"You were so easy to forgive, but not so easy to forget."
Nostalgia by Suki Waterhouse
"I've been tripping over you, so tell me something new."
Take It or Leave It by Cage the Elephant
April 2019
Jade woke up to the sound of an alarm. Her head pounded at every staccato note, a consequence of the previous night. She quite honestly didn't remember setting the alarms, so it felt like an ambush in the midst of her peaceful slumber. Seeing any hue more vibrant than a pale grey made her eyes hurt. There was a phantom pressure that lingered through every muscle in her body. It was the fact that a baby that she loved more than anything depended on her to wake up that brought her the resistant motivation to get out of bed. She had regretted only giving herself fifteen minutes to wake up before Matty was going to drop off Viola. She had to take advantage of every drop of willpower to stand up.
After she was able to balance herself, Jade slowly made her way into the kitchen where she poured herself a glass of water from the sink and then took two ibuprofen tablets that she struggled to shake out of the bottle. Earlier than she expected, there was a knock on the door. She shuffled to the door, bracing herself for any volume of sound that would come with opening it.
"Hey," Jade said to Matty, who now stood in her doorframe while holding onto Viola. It was one of those mornings that seemed so far away from the last sunset. Jade felt like it had been ages since she let her vocal cords move. Saying just that one simple greeting to Matty felt like hard physical labor.
The baby was quite energetic. Jade was almost jealous of her ability to use her energy so spontaneously. Viola smiled when she saw her mother and started to extend her little arms out to her. Jade smiled back, the one physicality that came easy to her in the state of her current hangover.
"How are you feeling, darling?" Matty asked.
"I definitely cannot drink like I used to, that's for sure."
"Make sure to drink water."
"Thanks, Mom," Jade said sarcastically. She sighed and took Viola from his arms. Her voice got higher pitched and she made a bright expression, even though it made her head hurt, "Hi baby." She placed her focus back on Matty, "How was she last night?"
"Good," he answered as he softly patted his daughter's head, "She slept like an angel last night."
"I'm very glad to hear that," Jade laughed with relief.
Matty inhaled, knowing he needed as much oxygen as possible for the conversation he would start. "Listen," his tone was calm but serious like he had thought out all the details, "Jade we should probably talk about that phone call last night. I think-"
"Oh my god," Jade interrupted him. Her eyes got big. Matty couldn't tell if it was a response of being humored or embarrassed. The corners of her mouth moved apart as it dropped open. "I called you last night? I don't remember that. God dammit, I was really wasted. I'm so embarrassed. I'm pretty sure I kissed Johnathan last night."
"You what?" Matty's eyes squinted in confusion.
Jade winced, more from mental pain than physical pain. She made a hand of hers free and placed it on her forehead, bringing a false sense of clarity, "I'm pretty certain that I kissed him. The night is still a bit of a blur. I'm kinda scared about seeing him on Monday."
Matty tilted his head forward, trying to show some support while keeping an emotional distance. "Do you like him?"
She shook her head, "I don't know. I don't think so?"
YOU ARE READING
About You. (Matty Healy)
רומנטיקה"Well, I wrote a song about you." It had been a long time since she heard him say those words. Maybe she was relieved to hear him say them again. Maybe this is what she had been missing. #1 in mattyhealy on 4/23/23
