Page 64 of This is Me

Miscommunication

True to Blaire’s word, no one was at her house when we arrived, and they wouldn’t be back until Monday afternoon. At least, everyone aside from Jordan, as he hadn’t gone to the swim meet. Which meant I had one more afternoon without worry. Without questions. I could try to relax—which is what I did.

Thankfully, Blaire kept quiet too, knowing how much stress I was under—especially when it came to my parents. It gave me time to try and clear my mind, which was something I desperately needed to do. Eventually, as I laid in Blaire’s room as darkness began to overtake it, I fell asleep.

I wasn’t sure how I managed to fall asleep, considering the plan to clear my mind had not worked one bit. Add the fact that I may have done the most idiotic thing I could ever do.

I had no idea how long I had been asleep for, but as I slowly started to stir, my brain began to throb. Trying to shake it away, I did my best to fall back asleep, but to no avail.

Sighing to myself, I strained my eyes open and was met with the darkness that had enveloped the room. I rolled over in Blaire’s bed—which she surprisingly hadn’t tried to kick me out of—I looked to see if there was a clock anywhere in the room. I had no luck, however, and, instead, threw my hand onto the bedside table and felt around blindly to try to find a phone, either my own or Blaire’s.

I knew that I hadn’t put my phone there when we arrived, but maybe Blaire had put hers there. As I felt around, knocking a few things over, an alarm started blaring around the room, and a phone next to my hand lit up and began to vibrate, scaring the shit out of me.

“Turn it off,” I heard Blaire mumble from somewhere in the room as I reached for the now visible phone.

Listening to the alarm as I picked the phone up, I realised that is sounded familiar, and tugging the phone from the charger, I saw that it was mine.

Swiping to shut the alarm off, I looked at the time.

“What the fuck!” I yelled, sitting up in Blaire’s bed, causing my head to pound in pain.

“Ugh, what?” Blaire groaned, and I threw the blankets off me and stood up.

“It’s already Monday morning!” I stated, scooting carefully around Blaire’s room to reach the light switch.

“Yeah, I know. Just let me have a little more sleep,” Blaire said as I turned the light on, and she yelled. “Pete, what the fuck?”

“It does not feel like I’ve been asleep for that long!”

“You sound like every person who has to get up early in the morning to do things,” Blaire said with a chuckle, sitting up, and I turned to see her rubbing her eyes.

“I need more time,” I muttered, looking down at my phone to see messages and missed calls from my parents and Andy.

“You’re not going to have a panic attack, are you?” Blaire asked, watching me carefully, and I shook my head.

“I-I don’t think so.”

My breathing was heavier, and I could feel myself getting sweaty, but I was partially confident I wasn’t going to freak out. Though, I had every right, too.

“Just go for a shower. Maybe hot water will help,” Blaire suggested, and I nodded.

Throwing my phone onto the mattress Blaire was on, I turned around and walked out of Blaire’s room and down the narrow hall. Once in the tiny bathroom, I grabbed a spare towel from under the sink and got ready to shower.

I wished I could have stayed under the water for longer, but I knew I couldn’t prolong what was to come, no matter how hard I tried, and I was soon standing back in Blaire’s room with a towel around my waist.

After all, I was a complete idiot who forgot to take my clothes with me.

“Wow, you still look like crap,” Blaire stated, inspecting my face. “When was the last time you actually had a proper sleep?”

Grabbing my phone from the mattress and knotting my eyebrows, I tried to think.

“Uh,” was all I could get out, not being able to think of an answer.

The truth was, excluding the previous night, I hadn’t slept in a very long time. With everything that was playing on my mind, I hadn’t been able to get into a restful sleep for more than an hour.

“My point. Now, can you put some clothes back on?” Blaire asked, falling back onto the single mattress set up on the floor.

“Uh, yes, of course,” I muttered, feeling my face heat up. “You should also get ready for school. We need to leave soon to pick up the guys and go to the coffee place,” I said, scanning the small bedroom for my bag, which I found sitting at the end of Blaire’s bed.