Before, After & In-between

Chapter 14- Before

I didn't think it possible to have a multi-day hangover but here I am. Three days post grad and still suffering. It's fun they said... do it they said...I thought getting drunk meant leaving all your worries behind yet mine are front and center reminding me of what an idiot I was. The headache and nauseous stomach, the never-ending brain fog...will my brain ever function the same again...did I do everlasting damage? And who could forget all the vomit.

No, I will never be drinking again.

I tried going for a run this morning but was abruptly interrupted by the aggressive dry heaving.

"Your dad and I have an appointment, we'll be gone for most of the day," my mom says walking into the kitchen, sympathy reaches her eyes when she sees the plain piece of toast I am barely choking back.

"Are you sure I'm not just sick?"

She laughs, "Not sick."

"Am I dying?"

She stops smiling, "Katy don't say that."

"Well, it's been three days, and I still can't eat anything but toast and fruit."

"Unfortunately, that's what happens when you polish off a bottle of vodka." She purses her lips, then walks up to me kissing the top of my head, "You'll be as good as new tomorrow."

I wish I could curl into a ball and wake up when everything is back to normal. I don't know if it's part of my hangover, but I feel uneasy, shaky and unstable in my own body.

"Where are you guys going?" I squint my eyes in suspicion, "Is this one of those 'appointments' like you had last time?" I say referring to the time my parents told Jake and I they had very important meeting regarding my dad's practice, and we would have to fend for ourselves for the day. Later we came to find out it was a wellness luncheon held at The Oasis Spa, where they were treated to a five-course meal, saunas and hot stone massages.

"No," she says solemnly, "it's not that kind of appointment."

"Oh," I say surprised by her tone, "okay are you going to back by dinner?"

She has that look in her eye again, the look I saw the night of my graduation, the look that says she knows something she isn't sharing.

"I'm not sure, there's a few pizzas in the freezer incase."

I watch as she throws a package of Kleenex into her purse and I swear her hands are shaking, but I tell myself it's just my hangover messing with me.

                                                                                                     ***

It's 6pm when my parents finally get home. Jake and I polished off the two pepperoni pizzas in the freezer, it's the first real thing I've eaten in days, and I guess the grease soaked up any leftover alcohol because I feel a thousand times better. We've been vegging out watching The Umbrella Academy all afternoon.

"Which superpower would you choose if you could," Jake asks.

"Hmm," I debate, acting like this isn't something I've already thought about a million times, "I'd probably choose time travel."

He scrunches his nose, "No way, imagine being invisible? You could literally do anything you want."

"Yeah, but I could go anywhere I want...like for example, I go could back in time and eat the last slice of pizza before you have the chance to wolf it down," I say teasing.

He rolls his eyes.

The front door closes, and I hear my dad toss his keys into the small dish on the front hall table, he walks into the family room alone.