Stay Awake

I woke up the morning with a nasty taste in my mouth. I groaned as I rolled over to see that the alarm clock was blink 12:00pm. I sighed and rolled onto my opposite side, burrying my head under my pillows, hoping that it would help my raging headache go away. I couldn’t bare the pounding, and the knocking on the door sounded like someone tapping a on microphone through a loud speaker. I huffed and rolled onto my back, keeping the pillow over my head.

“Yeah?” I called, annoyed. I heard the door open and a small chuckle emitted from someone’s mouth.

“Look at you, your first hangover!” Alex laughed, and I heard him walk over to the bed. “How’s it goin’, scout?” he asked. Annoyed, I threw the pillow down and glared at him.

“Scout? Where the hell did that name come from?”

Alex just chuckled and shook his head. “I don’t know, I just sort of came up with it. It fits you. You’re tough, with all the shit you’ve been through.” he shrugged. I looked down, softening up and thought about the comparison between the new name and my life.

“Yeah, I guess it works,” I nodded lightly. “Got anything to get rid of this damn headache?” I asked as I squinted my eyes shut and pinched my forehead. I let out a slow deep breath, wishing that I was still asleep.

“Yeah, there’s coffee. And we have some painkillers, too. And food, that might help,” Alex said and sat down on the edge of my bed. “We’re like the hangover heroes in this household.” he said as I pushed the covers off of me. I slowly sat up, crawling out of bed and walking with Alex out to the kitchen. “Hey, nice shirt.” he grinned, and I looked down, remembering the shirt that Lisa had lent me. I just smiled and sat down at the island as Lisa set down a big, steaming cup of coffee in front of me.

“Hey, there’s the drunk girl!” Jack said a little too loud. I just waved and grabbed myself a muffin.

“Thank you so much,” I said as I took a big sip, letting the caffeine get the best of me. “Sorry for puking all over your white couch, I feel really bad.” I frowned a bit, taking a bite of my muffin.

“Don’t worry about it,” Lisa chuckled, waving her hand at me. “Worse shit has gone down here, trust me.” she said with a small laugh. “So how’d you sleep?”

“Good, I guess,” I shrugged. “I mean, it’s like noon time, so I’m assuming I slept really well.” I chuckled, sitting back in my chair.

“Yeah, we all went to bed shortly after we cleaned up. Except for Jack, who was playing video games all night.” Cassadee said. I looked over at Jack, who had a grin on his face.

“How are you even awake right now? You’re not even in zombie mode!” I said. Jack just shrugged, the grin still playing on his face.

“Better question is, how the hell does he play video games when he’s drunk?” Zack asked, and we all laughed.

”Many years of practice, baby!” Jack said as he struck a strange pose. I rolled my eyes and sipped my coffee.

“So what’s going on today? It’s black Friday!” I asked, wanting to go shopping.

“We’re going Christmas shopping, of course! We’re going to the mall, Best Buy, and maybe some other places!” Lisa said happily. I smiled, excited to see more of this new city that I called my home.

We all finished up in the kitchen, taking final sips of coffee and last bites of food before going our separate ways, to shower and get dressed and whatnot. I quickly showered, dried my hair and did my makeup, before changing into some clothes that finally made me feel human after like a night like last night. I grabbed my bag and waited by the door with Cass and Lisa, deciding that we would take Lisa’s car so we could shop together, and the guys could all shop together. I liked this idea, since I would have some girl time with my new best friends. I was eager to see the city of Baltimore, to see what it had to offer besides a Ravens football game and an amazing restaurant.

We climbed into Lisa’s car, Cassadee having shotgun. I looked out the window at all the buildings as we entered the city, and soon we pulled into a parking lot. Lisa parked the car, and we got out, heading into Macy’s.

“So what are you getting Rian?” Lisa asked as Cass we made our way through the store, pushing through the crazy madness that was going on. I had never experienced black Friday, and I never knew that a mall could hold this many people at once. People were rushing around, arms full with clothes and whatnot. People got mad at us as we pushed through, and we all linked arms so we wouldn’t get separated. This was all new to me, a big rush of excitement, and I was enjoying every minute of it.

“I don’t know, maybe a new watch or something.” Cass shrugged as we finally made it out of the store. There were so many stores here, like Pac Sun, Hot Topic, Coach, Deb, Zumiez, Prada, and high end retail stores. The last time I was in a mall, it was before my parents left for their trip. I had almost forgotten what a mall looks like, and I was happy to finally be in one again, to get back into my habit of spending money.