User blog:SodaCat/Style Chapter 7: Vacant Beds

alright B)

Alexis’ head was hammering fiercely as she woke up gradually on a foreign bed that definitely wasn’t hers, but smelled a whole lot like Peanut.

She opened her eyes cautiously, knowing that if she opened them too fast, she’d feel another sharp piercing of pain in her forehead, and right now, she couldn’t exactly afford that. Man, it felt like someone were jackhammering on either sides of her temples.

The first thing she saw was the hardwood floor, which had an impromptu carpeting job consisting of clothes—everything from socks, to boxers, to leather jackets—and other junk. Empty chip bags, gum wrappers, candy wrappers.

Her green eyes trailed up to the window, and she realized that someone had thankfully pulled the curtains over so that no light could get into the room. By the looks of it, it sure wasn’t morning no more… and a quick glance at the alarm clock on the nightstand beside her confirmed that it was indeed six in the afternoon.

Alexis pulled Peanut’s comforter around her body, shivering in the cold. She was only in her underwear, had she… with Peanut…?

No, no, they’d never do that when she was drunk. And judging by the magnitude of this headache she had right about now, she’d been drunk. As hell.

Ten points to the hung-over blonde!

She opened her eyes once again for a moment—if she recalled correctly, Peanut shared this room with three other boys. Norton, Ricky, and Johnny.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">Of course, all the other beds were vacant.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">She winced in pain as the door suddenly crashed open, revealing Peanut, who then slammed it shut. He looked over at her, oblivious to the agony she was in, and strolled over, placing a dozen bottles and containers of what appeared to be medicine on the nightstand.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“You’re awake,” he noted, taking a seat on the edge of the bed and grabbing the bottle of aspirin, dumping a couple into his hand. He grabbed a glass of water that Alexis hadn’t noticed and held them both out to her, eyes anxious.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Take these,” he instructed, his voice gentle, “it’ll make you feel better.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">She sat up slowly with help from Peanut, and allowed him to drop the aspirins into her mouth before she took a long, hefty gulp from the glass of water. After, she slumped back down onto the bed and looked up at Peanut, her green eyes large and wide.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I was in the Tenements, with Ricky. How’d I get here?”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">Peanut stared at her for a moment, letting out a short, dry snicker. Did she seriously not remember him finding her sobbing on Ricky’s mattress? How he carried her, bleeding and sobbing, out of the Tenements? Paid for a cab to take them back to school, and then carried her up a fucking awning into the girls’ dorm? How he had to beat that Taylor kid for insulting her, and then convince her roommate to clean her up?

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I carried you out of there,” Peanut retorted bluntly, his eyes cold as he waited for her to recollect.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">Alexis nodded, not really remembering being carried out by Peanut, but knowing that it was something he’d probably do for her. “Where’s Ricky?”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">Peanut reached out, smoothing her hair back from her forehead and eyeing her, unsure. “I’ve been talkin’ with Norton about that, and we both think you and Ricky shouldn’t hang out together no more. At least not for a while.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“What?!”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">Peanut tensed as he saw Alexis grimace in discomfort, but relaxed as she waved it away. “What do you mean we can’t hang out anymore? Who’s gonna stop us?”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">She crossed her arms, scowling at him. Who did he think he was? Her father, or something? He couldn’t just ban her from hanging out with her friends for no reason.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">He glared back at her, just about ready to start shouting at her, but resisting for her hangover’s sake. “You two holed up in the Tenements for four days, Alex! You cut class all week and got drunk off both your asses! Look, I know you’re both hurtin’ right now, but you just ain’t good influences on each other for now! You can’t just throw everythin’ to shit ‘cause you’re both ‘heartbroken’ or somethin’!”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">Alexis sniffed, looking in the direction of the window. “I can handle myself just fine after a couple drinks, Larry.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Yeah, sure,” Peanut agreed, chuckling sourly, “is that why you had all those cuts?”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">Caught off guard, Alexis lifted up Peanut’s blanket and looked down at her torso. Surely enough, there were cuts littering her skin, some long and some short, and someone had done a rather shitty job of covering them up with a series of Band-Aids and cut ointments. Groaning, she let the cover fall on her and shifted so that she was on her side, her back to Peanut.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“You’ve been hurtin’ yourself again,” Peanut observed brusquely.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Yeah, well,” Alexis scoffed, rolling her eyes, “in case you haven’t noticed, I don’t deal with being sad none too well.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">She looked at him over her shoulder, and raised her eyebrows when she saw Peanut’s brown eyes filling up with tears. “You’re crying?”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I ain’t crying,” Peanut replied hastily, wiping his eyes with his sleeve indignantly. He looked around the floor for something to wipe his eyes with better, but unless he wanted to use two day old dirty boxers, he was pretty much out of options.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">He stood hurriedly, wiping at his eyes desperately but the tears kept on streaming. His eyes wandered to the various pill bottles and medicines on the nightstand, and he quickly grabbed all of them and shoved them into his pockets, deciding that it wasn’t safe enough to leave them alone with Alexis in the room.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I gotta go right now, but Hal’s gonna be by to check on you sometime later,” he announced, looking anywhere but at her.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">What? He was leaving? “Where are you going?” Alexis questioned, setting her head back onto his pillow and staring up at him.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I just gotta do some stuff for Johnny, y’know?” Peanut replied, leaning down and kissing her forehead. “Just sleep or somethin’, okay? I love you, Ally.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">She rolled her eyes, but took his hand and squeezed it nonetheless—he must be feeling pretty lousy to go back to calling her Ally. He was taking all this just a little too seriously. “Love you too, Peanut.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Lexi… Leeeeeexiiii… Lexi. Come on, wake up!”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">Alexis woke up around two hours later to a finger poking her on the cheek… and poking her… and poking her.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I swear to fucking God, Hal, if you poke me one more time I’ll kick you where the sun don’t shine.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">She opened her eyes and, sure enough, there was Hal, crouching by the bed holding a glass of water and some pills in the hand that wasn’t making contact with her face. He backed up a little and straightened, laughing. “Man, Larry was right—you do wake up in a bad mood.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">Alexis sat up and rubbed at her eyes, pleased that the headache had subsided considerably. She accepted the aspirin and water from Hal, and then scooted her legs to make room for him to sit on the end of the bed.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“So where have you been?” He asked, studying the circles under her eyes and the disheveled look of her hair. “I haven’t seen you since the gates opened.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Me and Rick camped out in the Tenements for a few days,” Alexis responded, shrugging it off as if it were nothing.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">Hal raised an eyebrow at her, examining her for any sort of clues. “You cut class for a week to get shitfaced with Ricky?”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">For a moment, Alexis considered explaining to Hal the circumstances… but then again what would that accomplish? Johnny would still be with that Lola chick, and she really didn’t want to risk having another teary sob session like the one with Peanut. “I mean, it’s better than school.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">Hal laughed, feeling his phone vibrate and reaching into his pocket to fish it out. “You got that right,” he replied as he flipped the phone open and read the latest text from Peanut.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Oh man, Johnny’s not gonna be happy about this,” he mumbled, his voice instantly switching from cheery to apprehensive.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“’bout what?” Alexis asked, crawling over to Hal and reading the text over his shoulder.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt; line-height:107%;font-family:"TimesNewRoman","serif"">Peanut Romano: GORD W LOLA @ MOVIE THTR… KISSIN N STUFF DNT TEL JOHNNY

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Gord?” Alexis asked, furrowing her brows at Hal. That prep kid? With Lola? At the movie theater?

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">Hal nodded, texting back a quick ‘okay’ to Peanut. “Didn’t Johnny tell you? He’s pretty sure Lola’s been cheating on him, and he thinks one of them is Gord.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“‘One of them’?”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Uh, yeah?” Hal replied, looking up at her in confusion. Yeah, she and Johnny had had that little spat at the start of the school year, but as far as he knew, they told each other everything. Why was Alexis asking all these questions? Shouldn’t she know all about it?

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“I mean, Johnny knows that if she’s cheatin’ it’s with more than one guy, but he’s pretty stuck on Gord being one of ‘em.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“She’s cheating on him?!” Alexis squeaked, completely overcome with surprise. So Johnny had just gone ahead and blown her off, left her without any closure after she’d told him her goddamn feelings for him and all the while he knew this little slut was two-timin’ him?! Since when did Johnny Vincent waste his time being a victim, especially when he was being cheated on? That sure wasn’t the Johnny Vincent that Alexis had known since Kindergarten!

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">She threw Peanut’s comforter off of her and began stomping out of the room, not caring about all the dirty clothes and bug-infested food wrappers she was stepping on. After she was through with him, Johnny was gonna have his head screwed right back on his shoulders whether he liked it or not.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Lexi, wait, you can’t go out there in your underwear—!” Hal screamed after her, reaching out for her and just barely missing by a couple inches.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">But Alexis paid no mind to him. She had business to take care of.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">And a dorm-full of boys to make happy?