Seasick

It was a little after ten in the morning when Rosalie Hanes awoke with an odd feeling in her bones. It was not the hangover getting to her, however; it was something more prominent. It was a feeling that something bad was going to happen that day as soon as she woke.

Her cat, Sophia, wandered along her white comforter, finally flipping on her back and looking at Rosalie with her big, green eyes. She let out a little mew, and Rosalie reached to pet her on the head. “Good morning, sweetie,” she cooed, as Sophia shut her eyes and purred against Rose’s hand.

She swung her legs off the side of her bed, stumbling over to her small bathroom in her studio apartment. She flicked on the light switch, blinking as she adjusted to the light. She rubbed her eyes, letting out a exhausted yawn as she stretched her limbs in every direction. The first thing she needed was a shower.

Stripping off the clothes she wore from last night’s party, she threw them in her dirty clothes hamper beside her bed and turned the faucet, letting the water warm up. She stepped in, immediately letting out a deep sigh of relief as the hot water rushed along her skin.

Rose reached for her shampoo, and began to wash away the memories of last night, just as they were beginning to fade. This wasn’t something that happened regularly; Rose liked to stay at home most nights working, writing, or studying her homework as much as she can to prepare for school. Becoming a lawyer was something Rose wanted ever since she was ten, and she wasn’t going to let her dream fall out of her reach. She had to be on top of everything.

Partying was never in Rose’s agenda. She liked small get-togethers with family and friends, a few cocktails and laughs were her favorite memories. The ones she could actually remember. It wasn’t until she met Lillian, and that’s when she was introduced to this partying lifestyle. It was only on rare occasions that Rose would go out with Lillian, and last night was one of those occasions.

Lillian’s twenty first birthday was held at the most prestigious night club that Massachusetts had ever known. All of her one hundred fifty closest friends were invited and packed into the night club, not exactly the small type of party Rose was used to.

It began with rounds and rounds of shots of tequila, but Rose hung back, sitting alone in the back of the booth, sipping on her margarita. She didn’t intend on dancing or getting too drunk, but Lilly had other plans for her.

Rose’s memory after that seemed to get very foggy, only snapshots of bright lights, bottles of vodka, and loud music seemed to be coming back. She shook it off, not worrying about anything. It was unlike her to act out while drinking. She was normally very composed and only a little giggly. But that was normally.

Rose exited the shower, wrapping a lilac towel across her body, and doing the same with her long brown hair. She patted across her floor into her kitchen, where she began to make herself a cup of coffee, and begin her day of studying and lounging around her apartment all day and night.

As the coffee was brewing and her oatmeal cooking in the microwave, she turned on her flat screen in her living room, just as an entertainment report began. Ignoring the chatter between the two hosts bantering about “Who wore it best?” at yet another award show, Rose made her way to her bedroom where she left her cell phone.

She clicked the home button to only see a list of messages from Lilly, who was surprisingly awake and texting her frantically. Rose sighed, entering her passcode and reading through the messages with the numerous amounts of exclamation points.


She rolled her eyes, pressing the green call button to call Lilly. Rose just figured that it was because Lilly couldn’t remember and wanted to know if Rose remembered anything, but sadly she didn’t.

Rose turned her attention to the TV just as Lilly picked up, but Rose wasn’t paying attention to anything Lilly was saying. Instead, Rose’s eyes glanced to snapshot of a famous celebrity and a girl lip locking at a night club, and another one of the girl dancing with him, his hand on her hips.

And then she realized, the male on the screen was Harry Styles.

“Rose are you there? Hello? What’s happening?”

Rose’s eyes widened as the snapshot of Harry zoomed in closer to the girl’s face.

“Lilly, why was I dancing with Harry Styles last night?”

Lilly only chuckled from the other end and then letting out a deep sigh, "I was just about to ask you the same thing."