn’t be back until Sunday evening. Groaning, Nick shut the door as quietly as he could so not to alert his RA. He pulled out his phone to call a lifeline but as he relaxed in the covers of his bed to stop the floor from moving, sleep claimed him before he could push a single button.

He awoke back to the conscious world when sunlight hit his face a few hours later. Moaning in agony, he shoved his face into his pillow as he heard the blood pounding in his throbbing head. Promptly he pulled back and leaned over the edge of his bed, puking up his guts. Realizing he still had his phone in his pocket he silently thanked his mom for programming numbers in for him. There was no way he could concentrate on the tiny numbers and the one person close enough to him that would never tell a soul about this, he called. He listened to the rings as he was dumped to voicemail.

“Hey Liv…” he croaked and left a broken message before ending the call and falling back into a drunken slumber.

Olivia sat across from Carter in the campus dining hall with a smile on her face. When he’d called this morning as he said he would, she’d gotten a little flutter of excitement in her stomach. Even after hashing out the date with Carrie and the girls she was still dubious about why Carter would be interested in her. Carrie gave her best defense to all Olivia’s assets until Olivia admitted their plausibility so she could get some sleep.

Now she was glad she’d listened and taken Carter up on this brunch date. He had her alternating between blushing and laughing at his outrageous stories that she forgot to even think about Nick.

“…so when my mom walked into the bathroom, she flipped out. I mean, if she was animated fireworks would’ve been shooting out of her head for how mad she was. It was great,” Carter concluded his story laughing.

Olivia laughed right along with him. “Oh my gosh. So what happened to your brothers and you?” she asked curiously.

“I blamed it on them and then watched my parents dig into them. They were pissed at me for like a whole week while they did non-stop chores and yard work. I just played G.I. Joe with my sister that week,” he shrugged it off with an impish grin that was slowly winning Olivia over. “What about you? Tell me a really juicy story from when you were a kid.”

Olivia’s smile faded. She had no stories like his. She’d grown up the preacher’s daughter who always did everything right. She was no daredevil and never got in trouble for anything. But she couldn’t tell him that. He’d drop her in an instant for a really attractive and interesting girl if he knew how truly boring and nerdy she really was. “Oh you don’t want to hear those boring stories,” she waved him off; turning her attention to the food which she’d given up on eating.

“Hey, sure I do,” he said softly as he laid his hand over hers. “I want to get to know you, Olivia, no matter what your stories are. I don’t care if you dated every guy in high school or robbed a bank and now are on the most wanted list. I want to know you.”

She was silent at his words. Her gaze concentrated on their hands. His fingers felt strong as they gripped her petite ones, soft as they rubbed the underside of her thumb. Glancing up she met his eyes, unsure whether to trust her head or her heart. “You do?” she asked quietly.

“Yes, I do. Why wouldn’t I?”

Olivia shook her head with a rueful smile thinking ‘If he only knew the truth…’ shifting her eyes off him again. “Don’t worry about it. I know you’re just trying to cheer me up or something since you saw my whole glaring at Nick incident. I get it. Really, Carter. You’re a nice guy who took pity on a pathetic girl. It’s okay,” she pulled her hand back and grabbed her wristlet. She knew she was pushing him away, but that was better than being hurt in the worse way possible. No guy could ever look at her with sincere longing like they did with the popular, pretty girls.

“What? No, Olivia, you’ve got it all wrong. Wait,” he grabbed her wrist as she walked away. He saw the tears in her eyes that she refused to shed in front of him. “Whoever led you to believe that you aren’t worthy of a guy’s attention was seriously mistaken. These dates with you aren’t pity dates. I honestly want to be with you. You’re smart, funny, you have the world’s best laugh, and you’re beautiful. How could you not see that?” he brushed her hair back, rubbing his knuckles over her cheek. She leaned into his touch subconsciously. “Please give this a chance.”

She looked into his pleading face and saw he truly wanted this and her. Her heart did a little somersault in her chest before she nodded. “Okay, yes, I’ll give this a chance,” she smiled shyly.

“Excellent. Thank you,” he impulsively pulled her into his chest for a hug. Olivia was stunned momentarily then wrapped her arms around him in return. His cologne filled her nostrils with a pleasing scent and she committed it to memory. “Don’t tell my brothers I groveled for your attention. They’ll never let me live it down,” he joked as he released her.

She chuckled at his goofiness. “Secret’s safe with me,” she zipped her lips with her fingers, making him laugh. “Well thanks for brunch, Carter, but I need to do some work. Can we do this again sometime?”

“I plan on it, Liv. Maybe we can proofread each other’s compositions for class?”

“I’d like that. See ya later,” she squeezed his hand then trailed their fingers apart.

He pulled her back and kissed her cheek before letting her go. “I’ll call you later. Bye.” He smiled as he watched her leave the dining hall with a spring in her step.

Olivia walked across campus back to her dorm with a smile etched on her face. She couldn’t help but feel happy about recent events involving Carter. Maybe college was changing her life. The smile was still on her face when she entered her room.

“Looks like things went well with Carter this morning,” Carrie commented with a smirk from her desk chair where she was working.

“He’s really interested in me, Carrie,” she said in awe.

“Well duh, the boy does have a brain to go with those stunning looks,” Carrie chuckled.

“Yeah…he is good-looking, huh?” Olivia asked rhetorically sitting on her bed sharing giggles with her roommate. She had never felt as happy as she did right now. She was close to bursting with happiness. “He said he’d call me to get together again.”

“That’s good. He seems like a great guy from what you’ve told me. Plus he’s very considerate about your feelings so major points there,” Carrie added.

“He’s told me about his family and they seem really great. Like this one time he – oh. I’ve got a voicemail. Did you call me?” Olivia asked, hearing her phone beeping from her wristlet for the first time all morning.

“No. Parents checking in on your first week?”

Olivia opened her phone and saw who her missed called was from. “It’s from Nick,” she said flatly, staring at his name. “Should I listen or just delete?”

Carrie shrugged. “Let’s see how much more of a jerk he can be. Listen for kicks and giggles,” she suggested, tucking her legs under herself Indian-style.

Olivia entered her password and listened to the hoarse, slightly slurred voice that filtered through her phone.

“Hey Livv…I’m in my dorm now. My head hurtss…poundin’ and poundin’…and my stomach…flippin’ and flippin’…feels like roll’coaster. Can you come…come over – oh crap, not ‘gain…”

She heard him retch and winced. Then the line went dead as he groaned. He sounded absolutely awful and totally not Nick. For one, he never slurred. Anger for what Serena talked him into bubbled in her gut. He was clearly pleading for her help but he hurt her badly with his last words to her. She tried to warn him and look what happened. Why should she go help him now? He got himself into this mess so he should get himself out too. Right?

“What’d he want?” Carrie asked interrupting her thoughts.

“He got drunk with Serena it sounds like and now has a hangover. I think he wants me to play nursemaid.”

“And are you going to?” Carrie asked the million-dollar question.

Olivia bit her lower lip in contemplation. She knew she really shouldn’t but… “He is a friend and I help my friends, Carrie. Would it really hurt anything to just go check on him?”

Carrie sighed. “You’re way too nice to him. He was an absolute jerk to you and you still are willing to help him out,” she shook her head. “It’s your life. You decide.”

Olivia thought for a moment then jumped off her bed and went to the door. “I’m just checking on him then I’ll be back,” she said hoping to sound convincing. Carrie just nodded and turned back to her desk as Olivia dashed out to check on her inebriated ex-crush.

Her heart was pounding hard in her chest by the time she knocked on Nick’s door. It was a mixture of fear of his reaction – she couldn’t take his harsh words again – and the usual reaction she got when she was around him. She’d called him on her way over but he didn’t answer. That only slightly worried her. He could’ve been in the bathroom or have his phone on silent. What really worried her was that he didn’t answer her knocks. She knocked harder on the door, calling out his name. Still no answer. The video they were forced to watch in health class about binge drinking and parties played in her mind. People could get alcohol poisoning from drinking too much which could shut down their liver and be really serious. Or they could be slipped something in their drinks even if they were guys and she wouldn’t put it past Serena to be that sneaky.

Fighting back her panic she pounded on his door to no avail. Frantic for his safety and her peace of mind, she ran down the hall to his RA’s room.

“Hi. Could you let me into Nick Jonas’ room, please?” she asked as calmly and politely as possible.

“I’m not allowed to do that. Only if there is an emergency,” his RA said.

“Oh but this is an emergency. See uh we are doing a project together for our composition class and well silly Nick left all his notes and my notes in his room and he uh went out of town to visit some friends for the weekend and I’m supposed to compile our stuff before he gets back. So you see, I really need to get in there,” she hastily fibbed something that sounded somewhat plausible, promising to atone for her lies later. “Nick was going to give me his key but forgot in all his excitement and packing. Please?”

The RA considered her story for a moment then nodded and grabbed his key ring. “In and out, right?” he asked as they walked down the hallways. He thumbed through the keys.

“Definitely. Once I find where he put our notes,” Olivia nodded.

“Okay. I usually don’t do this… but you seem really desperate,” he inserted the key, unlocking Nick’s door.

“Oh I am. Thank you,” she smiled and skirted inside the dark room before the RA could see anything suspicious.

She let her eyes adjust to the dimmed room before stepping further. What she saw and smelled made her hurt. Why would he do this? Nick was passed out on his bed, spread eagle on his back, mouth open. He was still in his clothes from yesterday it looked since they were wrinkled. A trashcan sat beside his bed, filled with whatever he’d puked up in the past few hours. She experienced a spike in her panic level remembering that in his position he could suffocate on his own vomit. Immediately she rushed to him and felt for a pulse. She sighed in relief when she felt it, strong and steady under her fingers. Easing her worries she rolled him to his side so he wouldn’t choke himself if he happened to puke again.

She then turned her attention to the rest of the room picking up the filled trashcan filled with bile. She breathed through her teeth so she wouldn’t succumb to the smell and toss her brunch. The thought of spraying air freshener or lighting candles crossed her mind, but then she remembered this was a boys’ dorm and it wouldn’t have those so she settled for opening a window. Unfortunately the dorm had community bathrooms, Nick’s was located halfway down the hallway towards his RA’s room. She grabbed the stinking can and tiptoed down the hallway after propping his door open. Holding her breath and praying that there were not any guys using the facilities, she ducked in the bathroom and dumped the trashcan contents in the toilet. Then she dampened a cloth she’d found in Nick’s room and quickly went back to Nick. Sitting beside him she saw how clammy he looked and her heart went out to him. Laying the damp cloth on his forehead she tried to rouse him.

“Nick? Can you hear me? Nick?” she whispered softly brushing curls off his forehead.

He stirred, blinking against the light coming in the window. “Olivia? What’re you – God, my head hurts,” he groaned, gripping the sides of it.

“I imagine you are experiencing a hangover, Nick. Not too fun, huh?” she said tartly then felt bad for being cross with him when he was at a disadvantage. “Come on. A shower will help you tremendously…or so I’ve read.”

She helped him into a sitting then standing position and looped her arm around his waist. “Lean on me, Nick,” she said guiding him to the door. “You’ll have to be as quiet as possible so your RA doesn’t hear us. He’s in his room right now.”

“Yeah, okay,” he nodded, grimacing against the pain in his head. He held onto her shoulders as she navigated them to the hall bathroom trying not to stumble under his weight. “I-I’ll get you in the stall but then you’re on your own. Can you handle that?” she asked, as they entered the bathroom and headed for the showers. Thankfully no one was in there at the moment.

“I’ll manage,” he mumbled, balancing himself against the tiled wall. She backed out and left him on his own to wash up.

For the half hour he was reviving himself in the shower, she tidied up his room a little. She found the spare set of sheets his mother left and stripped his sweat-soaked sheets, giving him fresh ones to sleep on. She piled the dirty ones by his hamper and made a note to remember to tell him how to wash them. No doubt he would think everything could go in one load regardless of color and fabric. Denise had probably done all his wash at home for him. A friendly hint wouldn’t hurt anything. She was just rolling down his fresh sheets when Nick groped his way into the room. From the looks of it the shower didn’t do much to clear his head.

“Geez, Nick, how much did you drink?” she asked rhetorically as she helped him back into bed. She held her tongue about her thoughts of Serena’s judgment.

“Too much,” his slur was less pronounced, but she could tell he had a pounding headache. “Tyl’nol?”

She got up and returned with two pills and a glass of water. He dutifully and gratefully took them in one gulp before settling back against the cool sheets. “If you need to throw up again the trash can is beside you.”

“’Kay. Liv? Stay?” he held her wrist as she stood to leave.

Knowing she shouldn’t, but feeling herself cave, she nodded and sat back down beside him. Almost instantly he was asleep which meant she could’ve snuck out then, but she didn’t. Instead she found herself running her fingers through his damp curls as his head rested by her leg, thinking about how they used to be such good friends. It was always the two of them against Kevin and Joe. She didn’t remember much since they were so young but the pictures of them and her parents’ stories said enough. She wished they could get back to how they were before everything got so complicated with school and friends and expectations. Maybe this was the turning point. He obviously still liked her and needed her if she was the one he called. Hope unfurled in her at this thought.

Catching herself in danger of letting her heart get away with her, she pushed herself off his bed gently, not disturbing him, and resettled in his desk chair with a pad of paper; she’d work on her composition to pass time. With her thoughts realigned she worked silently while waiting for him to sleep off his hangover.