Ow! Was the first thought that came into my head as I awoke. The sunlight streaming in through my blinds plus the hangover pounding into my head were giving me a great one-two punch. I turned away from the window, blinked a couple times, and then sat up. If the hangover was bad before, it was awful now. I groaned, and arose, hoping that a shower would help stop the jackhammer that was now plugging away at my brain.
I stumbled out into the hallway in only my boxers, stopping to look into my sister Emily's room. She was only ten months younger than me, and since I was born in January and she in November, this meant that we had gone through school together. Now a month after graduation, we had decided to party away our summer before we both headed off to (separate) colleges.
Emily had just woken up too I could tell by the groaning that was escaping from her mouth. I laughed, and asked her "Same bus get you too."
"Yes," escaped her lips, and she sat up to look at me. Her long black hair was a mess as she looked at me and asked, "Headed for the shower?" I nodded, and she lay back down to catch a few more minutes of sleep. I continued down to the end of the hall, where I was met by a closed door. I knocked, hoping to not receive an answer.
"Who is it?" my other sister Lisa called. Damn! She could take forever in the bathroom if she wanted to, and if she knew I was out here with a wicked hangover, she would.
"Its Dylan. I gotta pee."
"Hold on, I'm almost done."
I heard her move around a little, and then the door opened. She was only wearing a towel, and smiled at me as she went past without a word. Finally I got into the bathroom, shut and locked the door, and went into step 1 of hangover relief.
Five minutes later, as I had the shower going and was washing off, I reflected the previous night's events. An acquaintance of mine had had a party, which I had attended hoping to get some action. I had broken up with my last girlfriend just before graduation, and was trying to spend my last summer before college playing the field. So far though, I had found the field empty.
I finished in the shower, got out, and was toweling off when there was a knock on the door.
"Dyl?" I heard Emily say.
"Yeah, I'll be out in a minute."
"Ok, thanks."
I finished up, and opened the door to see Emily sitting on the floor, in nothing but a tanktop and tiny mesh shorts. I kicked her lightly, to make sure she was awake.
"Guess who I hooked up with last night?" she asked me as she got up.
"I dunno. Who?"
"Jim."
I laughed at the fact that my sister had hooked up with my best friend.
"What did Bridget have to say about that?" Jim had recently broken up with his girlfriend, and I knew she still wanted him. That fact that Emily and Bridget were friends probably didn't help things either.
"I dunno, she didn't see us, I don't think."
"I see. You two an item now?"
"I don't know." Em reached for my hand, and I pulled her to her feet. "Can you talk to him first?"
"Sure, I'll give him my 'You fucked my sister' speech. I've gotten quite good at it."
"Hey, I didn't sleep with him. Or that many other guys, for that matter. Bastard."
I laughed as I went down the hall, leaving Emily fuming a bit.
Later in the day, I decided to talk to Jim. Our conversation pretty much was him getting nervous and apologizing, me telling him I didn't care, him telling me he really liked her and asking me to talk to her, and me reminding him he'd better tell Bridget before she killed my sister. I relayed this to Emily, who had apparently forgotten about Bridget, and decided she had better talk to her friend before Jim does.
Since we had all gotten blitzed the night before, Jim, Emily, and I all decided to take a night off, and watch movies at our house. This lasted about half a movie before I started to feel like a third wheel, and decided to try and find some fun elsewhere. I left the lovers alone, and headed to my buddy Pete's for a party.
Pete lived right on the edge of town, and his parents allowed him to build a huge bonfire pit along the edge of their property for parties. Pete's parties were so well known that some people even brought tents and sleeping bags so they didn't drive home. I was still recovering from the night before, so I was planning to stay sober.
I pulled up in the beat-up Jeep Wrangler that Emily and I shared, and after getting out, the first person I saw was Bridget. She was backlit by the fire, leaving most of her features darkened, but I could still see the anger in her eyes. I decided to test my luck, since if I didn't smolder her now, Jim and Emily were sure to get it worse later.
