Raise The Bar

chapter four

My face is turned to the window and the immense sunlight over my eyes wakes me up. Hazily, I turn to see Madison whose hair is covering her face and she snores like a monster truck.

She's the most charming girl in the world until she's unconscious. I lift myself off the bed after lazing around for a few minutes and go to the bathroom. My hair looks insane and my mouth feels disgusting.

I shower and dry my hair fully before brushing it. I pick out the brown, white, and beige patched jeans Mads sewed together for me when we went thrifting and a brown long sleeve crop top.

I leave the closet and see Madison gripping her head. "Hangover?" I ask even though I know the answer.

"Uh-huh," she responds. I shake my head laughing and grab Aspirin from the medicine cabinet and a glass of water.

I pass Madison's room and see Nellie and Emma awake clutching their heads. Emma's a lightweight so 2 drinks and a few white claws did her good.

Nellie however clutched back multiple vodka shots all night and that's why she's hungover.

I make a pot of coffee and Mads starts making some waffles then we all clean out the empty pizza boxes and white claw cans.

I make a quick trip to the Walgreens across the street to grab Gatorades and another trip to the cafe for some breakfast. I grab my brown puffer jacket to keep myself warm and add a claw clip to keep my hair up from the wind. Fall in Chicago is unflattering to my hair.

I shuffle the bags finding my keys and open the door to see two exhausted bodies over the white couch.

Nellie lays out utensils and plates while helping me unpack the food. Some bagels and cream cheese along with four coffees.

"What should we do today?" Emma asks.

"The new ice skating rink in the park is open we could check it out," Madison suggests.

"Sounds good to me, there's a sale across Michigan Avenue we can go to afterward," Nellie says while cleaning the dishes.w

"We should invite Isabel too," she's a sweetheart. Emma texts her and then they head to their place to change while Mads and I do too.

I lay on my bed when a notification pops up. New follower: Adrian Castillo.

Do I add myself to the one point eight million followers he has or not? Yeah, why not.

Part of me wants to not follow him back just for the fun of it but another part of me is inclined to do the opposite.

I go over my own Instagram making sure there aren't any embarrassing photos but I know if I stare too hard I'll end up deleting my whole profile.

I take the plunge and follow him back. He probably wouldn't notice my following since he has nearly two million people but it still made me feel hesitant.

I click out of Instagram and decide to watch some criminal minds. Not one of my favorite shows because the blood and psychopathic behavior makes me afraid as an alone college student but I find comfort in Spencer Reid so I watch the episode where the little girl goes missing in the mall from one of the earlier seasons.

After finishing the episode I get a group text saying they're all here so Mads and I go downstairs.

"Hi Iz," I greet her.

"Hey Gigi," she smiles.

Even though Isabel's a freshman she's one of the most mature people I've ever met. She and her family moved here from Cuba eight years ago and got citizenship two years ago. She told me about her family being detained at the border and her hardships when she and her brother were separated at the border.