The Boyfriend

She woke up to the sound of her phone ringing, dazed and tasted the smell of her drinks the night before in her breath. She pierced her eyes to see who was calling, pressed the accept button under Kelsey’s beautiful face.

“Hey girl … Happy New Year!!” her usual cheerful voice greeted her, then her dazzling morning look was visible on her screen.

“Hey babe, Happy New Year!” her hoarse voice surprised herself.

“Whoa … you looked like you had a pretty good night,” Kelsey laughed. She was descending some stairs outside an unfamiliar house.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“Where are you?” Julie wiped her eyes and yawned.

“I had to crash at a friend’s house last night ’cause … well … you know,” she pressed her car alarm, Julie heard the tweet.

“Who?” She was curious.

Kelsey entered her car, sat on the driver’s seat and took a deep breath, “Zachary’s … he held an after party at his place, pretty much everyone crashed there,” she said without an ounce of guilt.

Julie rubbed her face and sighed, “Kells …”

“Wait … wait … before you say anything, I told Nathan about it, and he was okay with it,” she stopped her from going at her.

“What? You mean he knows about you and Zach?”

“No! He knew there was a party at Zach’s and everyone was going to crash there including me,” Kelsey put her phone on it’s handle and started to drive.

“Don’t you think it’s even worse? Him agreeing to you staying at a guy’s house that … I can’t even say it out loud,” she lowered her voice.

“I didn’t sleep with him last night, Jules, I promise.”

Kelsey’s vague statement didn’t fool her, but she wasn’t going to start a fight. “Okay, just leave it at that, Kells, have you talked to him today? He said he called you yesterday and voicemail.”

“Yeah, I called him this morning … even showed him the room I was staying … by myself,” she said proudly.

Julie sat up on her bed, her head felt a little heavy, “What did he say?”

“Nothing much … other than he missed me, and that he had a great time last night with you and your date … when are you going to tell me about that, anyway?”

Julie cringed, covered her face with one hand, “It was hardly a date, he’s a colleague at Ardor and he pretty much drank himself to sleep last night because I was having too much fun with the band … Oh God … I think he’s still passed out in the living room.”

Kelsey burst out laughing, it was so loud she had to lower the volume, “God, Jules … you really need to learn how to do these things or you’ll never have a boyfriend ever again … ever!!”

“I know right? I’m so bad at this … look, I gotta go, I have to check on him, I feel bad now that you mentioned it.”

“Okay … okay … I’ll let you go, I’m going back to the dorm anyways, call me later, babe, love ya’.”

Bits and pieces of last night’s fun were coming together in her head. Things always seemed more natural when alcohol is involved, when morning comes, she starts to see things in a whole different perspective. Was it supposed to be a date? Why did Nathan say it was a date and she didn’t even know it was one? And if he thought it was a date, why the hell did he kiss her on the lips in front of Andy? What? Why the hell did he kiss her on the lips, period?

She tidied her hair and changed into jeans and T-shirt. Waking up after a long night of drinking and partying was not her best look. She stumbled out of her room, not sure what the scene would be like that morning. The first thing she heard was Nathan and Andy talking over breakfast in the dining area. She put on her best smile and greeted them.

“Good morning Rocker Girl … boy you really did had your fun last night, didn’t you?” said Nathan.

Andy was sipping his coffee, his eyes sharply directed at her, “Good morning.”

“Good morning,” she replied as enthusiastic as she could with a mild hangover.

“Just in time for breakfast,” Nathan was preparing greasy breakfast sets for all three of them.

“So … how did you sleep last night?” Julie sat next to Andy and grabbed a fork.

He laughed to conceal his embarrassment, followed by a nod. “It was good actually, I slept like a baby … I don’t remember much after the fireworks though, I’m sorry you had to carry me all the way here.” He was almost blushing.

Nathan sat in front of them with his plate, “Hey, no worries man, everyone’s entitled to have fun once in a while … right, Julie?”

She laughed, the body surf was a lot of fun. Rock music was her comfort zone, it frees her spirit. She didn’t say anything to respond to it, but they looked at each other with a knowing smile.

Andy cleared his throat, “Let’s dig in,” he uncomfortably broke the staring contest.

He thought last night was awkward, he felt like a third wheel that morning just the same. He listened along in their conversation, smiled and nodded without being able to join in. Whatever he was planning to do with Julie was not happening for him. Especially when the day ended with Nathan sending him to an advanced Barista course in January, completely cutting his shifts without the chance to work at the same hours as Julie for the next three months.