Everywhere, All At Once

Chapter 2 - Unpretty

Kenna opened her eyes and found herself with her face pressed against her pillow, long brown hair lying every which way around her head. Someone had covered her with a blanket and left her a bucket beside the bed in case she needed to throw up. It looked like she had used it at some point, too. Gross.

With a groan, she rolled over, shielding her eyes from the light peeking through the sides of the curtain covering her window. When her stomach lurched, she wondered why she did this to herself all the time. She would never drink again. She was getting too old for this. Her hangovers lasted way more than half a day now she was over twenty-five. She'd be stuck in bed or with her face in the toilet for most of the day and have a headache well into tomorrow.

Trying to recall the night before, she tried to gauge if it'd at least been worth it. There had been some amazing nights that had resulted in awful hangovers, but they'd been worth it. She couldn't remember anything past eating dinner and Noelle telling Mr. Reed that she liked him. She groaned again. God. She was still so embarrassed. It wasn't even that big of deal, really. Kids had crushes on teachers all the time. He'd even said so himself. Totally normal. Harmless. But still.

It wasn't as if she babysat for the Reeds anymore though. He lived in a town thirty minutes away, or at least he had when she'd seen him last. She wouldn't have to see him for a long time, if ever. And by then, hopefully they both would have forgotten that embarrassing moment.

Kenna eased herself out of her bed and, pinching her nose, lifted her bucket of puke and took it into the bathroom. After cleaning it out, and puking once again, into the toilet this time, she trudged back out into her living room where her three friends slept; one on the couch, one on the recliner, and one on the floor atop a pile of blankets.

Noelle stirred in the recliner as Kenna put coffee on and chugged a large glass of water and three ibuprofen.

"How're ya feeling, champ?" Noelle asked.

Kenna snorted and let that suffice as her answer.

Noelle snorted right back. "Yeah, I bet. You were trashed my friend. Absolutely trashed."

Kenna cringed. "I'm sorry. I know you didn't sign up for babysitting duty last night."

Noelle shrugged and sat up, Nelson and Breah now stirring. "Whatever. I knew it was a possibility once Juan showed his stupid face. I got you, girl. Even if I wanted to punch you in the throat by the end of the night."

Kenna smiled. "Thanks. I honestly don't remember much."

"Do you remember dancing on the bar?" Nelson mumbled from his spot on the ground.

Oh, God. "No. Please, please tell me that was the extent of my foolery."

Noelle and Nelson made eye contact, and Kenna knew from that look alone that she'd been really terrible last night.

"Well, you had a good time. A lot of dancing and grinding with different guys. Some girls."

Kenna felt a stab of shame. She'd been a mess in public before, but she usually used better judgment when she was around people she knew, people whose opinions she mildly cared about, or at least that her friends cared about.

"Threw shots back like a boss, though," Noelle added, trying to be helpful.

"Wonderful," Kenna mumbled, shoving her butt into the corner of the couch that wasn't occupied by Breah's legs. "That doesn't sound that bad, though. No worse than, you know, usual."

"What they don't want to tell you is that you embarrassed the fuck out of yourself with that teacher before we dragged you out of there," said Breah in that self-satisfied voice Kenna loved so much.