Gen. 5.8-Matthew

My head was pounding. I opened my eyes slowly only to close them again to block out the offending light. Man! What the hell was in that drink? Note to self, don’t let Levi play bartender again!

Someone shifted beside me, I wasn’t alone. I turned my head to see Kia sleeping peacefully beside me. I didn’t even remember Kia being at the party. I just hoped she didn’t freak out when she woke up like the first time we met. She shifted, turning her back to me and that’s when I noticed she was topless. I didn’t know if it was the drink or fear that make my stomach do a flip. Slowly I lifted the covers. Shit! I eased out of bed and quickly pulled on my boxers. One, two, three… Maybe, hopefully we both just passed out before anything happened. As quietly as I could, I exited the room, making my way down the hall to the bathrooms. Levi was exiting the bathroom as I opened the door.

“Matty boy, you look like shit this morning!” he said laughing.

“What the hell man! That drink knocked me on my ass.”

His smile got bigger. “When I saw you and that crazy chick heading up stairs you didn’t appear too knocked out. You can thank the love doctor for that.”

I wracked my fuzzy brain trying to remember. Love doctor….shit, that herb. “You spiked my drink!?”

“Payback Matty boy, payback. You don’t think I know it was you that put liver flavored dog toothpaste in my tube! Besides no harm done, I was actually doing her a favor since Madame Nutcase has been lusting after you all these years. Tell her she can thank me later.”

One, two, three...I did that nearly two weeks ago, I still had the video on my phone. …four, five, six…He invited Kia? He set this all up. My stomach lurched and I pushed past him rushing for a stall. I could hear him laughing as he headed back to his room. Disjointed memories came back. Me kissing her, she helped me upstairs to my room and I couldn’t keep my hands off her.

After emptying my stomach, I rinsed out my mouth and splashed some water on my face. There was still the possibility I passed out. It’s not that I didn’t like Kia, she was pretty and fun to hang around with at times, but she seemed like the type that would want to be serious and I didn’t want that. She was pulling her shirt down just as I walked back into my room. She had the biggest smile on her face.

“Good morning. I’m starving, you think we can…” her words faded. “You okay?”

I nodded, but avoided looking at her as I pulled on my discarded jeans from last night.

“You don’t look okay.”

“Hung over I guess. Look, maybe you should head home. I just need to sleep it off.” I rubbed my neck nervously hoping she’d go without causing a scene.

“I don’t mind staying. After last night…”

“Yeah about that,” I said cutting her off.

She smiled again. “Yeah, it was…”

“A mistake, I know.” I blurted out.

Her smile dropped. “I was going to say great, but…guess you think otherwise.”

Shit! One, two, three… “I...I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just last night, Levi he was messing around and spiked my drink so I wasn’t myself. So…so I’m sorry. I…I wouldn’t have…”

“Slept with the crazy girl!” she finished.

“What? No.”

“I know what everyone thinks of me Matt! They laugh and whisper about me. I…I just thought you were different.” Tears started falling and she quickly turned, looking for her jeans.

This was bad, really bad. I couldn’t believe Levi would do something like this. I felt my anxiety rising. I took deep slow breaths.

“I am Kia, it’s just…we’re friends. You just got dragged into something that shouldn’t have happened.”

She said nothing as she continued to put on her shoes. Her constant sniffling made me feel even more like crap. I started pacing, and counting over and over in my head. My fingers flexed open and close as I tried to figure out how to fix this. Kia got up from the bed wiping her eyes. I was going to kick Levi’s butt for what he did.

“I hope you feel better,” she mumbled before heading towards the door.

I should have stopped her, but hell I didn’t know what to say. So far my attempts to apologize only seemed to make her angrier. After she left, I fell back into bed and slept the rest of the day.

The two weeks of finals were a killer.

I had a hard time concentrating and hoped to hell I passed them. I’d not heard from or seen Kia since she left that day. I’d tried texting and calling, but she wouldn’t respond. Levi and I got into an argument about it. He tried to act like it wasn’t a big deal, just harmless fun, but he didn’t have to deal with the fallout. I knew Kia liked me as more than a friend and I had been careful not to cross the line with her. 

The longer I went without talking to Kia, the more anxious I started to feel. I didn’t like how upset she was when she left. Then again she was forgetful, so maybe she forgot. I quickly dismissed that option; one doesn’t just forget something like that. Three weeks had gone by, and still not a word from Kia. She didn’t even show up to the graduation informational meeting. She was so excited before about this being her last year, for whatever reason, she didn’t think she’d make it through. Her not being at that meeting was the last straw. As much as I hated confrontation, I needed to at least make sure she was okay. It was only once I got to her building that I realized I had no idea where her room was. I’d only been outside since she would normally just come out to meet me.

“Excuse me,” I said to one of the girls coming out of the building. “Do you happen to know which room Kia Borders stays in?”

“What would someone like you want with Crazy Kia?”

Someone like me? What the hell did that mean? “She’s a friend.” I answered ignoring the derogatory label she’d attached to Kia’s name.

“Huh. Who knew the freak had friends, especially one as cute as you.”

“Well she does,” I replied getting pissed at this chick’s attitude. “Do you know which room or not?”

“Yeah, we all know what room she’s in. 24D, but you don’t want to go in there. I’m headed to the Grotto, wanna join me?” She put on what I was guessing to be her flirty smile.

“No.” I walked passed her into the building. It didn’t take me long to find Kia’s room. I knocked. No answer. I knocked again and turned the knob to find the door was unlocked.

A nauseating smell assaulted my nose as soon as I opened the door. The blinds were drawn, but the sun still lit up the room enough for me to see it was a mess. Clothes and food containers were everywhere. How could anyone live like this? How had she not been kicked out of the dorms? On the bed, under the covers was a lump and I wasn’t sure if it was clothes, or Kia, but then it moved.

“Kia!”

“Matt?” she said, sounding groggy. “Wha…what are you doing here?” She peeked out from under the covers to look at me.

 “I’ve been trying to reach you,” I replied walking over to open one of the windows. I desperately needed air flow to help with the smell.

She sat up and I noticed she was wearing my shirt. It was dirty and stained, like she hadn’t washed it in weeks, if not longer, but then again judging by the looks of things that could be the case. I pushed aside my OCD need to start cleaning and focused on my reason for being here.

“I’ve been worried about you.”

“No need, I’m fine.”

“This doesn’t look fine Kia.”

Her face turned red. “Oh my goodness, Matt. You should have called first.” 

She rushed from the bed and started trying to clean up the place. I don’t know if it was the sudden movement, but she wobbled a bit and I barely caught her before she hit the floor.

“I don’t feel so good.” The words were barely out of her mouth before she leaned forward vomiting in the trashcan that sat near the bed. It apparently was the source of the smell, indicating this wasn’t the first time she’d gotten sick.

One…two…three…I counted as I turned towards the open window. I needed the fresh air or I would be getting sick too. I tried to block out the retching sounds behind me. Nine…ten…eleven…

“Sorry,” she mumbled once she’d finished. “I’ve not been feeling well for a few days.”

“Have you gone to the campus clinic?”

She shook her head.

“Maybe you should go shower and then I’ll walk you there.”

She ran her hand through her matted hair but didn’t respond immediately. “I don’t need your pity Matt. We’re graduating. You’re going your way, I’m going mine, so you can forget your lapse in judgment and never worry about your charity case ever again.”

“Charity case? What? So this whole time you’ve thought I was your friend because I felt sorry for you?”

She took a step, wobbling a bit before steadying herself. “I am going to go shower Matt. You can go.”

I watched as she made an unsteady exit from her room. Why was I the bad guy here? I’d been honest with her, I’d always tried to be honest with her. I couldn’t believe she actually thought I’d done all those things with her because I felt sorry for her. Maybe I should just listen to everyone and just leave her alone. As I was leaving her room, I saw people running down the hall. I headed in the direction of the commotion. Some of the girls were laughing and taking pictures, while others expressed concern about needing to call for help. When I got to the group, I saw Kia passed out just outside the bathroom.