In This Wondrous Place

My memory of last night was a bit hazy. I ended up drinking several Long Island teas, which was probably not the best idea, but it certainly eased my mind.

I rolled over lazily in my bed, grasping at the covers and pulling them around me. As I turned, a face full of blonde hair greeted me on the other side.

“Morning, Grace” I chuckled, blowing her hair out of my mouth and nose. A raspy groan in reply could be heard from beneath a pillow.

Curling my knees upward, I began to recount the previous night’s events.

”Emmmmery,” Mason threw his arm around my shoulders and took another swig of his drink, “I wan…want anoder.”

“No, Mason, I think you’ve had enough.” I laughed at his lack of coordination and wrapped an arm around his waist to steady him. He was almost too heavy for me to pull him towards the car.

My mother and stepdad had decided to walk back early in the evening, not wanting to drink too much with us. I don’t blame them, Grace and Mason hit the drinks pretty hard, although I wasn’t too far behind them.

Lucas ended up needing to piggy back Grace, who was too tired to walk on her own. I slung her purse onto my shoulder and motioned for Lucas to walk ahead of me out of the bar.

“Come on, Mase.” I readjusted his arm on my shoulders and slowly attempted to walk him out, but to no avail. We stumbled into a few annoyed customers and unfortunately placed chairs and tables.

“Do you want some help?” The familiar Australian accent cut through the air. I twisted slightly to make eye contact with Chris and nodded.

“That would be wonderful, actually.” I shrugged my brother’s arm off of me and replaced it with Chris’ notably stronger shoulders.

I led the way out to the car and brandished the keys from my shorts’ pocket. As the SUV beeped, Lucas popped open the back door and laid Grace horizontally on the middle row of seating. I then tossed him the keys, since he was the only one who was sober enough to drive, and shifted my stance to look at the sight of Chris carefully placing my brother in the back seat and managing to buckle him in.

“Thank you, again, for helping.”

“It’s really not a problem, I’ve had many nights in his position,” Chris nodded in the direction of my brother, “and I never would’ve made it home on my own without some help.”

“Even so, I appreciate it,” I hesitated before continuing,” If you don’t mind me asking, what’s someone like you doing out here in a town like this?”

He sighed before speaking.

“It’s quiet here. Sometimes being in the limelight can be too…well, overwhelming. I needed to get away from it all.”

“Well, you picked a perfect place---“

“Em, we need to head back” Lucas interrupted the conversation from the driver’s seat.

I agreed and closed the back door before saying a brief goodbye to Chris.

“Well, enjoy your night.” I said before hopping up into the passenger seat. Chris waved and began to return to the bar, placing his hands in his pockets as he walked.

“What time is it?” Grace mumbled.

I looked over at the nightstand clock and read her the time.

“It’s 9:30.”

She huffed and shoved her head back under the pillow.

Giggling at my friend, I slid my feet from under the covers and slowly sat up. On the nightstand there was a glass of water and two aspirin waiting for me. Lucas must have put this here this morning.

The smell of bacon and eggs accompanied us in the bedroom as I quickly swallowed the pills. I could tell it was my mother’s cooking because the bacon had already begun to burn, but somehow it always turned out delicious anyways.

I grabbed some shorts and a flowy tank top before heading into the bathroom across the hall. Luckily no one else had decided to shower at that moment, so it was free for me to hop in. The handle creaked as I turned the shower on and I made sure to push it all the way to “hot”. A steaming shower is just what I need to ease my thoughts and relax my muscles.

The kitchen was quiet as half of the group nursed their hangovers. I walked in rubbing a towel over my wet hair and tossed it into the laundry basket in the next room.

“Morning, honey,” My mother leaned back from the stove to kiss my forehead, “How’d you sleep?”

I stood up on my tiptoes to reach for a box of tea and a mug in the cabinet next to her. Grease from the bacon popped up and out of the pan at me as I stretched up, slightly burning the exposed skin of my torso.

“I slept pretty well once I finally got those couple of drunks rolled into bed.”

The two of them were slumped over the counter, Mason with his head in his hands and Grace with her head laying on the granite. They look so pitiful that I would’ve felt bad for them if they hadn’t done this to themselves. The way the both of them put away drinks last night could’ve rivaled any college frat house.

I chuckled and ruffled my older brother’s hair.

“Isn’t Isabelle coming in today?”

He muttered an affirmative response and rubbed at his eyes.

Lucas was just coming down the stairs when we started to set the table for breakfast, followed by my stepfather. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that they had been talking. About what is anyone’s guess.

“Feeling better?” Lucas playfully nudged my arm with his own.

“The aspirin was a life-saver, Luke. Did Mason give you any trouble last night?”

He shook his head.

“No, but I thought he was going to puke on me the entire night, so that was fun.”

Mason lifted his head to give an irritated look toward the two of us, but quickly put his head back down from what I assumed was nausea.

“Well, luckily, you’re on the couch tonight after Isabelle shows up.” I placed a bowl of yogurt on the table, licking my finger when some of it got on me.

“Gross, Em.” Grace teased, collapsing into a seat beside me. I put my index finger back into my mouth and removed it with a pop of my lips. I waved it threateningly at her.

“No, don’t you dar---“ I thrust it towards her ear and squished it in. She squealed with equal parts disgust and laughter.

As kids we would do this to each other all the time when one of us annoyed the other. It was a playful affair and I knew that she would likely attempt to get me back later. It made me feel like I was 10 all over again for a brief moment.

“Well,” my stepfather began, “I was thinking that we should all go enjoy the beach today. Maybe pack some lunches to-go?”

Each of us conveyed our approval and dug in to the hot breakfast on the table.