Downfall | ✔️

Chapter 9.

The next day I woke up with a heavy chest and clouded thoughts. I can't shake how embarrassed I feel. Should I even be embarrassed? I can't decide what's more mortifying. The fact that despite my better judgement, I kissed Mason, or the fact that he kissed me back, then left me stranded outside a frat party. Telling me to leave.

I want to call Jess and ask her to come over, despite my overwhelming embarrassment—she's my best friend: and now, my only friend. I check my phone and it's 12pm, I slept a lot longer than I expected and have missed calls and texts from her already.

"Mar, where did you go?"

"Are yu okaye?"

"Cal me when you can. I loveyou."

I chuckle at her typos, she must have been pretty drunk when she sent the texts, I just really hope she's sober now and can come over. I dial her number into my phone and silently pray she picks up.

"Hello?" her voice is low and raspy, she sounds hungover.

"Hey, its me—can you come over?" I internally beg her to say yes.

"Mar? Where did you go last night?" she asks.

"Well I-"

"Home with Mason?" she interrupts, I can tell she's smirking by the tone of her voice and my chest hurts slightly at the mention of his name.

"That's actually what I need to talk to you about—who I need to talk to you about." I sigh.

"Oh! I'll be right over, I'll ask Jack to drop me off." she squeals. She's going to be sorely disappointed with my news—I'm pretty sure she's expecting the opposite.

"Alright, I'll see you soon."

I decide to wait till she's here to tell her, partly because I don't want to cry and partly because I want to see how she reacts in person. I get up and brush my teeth, but decide to stay in my pyjamas. I have no energy to get ready, and no reason to either. Before I know it Jess arrives, I drag her to my room, sit her down and blurt out everything.

"He did what?!" she yells.

"That fucking asshole! He was basically asking for you to kiss him all night and then he does this?" she continues to yell, waving her arms around in sheer frustration.

"Yep," I shrug. I'm angry, sure, but I'm mostly embarrassed, and hurt.

"I'm sorry, Mar." she sighs as she hugs me.

"He's forgotten, okay? You don't need him." she squeezes me a little tighter and I rest my head on her shoulder, I'm glad that Jess is here. We may have been up and down recently, but she couldn't be more supportive right now.

"I'll get us ice-cream and we can watch a comedy, lighten the mood. Or the notebook if you want to cry it all out." she smiles as she wipes a tear from my cheek.

I close my eyes and sigh. I don't know why it hurts so much, I guess I've just never been humiliated like that before. I've never made a move on a guy first. I don't know what came over me. I just need to forget about him and put myself first—I should've stayed away after the first time he was rude to me. It just feels a lot harder than it should.

Jess and I spend the rest of the day watching movies and crying, then laughing, then stuffing our faces with cakes and ice-cream. It's exactly what I needed. I never skip class and I feel guilty for it but I needed this break. Jess let me complain and cry whenever I needed to, and acted accordingly. When I was mad she helped cuss him out and tell me how I don't need him, when I was crying she helped comfort me and tell me how this food is better than he ever could be, and when I was embarrassed— she told me how the first time her and Jack kissed they bumped heads and she was so embarrassed she cried. I'm so happy to have her back.