Let Me Explain

T W E N T Y F I V E

"PLEASE wake up. I don't have enough money to take you to the hospital."

I slid the black comforter off my head. Somehow throughout my sleep, it tucked up over me and left the rest of my body out. Once lifted, it revealed the light that was seeping in the room from the opened blinds.

I brought my arms to my side and slowly sat up. My mind could barely process anything within the first few minutes of me waking up.

My long, brown hair was messy. It rested down my shoulders, reaching my lower waist. The frizz was most noticeable at the pieces closest to my face.

The cold breeze that traveled through the room reminded me of how little clothing I was wearing. Somehow, I was only wearing a white tank top that matched my white underwear.

I had no clue how my pants were off.

By the sighting of the room, I knew that I was over Laken's house. I had slept over in one of the guest rooms upstairs. Asra was in the room too, picking up some of the clothes that were on the ground to clean up partially.

She wore a mini jean skirt with a t shirt that most likely belonged to Laken. It had been cut short to show her stomach, subtly but overtly revealing that the shirt was now hers.

Her curly hair moved to one shoulder once she turned her head to look over at me. It held slight frizz yet it was still defined.

Asra never really had to try to be pretty. She was naturally put together.

"It's four pm." She nodded. "I started to think you were dead."

"Unfortunately, I'm still alive."

Asra shook her head lightly. "Good. Now you can help us clean."

"What?"

"You sleep over, you clean." She held the bundle of clothes in her arms while she walked over to the doorway. "You know the rules."

I tilted my head and lifted a brow. "Says who?"

"The owner of the fucking house." Laken answered my question with ease. He had walked past the doorway and overhead me at the same time.

He wore a black shirt with gray sweatpants. I could only assume that he had showered already considering how his hair looked.

"Never knew your parents transferred property ownership over to you."

"We're having more people over tonight, anyways." Asra added in another piece of information to make me feel more inclined to clean. "Sunday night soirée."

"I never agreed to the name." Laken looked down at her. He raised his hand, tugging down the end of her skirt. "I just wanted s'mores by the fire pit."

"Soirée?" I repeated, confused by the word. "No clue what that means, but I'll clean up for s'mores."

"Cool." My cousin lifted her shoulders. "It's a mess downstairs. Alcohol bottles and shit."

"Remind me again why you don't hire a cleaning lady?"

Nobody was ever at Laken's house. His parents worked a lot and traveled for work, so it left him home a lot. He had older siblings, but they were already moved out and had kids.

It was basically his house at this point.

"That's called being lazy." Laken pressed his lips together. "Imagine not being able to clean up your own shit."