Finding the Fun Side of a Piece of Cardboard

Hangovers and Truth Bombs

I woke up at around 9 and to my surprise, Roman was still sleeping. He was snoring, face down on the bed with all limbs stretched out. I giggled at him a bit and then went to find breakfast. A few minutes later, he came out of his room complaining of an awful headache. "Good morning!" I said.

"Too loud..." He mumbled.

"Sorry sorry!" I whispered. It was so weird seeing Roman not perfectly put together for once. His hair was messy, his face looked exhausted and his clothes looked like they were clumsily thrown on. "Here, drink this." I said, handing him a cup of what I call 'Hangover cure.'

"What is it?"

"It'll help your hangover."

"Oh... why do my ears hurt sooo baddd?" He whined.

"Remember? We got them pierced."

"Oh—ow." He said, putting his hand on his forehead.

"Drink it. You'll feel better. And I can go out and get you a big breakfast that'll help too."

"Just have Ethan do it... he should be back by 10:00 that's when his hours start. Last month he was on vacation."

"Okay"

We waited a few minutes for Ethan to arrive. Roman was already feeling better by then after drinking what I gave him. Ethan came in right on time but immediately started fussing about Roman. "ROMAN! Oh my gosh. I leave for TWO MONTHS and you somehow have moved in with this weirdo, lost your undefeated rank, got your ears pierced, and now you're having a hangover from your CRAZY DRUNKEN NIGHT?? YOU ARE OUT OF CONTROL. Oh my... your mother won't be happy to hear this."

"My mother?" Roman said.

"Yes Roman. Don't you remember? She's here for business and you scheduled afternoon tea with her—at 2. Don't you remember that??" Ethan said.

"Oh—I forgot about that. You're right... she definitely won't like this..." said Roman.

I tried to ease his worry saying, "Cmon Roman you're an adult now. I think that maybe she'll respect your choices... I mean how old are you now?"

"None of your business and how dare you?" Roman said, angrily.

"Gee. Sorry for asking, but really, I think she'll be okay with you."

"Maybe you're right..." Roman said.

"You ALL are crazy!" Said Ethan. "She definitely won't be happy with you but—Whatever. Your life. Did you need anything though? I was about to do your shopping."

"Could you get us a lot of breakfast?" I asked. "For his hangover."

"Fine." Ethan said, storming off.

"You gonna be okay Roman?" I asked.

"Yea—I'm gonna go take a... uh... um a..."

"A shower?"

"Yea. That."

"Okay, I'll be waiting." While I waited I just sat at the table worrying about him. After a bit he came out of the bathroom wearing only a pair of gym shorts and whining. It was the first time I had ever seen him like that— he didn't have a shirt on. He was so pale all over and he was so thin I could see his ribs. I wanted to say something but I didn't want to seem rude, so instead I changed my focus to his face. Something was different about his face though... "Are—are those freckles?" I asked him. He had adorable freckles over his nose and cheeks.

"Yea"

"But why haven't I seen them before?"

"I usually cover them with makeup."