Evelyn's POV
I woke up from the sounds of Jason's cartoons playing from downstairs, the volume up way too loud, signaling it was Saturday morning and mom wasn't home. My head felt heavy, and I couldn't get myself to get out of bed. Facing the ceiling, I rubbed my forehead and closed my eyes, it hurt to look around the room, even the smallest movements of my eyes making me dizzy.
I forced myself to sit up and tried fixing my hair that was messed up from sleeping. I fumbled around, searching for my hair tie, but it was nowhere to be found. Did I sleep with my hair down? I never sleep with my hair down, what was I thinking?
Already getting dizzy from my 'attempt' to do my hair, I pulled my shirt's hood over my head and pulled its strings to tighten it around my face before falling back on my pillow. Peace. I very reluctantly reached for my ph-
Wait.
I wasn't wearing a hoodie last night.
Feeling panic wash over me, I got up and ran to the closest mirror, my eyes widening the second I saw myself. My hair was a mess, I was still in the sweatpants I was wearing before I left my house yesterday, only my shirt was nowhere to be found. I examined the shirt, realizing it was probably a guy's shirt, but I didn't recognise it.
I brought my hand to my face again and rubbed my eyes, this time almost puking. My hands smelled like... wine? And so did most of my upper body too. Realizing I needed a shower badly to take away the awful smell that was only making me more nauseous.
After having a somewhat cold shower in an attempt to wake up, I put my hair up into a bun and decided to wear the hoodie again. Whoever it belonged to, it was comfortable and warm and since it was in my hands, I'd might as well enjoy it.
Entering the living room I saw my little brother focused on the TV, to a point where he wasn't even looking at the cereal he was eating and I could sense a Fruit Loop disaster heading our way if he happened to spill them all over himself and the couch.
"Good morning sleepy-head"
"Cole?!" I ran to where he was standing in the kitchen and hugged him tightly, with everything that was going on I had barely realized he was gone until I saw him again. He had been staying at his girlfriend's place for a few days, trying to spend as much time with her as possible, as she was going to be out of town for a while.
"Hey kiddo" he hugged me back and chuckled at my excitement. "When did you come back?" I asked and teasingly tapped his shoulder. Regardless of all previous events, he was still my big brother and I wanted a good relationship with him. "Last night" he responded, suddenly making me anxious. I remembered absolutely nothing from last night from a moment and after, meaning I don't remember how I got home. Did he see me drunk?
I just nodded, trying not to look suspicious, before moving to the fridge to make something to eat so I could finally get some painkillers. My head was killing me and I was surprised I hadn't thrown up yet. My phone buzzed from the hoodie's pocket as it's been doing since I woke up. I took it out of my pocket and put it on mute, I could not deal with it at the moment.
"So, did you kids have fun last night?" Cole asked, making me almost drop the knife I was holding. "Um, yes, yes we did" I replied, continuing to apply butter to the slice of bread I had in front of me. "Not too much fun, I hope" he sternly said but tried to keep a light tone to it. "Can't have too much fun with those guys" I replied laughing, and shook my head, trying not to think about what he might've been thinking in order to say that. No to the way.
I heard him laugh and nod, taking a sit on the other side of the kitchen table, taking a sip of his coffee. Taking my plate, I took a sit as well, leaving my phone next to me on the table. All throughout our breakfast, it kept lighting up with notifications I ignored, the vibration it made making me dizzy. I desperately tried hiding my discomfort from my brother and it seemed to be working.
Moments passed and my brother looked frustrated, looking through his suitcase like a mad man. "What are you looking for over there?" I asked, taking a sip of my juice, instantly regretting it as the fluid made my insides turn. I swear I almost puked all over the table then. "I have a grey hoodie, right?" I nodded "Well I've looked all over my room and I can't find it, it's not at Jade's and I can't find it in here either" he kept looking through his things, proceeding to throw his clothes on the floor in the process. Typical Cole.
His statement instantly got me thinking and my eyes lit up. The hoodie was Cole's! But then why hasn't he noticed I was wearing it? I brought one of the sleeves to my nose and smelled it, searching for a recognisable scent. It seemed new, it's like the person who owns it hasn't worn it yet, only washed it. The clothes' softener used was familiar, I'm pretty sure it's the one mom used -when she actually did laundry.
"Cole!"
"Yeah?"
I pointed towards myself and looked down at the hoodie, then back at him, then back at the hoodie "What?" he asked, still not getting the memo. I threw my hands on my sides and sighed "I'm wearing a mens' hoodie, it's grey, it's not mine, you haven't seen yours in a while..." I waved my hands around my face and looked at him pointedly.
"I don't know kiddo, it sure fits the description but I don't think it's mine. I don't remember ever having worn that, it seems like it'd be too tight on me" he examined the shirt, dropping his bag when Jason screamed at the the tv. We both laughed, Jason's outbursts weren't a first for either of us but Cole had forgotten what it was like living with him after being gone for so long.
"Well I think it's yours. It's been washed, maybe it went down a size from the washing machine. I'm sure if you just wear it you'll remember it's yours. I mean whose else would it be if not yours? Dad's?" I spoke and we both laughed, before he told me I was right.
~~~
We finished our breakfast and Cole took Jason to the park, they hadn't spent time together in a long time and it would be good for both of them. I was glad to see that even though we didn't have the best relationship with mum, we had one another for support. Cole had been gone for a while and when he first got back I wasn't sure whether or not he really wanted to 'deal' with us, but seeing how he's been acting, calling me when he's gone, texting me more frequently and spending time with Jason, I'm confident he wants to strengthen our relationship.
I had gone back to my room, and was now laying on my bed, light music playing in the backround. Very reluctantly I opened my phone, remembering Ivory's words from last night, telling me to check the group chat once I got the chance. My phone was bombarded with texts, all from the group chat.
Bailey:
I think you guys are just nosey
Ivory:
We're not nosey here, he's just secretive
Maya:
Agreed, the whole 'girlfriend' situation was so out of the blue
Frowning I brought a hand to my nose, trying to remember anything from last night. Vaguely, Aiden's figure popped in my brain.
"Sorry folks, I'm afrain I'm taken" he spoke and we found ourselves dumbfounded.
My mouth fell open and the curiosity started eating me alive once more. My attention went back to the conversation, this time with much more interest.
Bailey:
Why do y'all even care? It's his business
Maya:
Oh you know why she cares
Ivory:
Shut up dude
I let out a small chuckle, of course Ivory wanted to be involved, she knew everything about everyone and when she didn't, things went bad.
Maya:
Do you guys think she's from here? Maybe even from our school?
Bailey:
No way, girls here are as rotten as it gets.
Ivory:
Did you just call me rotten?
The texts were endless, I quickly went through them, laughing at the ones saying I surely knew about it, Bailey even sending warnings my way that Ivory would try to get as much information as possible from me.
The girls must have noticed that I opened the texts as I immediately got a call. "Hey there, 007's" I teased them, setting my phone down to go brush my teeth. "Where the hell have you been?" Ivory asked, raising her perfectly groomed eyebrow at me. "Let her live, woman, when was the last time she had fun?" Bailey came to my rescue, though I wasn't sure whether or not what she said was a good thing.
Shaking my head, I giggled before Maya spoke "You can interrogate her later, now what are we doing today?" she asked and I sighed. "You better not believe I'm leaving my house today" I clarified to them, my head was as heavy as ever, my stomach was turning and I constantly felt like I was going to throw up on the nearest surface.
"Oh, you so are missy, you've been MIA all night, we have lots to talk about" Ivory said, making Bailey laugh and turn to me "I fucking told you, didn't I?" Me and Maya just laughed and I remembered I had one last ace on my sleeve "You guys, we can't go out today, Maya has her studies" I recalled her usual program.
"No to the way. I had so much fun last night, I can't let this day go to waste! Besides, studying can wait, I have all weekend" shocked, I put a hands on my chest, pretending to be hurt "I feel very betrayed right now" I exclaimed and they all laughed. I put the fact that I wanted Maya to be on my side so that I could get out of this to the side, it was fun to see her like this. Her parents had put such strict restraints on her, she was missing out on so much stuff. Instead of hanging out with us on the weekends, she stays in and studies literally till she drops.
I'm not saying she shouldn't study, we're in high school for Christ's sake, and I'm all about chasing your goals when it comes to college, but to a healthy extent. If her parents knew there was any alcohol around last night, she would've never saw the light of the outside world again, and I would've been crusified.
We spoke for a while and I explained various times to Ivory that I had absolutely no idea who Aiden's girlfriend was. Speaking of him I felt a feeling of disappointment wash over me, as I realized I had so many texts and none of them were from him.
I don't know why, but I thought he would've texted or called or something. Without thinking I found myself looking over to the window and into his room. I couldn't see anything, as his blinds were closed and I remembered that he kept them closed when he slept.
Should I text him? Or would it be weird? Did he want me to text him?
Shaking my head to stop myself from overthinking I went to the bathroom where I proceeded to finally empty out the contents of my stomach- I officially looked like crap.
The girls had decided on the mall for today, so that's what we were doing. I took off Cole's hoodie and put it on my bed in case he wanted it back. I got dressed, trying to pick an outfit decent enough to hide that I was a train wreck. Doing some finishing touches with makeup, I was good to go.
~~~
We arrived at the mall and after some light shopping, we decided to get something to eat. Well, correction, the girls got something to eat, I on the other hand couldn't even stand the mention of food. Instead, I got coffee, as I remembered hearing that coffee helped with hangovers.
"I can't believe you're drinking that" Bailey exclaimed, taking a sip of her soda. Coffee wasn't really my cup of tea, so the fact that I was drinking it without complaining about the horrible taste every five seconds.
"It's only because I need it, don't think I'll be drinking much more of this" I said back, taking a ship of my espresso. Just imagine it's hot chocolate, I told myself, pouring the rest of the sugar in it, in an attempt to better the taste.
"Please tell me you won't drink that" I heard Noah's voice coming from behind me. "Let her be dude" Parker shoved him playfully, earning back a punch on the shoulder from him. "I think we've seen enough of you two acting like three-year-olds, knock it off" Jagger stepped in, seperating the babies. "Guess not everyone's as mature as you are, you macho man" Noah fired back and Parker jumped to high five him but Jagger cut it short by grabbing his arm.
"Let the kids be kids man" at the sound of Aiden's voice, I looked away turning to my delicious coffee. "Don't play mature Black you know deep down you're a toddler to say the most" Ivory replied eating one of her fries. "Will you be my mommy Ivory?" he teased, and she shook her head smiling mischievously "How's the girlfriend" she asked and he chuckled biting into his lip "Touché"
Narrator's POV
From a far, the group of friends seemed almost perfect, four guys and three girls, playing around on a Saturday in the crowded mall. No one really knew what each of them was going through, all of their brains clogged up with an endless array of thoughts. It seemed like nothing had changed between them since last night, in the end it's only been a few hours. Little did the group know how much had changed after their innocent meeting.
The guys took a seat and started chatting up the girls, Noah stealing some of Ivory's fries, Parker's skate sitting next to the table. Maya and Jagger got to talking while Bailey and Parker bickered around as Parker called her a freak once more and she called him a wannabe skater nerd.
Evelyn stayed in her seat, not daring to look up from her coffee. Somewhere along the way she had talked to her mum from whom she found out that Aiden had brought her home the night before. She was beyond embarrassed, blushing at the thought that he had seen her wasted and her head was filled with regret. The fact that she remembered very little details from that night made her even more anxious to face him.
On the other hand Aiden's heart was about to burst the minute he laid eyes on her, their kiss hadn't slipped his mind for a single moment. No one knew how badly he wanted to have stayed with her all night, even if she was asleep. She seemed so peaceful when she laid on her bed- she was so pure and... gorgeous.
The presense of his girlfriend in his life had seemed so unimportant in those moments, he wondered why he kept wasting his time. Guilt ate him alive when he left his so adored Evelyn to be with her the rest of the night. She seemed so boring now much more than she did before.
He didn't feel bad for cheating on her , he had no feelings for her at all and he knew very well she would've done the same the first chance she was given, their relationship was merely a business deal than anything else but she didn't care. She was satisfied enough with the fact that she called him hers. Little did she know he was far from being hers.
Looking at Evelyn, he noticed her cheeks were red. Assuming it was his presense that was causing her to blush, he got more nervous to speak to her. He didn't know how she felt about what happened and fear was bothering him badly. He was worried she had regret over it regardless of it being her initiative.
"Black will you join us?" Attention turned to him, the sound of his last name bringing back the slightest of memories to Evelyn.
"Black, it's your turn" Bailey spoke and rubbed her hands together, the beers had made her loosen up, her usually reserved self now acting like a bubbly school girl.
"You didn't answer the question, now chug" Parker passed him the vodka bottle, making Aiden shake his head.
"You guys are so lame" he replied and took the bottle from him, downing its content.
Reluctant, he took a seat next to her, as it was the only seat left.It was almost as if the universe was playing games with them. She looked away, saying something to Maya that he didn't quite catch. Time went by and neither of them dared say a word to each other, each of them for different reasons.
Being the most daring out of the two, he broke the silence. "You didn't text me this morning" he spoke and turned to face her, he had been disappointed. He had expected that after last night she would want to text him. Maybe he was wrong. "Text you why?" she turned to look at him confusion written over her face.
It's not like morning texts were a thing with them before, what was so special about this morning? He frowned, maybe it slipped her mind, after all it had been a long night for her. "Because I told you to" he pointedly said and searched for her eyes, trying to figure out what was going on in that head of hers. "What? When?" she asked, slowly realizing alcohol was the reason she didn't remember to text him.
"It was last night, when I dropped you off at your place. We were in your room, remember?" he asked, hope slowly fading as he came to the conclusion that she had in fact drank to the point when she couldn't remember what she had done, and he could only hope that she remembered doing something else.
She rubbed her temples, she could sense the hope in his voice when he spoke to her, she couldn't tell him she didn't remember. Confusion turned into embarassment. She was never drinking again, what else had alcohol erased from her memory? Why did she decide to drink? Even the first half of the night when she hadn't had much to drink, there were parts missing.
Bringing her out of the difficult position, he nodded, "You don't remember" he was dissapointed but tried to hide it. He out of all people knew how it was drinking more than you could handle and remembering nothing out of it the next day, he only hoped she hadn't forgotten about the kiss.
"I'm sorry Aiden, Î shouldn't have drunk as much as Î did" she shook her head and closed her eyes, trying to hide her rosey cheeks. He didn't know what to say to that. Îe knew he agreed with her but he also knew that if it wasnt for the wine, she wouldn't have initiated the kiss.
That's another thing he didn't know how he felt about.
Neither of them spoke to each other after that, Aiden getting lost in a conversation with Jagger and Evelyn getting lost in the endless crowd of people walking around their table.
Ivory's words brought both of them back to reality "Eve, did you find out who that hoodie belonged to?" she asked and Aiden stilled in his seat, glad the cold sweat hadn't sharted showing through yet. Bailey spoke, before Evelyn could "She told us it was Cole's, don't you remember?"
Aiden pinched the bridge of his nose and got up turning to Evelyn "Can i speak with you for a second" he asked and evelyn followed shortly, nervousness washing over her.
They walked to the balcony an open space so Aiden could smoke, he could feel yesterday's dinner coming up fear washing over him. He took out his pack of cigarettes, putting one in his mouth and lighting it, inhaling deeply and closing his eyes as he felt the poison enter his lungs. Call him a masochist if you want, but he enjoyed it, it gave him some momentary peace.
Evelyn despised smoking and found smokers to be quite... difficult to understand. Why put poison in your lungs and then stink for the rest of the day? As unappealing as she found it, she found herself mismerised by the way Aiden brought the cigarette to his lips and exhaled the smoke.
Taking one more drag of it, he spoke "Why did you tell them the hoodie was Cole's" he asked, serious this time. He avoided her eyes, fact that made her even more anxious. Embarassment was evident in her face but she still searched for his, trying to find some reassurance and warmth but there was none. It was almost like he was scolding her.
"I didn't tell them it was Cole's, it is cole's" she told him and even though she wasn't quilty of anything, his hard tone made her feel as if she was a wanted person, being interrogated for her crime. He chuckled lowly, even though he found nothing funny in her words. "Does he know that?" he asked and took another drag of his cigarette, still avoiding to look at her, he was getting sick. He was hoping that she would drop the act and tell him that she only told them that to cover to their friends, but she seemed to really believe it was her brother's.
She frowned at his words, of course he knew that, it was his hoodie after all. Her head was starting to hurt, not remembering their time together from the night before, combined with his words was making her dizzy again. What did Aiden know about the hoodie?
She looked at her shoes and played with her bottom lip, images of this morning flashing in front of her eyes.
My hair was a mess, I was still in the sweatpants I was wearing before I left my house yesterday, only my shirt was nowhere to be found. I examined the shirt, realizing it was probably a guy's shirt, but I didn't recognise it.
Heat corsed through her cheeks, as scene after scene came back to her from this morning, Cole being the protagonist in most of them.
"I have a grey hoodie, right? Well I've looked all over my room and I can't find it, it's not at Jade's and I can't find it in here either"
The clothes' softener used was familiar, I'm pretty sure it's the one mom used -when she actually did laundry.
"I don't know kiddo, it sure fits the description but I don't think it's mine. I don't remember ever having worn that, it seems like it'd be too tight on me"
Aiden brought her back to reality, a smirk plastered on his face as he finally turned to look at her. "I mean, he can keep it if he wants to, he'd actually own something nice for once" He kept his cool, after all whether she remembered about their kiss or not, he couldn't take it back. Or to be more precise, he wouldn't take it back.
Her head snapped to where he was standing, her mouth falling open. He didn't give her time to process what had just come out of his mouth, even though in the back of her head she knew exactly whose that hoodie was "Unless of course you wanna trade, after all your shirt is a few sizes too small for me to wear. But I guess I could making it work, Black is still my last name" he winked, his smirk widening. A hand went over Evelyn's mouth and she looked away, another hand going to her hair.
She couldn't find her shirt because it was at his house, but why did she take it off in the first place. Her cheeks went red, even redder than they were before, and she felt like she couldn't even stand next to him. What had they done?
"Don't worry, we didn't do anything too bad. I gave you my shirt because you managed to spill wine all over yours, and your shirt was soaked" he nodded towards the bannister, resting on his elbows and leaving the cigarette between his lips. His words gave her a piece of mind, only to strip it from her the next second "But you don't remember what we did, do you, Hayes?" she hated when he called her with her last name, he sounded so cocky when doing so, but for some reason in that moment, his confidence made her feel some type of way.
"It wasn't something illegal, right?" she asked, trying to make a joke out of the situation, or better, she was trying not to lose her shit as Aiden thought. He shook his head and smirked, speaking lowly "No, no it wasn't illegal... although I think it should've been"
He was sure now that she had no recollection of her actions, and in that moment he wanted nothing more but to jump from the mall's balcony. He felt sick with himself, shame suddenly filling him. He had used her, he knew better than to let something like that happen at a time when she was so wasted. For a second he tried to redeem himself by thinking that he too was a bit tipsy but then again he had a clear image of what happened last night, so maybe that wasn't exacly a valid point.
But deep down he still had hope that she wanted it to happen, whether she was drunk or not she was the one that was so persistent over it and looked so hurt when he first rejected her.
On the other hand, he shouldn't be hopeful, he thought, he was in a relationship after all. Maybe not the one he'd want to be in, but it was still a relationship. Who was he to become a cheater?
Evelyn felt her vision get blurry, the cause not being tears, but the failing attempts she made to remember what he was talking about. She turned to look at her friends in the table and Jagger noticed it, mouthing to her if she was okay. She gave him a slight smile and nodded, turning her attention to Aiden this time. "I'm not sure I want to know" she told him.
He took one final drag from his cigarette before throwing it to the floor and crashing it with his leg, not caring that he shouldn't. He huffed, "I'm sure you don't". Turning on his heels, he walked back to the others. Evelyn felt like she couldn't get her legs to work and follow him, panic, fear and regret starting to settle in the bottom of her stomach. What had they done that was so bad he couldn't just tell her straight up?
Before opening the glass door that was separating them from the rest of the group, Aiden paused, turning to say one more thing to her "Just, please try to remember" he didn't want to be the one to tell her, he wanted her to remember what happened, the details of it. Would she be as unable to stop thinking about it as he was? With that final sentence, he opened the door and walked inside, leaving Evelyn in the balcony, staring at him. Here comes the puke again.
~~~
Uh...oops?