Falling To Pieces #1 (COMPLETE)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

I rinsed out one of the wineglasses that was left out on the sink and filled it up with water. My mouth was unusually dry and a muted headache echoed inside my skull. I downed the entire glass and immediately refilled it again.
I hadn’t even had that much to drink last night. I only remember having two shots and maybe two glasses of wine? I clearly could not hold my liquor.
I pushed my hair out of my face irritably, and considered putting it up into a high bun but, that probably wouldn’t help with the headache. I’ve always liked my hair but right now, I found the stands way too long and dull. Maybe it was time for a change I thought to myself, as I turned to lean against the sink and brought a few of the strands up to study closely.
“What are you doing?”
My gaze shot up and was greeted by a shirtless and tousled haired, Wesley. He looked like he was trying really hard not to laugh at me, which made me wonder what I even looked like right now.
“Kara… Are you hungover?”
“No.” I lied
He sucked in his cheeks to hide his smile and nodded unconvincingly.
“So… if I were to walk over to that window right now and pull back the drapes, that wouldn’t bother you, would it?” He asked while making his way towards the window.
“Wesley. I will cut you” I growled
He held up his hands and laughed.

Katherine and Micah seemed to have taken their relationship to… well, the next level. So, for the past few weeks, I’ve been spending my weekends over at Terry and Wesley’s. About three weeks ago, Micah invited Katherine to spend the weekend over at his house and she obviously agreed but, there was one teeny problem.
“What am I supposed to tell them Kara?” Katherine had exclaimed. “That my boyfriend invited me over for the weekend so we could finally have hot, passionate sex—”
“Aaaargh!! Ugh! Don’t? Just… don’t, okay?!” I had covered my ears even though it was too late.
“Oh shush! Stop acting like you’re a virgin”
My jaw had dropped right there and then.
“What, you didn’t think I knew?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about” I'd said, schooling my features.
“Oh? Well, you know Reagan, your high school boyfriend, remember him? You should, seeing as how you dated him for like, 2 years. And let’s not forget the part where he snuck into your room while you guys were on Matric camp and popped your cherry—”
“I am not coming with you, Katherine!” I exclaimed, as a way of changing the subject.
It had worked.
“Kara, please! How else am I going to have an alibi for when I’m… you know”
“Just say you’re sleeping over at Lola’s or something”
“They’ll know something’s up! I never leave you alone. Ever since we got here, we’ve been inseparable, except for maybe a few dates here and there but I always come home. Do you really think Nikita and the others are going to believe me when I tell them I’m spending the weekend at Lola’s, while you’re here by yourself? They’re not idiots, they won’t fall for it and besides, we have the same friends remember? Why the hell would I go, and you stay? It doesn’t make any sense”
“Okay!” I hissed
“Thank you!” She squealed, and threw her arms around my neck.
“I didn’t say I’ll come with you”
“Wait, what? No, no! You have to! I mean, you could hang out with Alex. You guys have been spending a lot of time together, it wouldn’t be a problem”
Yeah… as appealing as staying under the same roof as Alex sounded, it just didn’t seem like a good idea at all. We have been spending a lot of time together lately, and we’ve been getting closer and that was the problem. I couldn’t be sure, and I’d never admit it to anyone but, I had a suspicion that my feelings towards Alex were dancing on the edge of that cliff we called friendship. There was a 50/50 chance of me being in real trouble. I definitely couldn’t stay over at his house for a whole weekend, but I also didn’t want to be the reason why Micah and Katherine didn’t… uh, merge or whatever.
I had to come up with something that would work for all of us, and immediately thought of Terry. She'd loved the idea of her new best friend sleeping over. Her parents were so thrilled that she was finally making friends that they didn’t mind me staying over at all. I was only supposed to stay over that one weekend but, I guess things were going pretty well for Micah and Katherine because 3 weeks later, we were still ‘spending our weekends at Lola’s’. I didn’t feel guilty about lying to Nikita and her family either. I was having too much of a ball, spending time with Terry and Wesley, and Riley, who actually spent a lot of time over at the Richards’. Our entire group usually hung out on the weekends and then the four of us would return home, and stay up until we literally couldn’t keep our eyes open anymore. Terry and I would always find some way to entertain ourselves so we were never anywhere near bored. Yesterday, the group decided not to meet up for our usual Friday night gathering, so Terry and I occupied ourselves by putting on some of the amazing clothes she designed and then danced around in her room. We were dressed in her ‘Street fashion’ collection, when Wesley and Riley walked in on us dancing and acting silly. We all stood frozen and wide-eyed before bursting out into a fit of giggles. After that, Riley suggested that he take out his camera and we have a photoshoot for Terry’s portfolio. It was a great idea and it was obvious that Terry thought so too. I think she might have even been impressed by him and all the ideas he had in order to highlight her work. I didn’t mind helping her out at all, so I agreed to be her model, who she eagerly made up and took advantage of.
I never did these kinds of things but I had to admit, it was easy with the right group of people.
After our little photoshoot, we started drinking and talking shit until we were all tired and apparently drunk enough to pass out, which brings us to now…
“What are you guys laughing about?” Terry yawned, as she made her way into the kitchen. “Whoa… Kara, are you hung over?”
Wesley looked down at his feet to try and hide the fact that he was laughing at me but, his shoulders were shaking violently so that gave him away instantly.
“No!”
“You sure?”
I sighed in defeat. What was the point of lying when it was apparently so obvious? I must really look like shit.
“Maybe a little” I grumbled
“Awwww!” Terry cooed as she wrapped her arms around me “She’s a lightweight”
“Hey…” I muttered defensively
“Don’t worry” She giggled. “We’ll take care of you. Wes—”
“Already on it” He called over his shoulder as he made his way out of the room.
“So, what are we doing today?” Terry asked while rummaging through the fridge
“I don’t know; anything— Wait, actually, can we go to a hairdresser?”
“Okay… what did you have in mind?”
“I’m not sure, I just think it’s time for a change” I said while running my fingers through my hair
“Kara... Please don’t say you’re cutting your hair”
“Why not? It’s about time”
“No!” She exclaimed, seemingly horrified by the idea. “Wesley! Kara wants to cut her hair!”
“What? Why? You have beautiful hair. I love—”
He stopped himself and then pressed his lips together.
I didn’t think anything of his compliment but, the way he was blushing made me feel like I was missing something… Or maybe he just felt embarrassed by the thought of complimenting me? It was exactly how Terry would react sometimes. These two blushed over literally everything.
He set down two white pills and then scratched the back of his neck
“Uh, you should take those. You’ll feel better in no time." He nodded
"I’m gonna go... wake up Riley”
He rushed out before I could say thank you.
When I looked back at Terry, she was still staring at her brother’s retreating figure with narrowed eyes.
“So, will you come with me?” I asked
“Yes… but please don’t cut it. If you want to change it up a bit, then just colour it.”
“What colour were you thinking? Do not say red! I can’t see myself as a ginger.”
She giggled.
“I’m sure you’ll be able to make it work but, no. You could go blonde... wait, no! Do a bayalage! That’ll be really hot! You’ll be surprised how big of a difference colouring your hair will make you look. When I move out to New York, I’m going purple. It’s on my bucket list and I know it’s kind of bold for me and you probably think it’s really weird but, I’ve always wanted to. It’s kind of my way of expressing how bold I really feel, even though I’m not really good at expressing myself most of the time… That probably doesn't even make any sense.” She rambled on without pausing.
“You know exactly how to express yourself, Terry.” I told her. “I just think you worry way too much about what others might think of you to ever fully be yourself. You shouldn’t though, because you’re awesome and fuck whoever’s dumb enough to think otherwise”
“I’m not afraid to be myself” She mumbled unconvincingly.
“Really. How come you’re waiting until you leave here, to dye your hair?” I questioned. When she didn’t answer, I continued “Let’s make a deal. Come to the hairdresser with me. I’ll promise not to cut my hair, if you promise to do what you’ve always wanted to.”
I held out my hand, silently daring her to prove me wrong. She looked a bit nervous but surprised me by shaking my hand after a long beat.
“Now, on a scale from 1 to 10, how excited are you, really?”