Distant Lands

I wake up with my head throbbing. I place my hands on my head. Oh no, I’m a blackout type of drunk, I realize. I uncover myself and find I’m still wearing last night’s outfit. Well, at least I’m not naked. I feel ashamed not knowing how I got back to my room. I don’t remember much.

I feel the desperate need to brush my teeth and shower. Forcing myself up from bed, I head to the bathroom. I turn the shower on hot and then brush my teeth. I unzip my dress and hop into the shower. The hot water washes over me. The steamy water feels so good, and it helps soothe my headache.

I get out, feeling much better, but I still have a headache. I dress in my jeans and comfy black baggy hoodie. I put on my sneakers and grabbed my small bag. I head out to the souvenir shop in search of a painkiller.

I walk towards the elevators but notice a guy walking up the staircase to the third floor. He looks so familiar. He stops at the top to admire the painting on the wall.

I walk in his direction. I’ll say hello. I’ll just apologize if it’s a Stanger. But the closer I get, the clearer it becomes that I know this guy. I stand behind him. He doesn’t seem to notice me.

My breathing becomes heavy, and I can hardly speak.

“Nate? Nate, is that you!?” I yell.

He turns around slowly and crosses his arms nervously.

“Oh, heey Liz, how are you?” he greets me like we haven’t seen each other in years.

I just stare at him with a furious look on my face, unable to utter a word.

“I was just passing by, you know, I was in...the neighborhood,” he says, smiling.

Breathing hard, I grab his arm and pull him toward my room.

“Ow,” he complains, smiling, “I swear Liz, I didn’t want to come, I was...”

“Shut up!” I interrupted him.

“Oh, okay,” he says.

We go into my room, and I close the door. Nate walks over to the bed and sits down.

“What the hell are you doing here, Nate!” I yell angrily. I rub my forehead, my headache is getting worse, and my head feels like it’s going to explode. Nate looks like he is suppressing a laugh; it’s pissing me off even more.

“Calm down, I can explain,” he says calmly.

“Explain!? Explain what!?” I yell.

“I was only...”

“No! I-I can’t believe you would do this. You betrayed me. Nate, you just betrayed our friendship!” I yell. He looks at me, shocked, and gets up angry.

“Me!? No, you, Liz! You betrayed our friendship! You lied to your family and me. Then you asked me to lie for you,” he says, crossing his arms. I stay quiet. He’s right; I did lie. But only because I know how my family is. I’m not sure why Nate is here, but I’m pretty sure my family sent him.

“I’m fine. You can leave now,” I say, sitting on the couch.

“Oh really?” he says, taking a seat next to me.

“From what I saw last night, you showed that you are not fine on your own,” he says. I look at him.

“What do you mean? I didn’t do anything wrong,” I say.

“Oh, Liz, you don’t want to know what you did,” he says, smiling. Now I’m growing concerned. I remember drinking and dancing, but I can’t recall most of the night. I give him a questioning look.

“Liz, you got so wasted, you started doing a sexy dance, then you got up on a table and kept dancing, you lifted your dress, started flashing people. People were just staring at you. It was embarrassing,” he says, shaking his head. I picture everything Nate tells me that I did, and I am full of shame.

“I did that? I flashed people?” I ask, almost crying.

“Ha! no, but you were close to doing it. You did do a sexy dance, though. And if I hadn’t come along to save you, who knows what would have happened to you,” Nate says. I look at him, annoyed.

“You don’t believe me?” he asks. He takes out his phone and shows me a clip of me drinking and dancing. The evidence shows that I was doing a sexy dance, and guys were staring at me. Then he shows me a picture of me, knocked out on a bench. Oh my god, I start to feel my face going red.

“You see? That’s you, drunk. So much for being able to take care of yourself, Liz,” he says. He gets up and walks over to the bed, and sits down.

“Your brothers are concerned about you, Liz. They asked me to come here. I don’t know what they will say about this,” he shakes his phone in the air. I get up and walk to him.

“You’re not going to send that to them,” I say.

“I am,” he says.

I jump on Nate, trying to take the phone away. We both fall back onto the bed. He laughs, holding the phone tight in his hand.

“Erase that! Now!” I yell.

“No!” he yells back.

I fight hard to get a hold of the phone, and it’s slipping out of his hand. I manage to pry the phone away from him. Nate grabs both of my wrists, and he rolls his body on top of mine. Nate pins me down and snatches the phone back from my grasp. My anger and energy, now diminished, I look away. Defeated, I start to feel upset, and my eyes begin to water.

“Do what you want, Nate. I don’t care anymore,” I say. My eyes begin to blur from the tears trying to spill from my eyes. Nate quickly gets off from me.

“Liz,” he says, sitting beside me, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you,” he says. I sit up on the bed, and the tears flow down my face, and I quickly wipe them away with my hands.

“I’m fine. I just need to be alone right now,” I say.

“Okay, can I meet you in the dining hall for dinner?” he asks.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” I say. Nate begins to walk away but stops and turns around.

“Oh, I’m in room R16,” he says. He looks down to the floor, “Also, last night you kissed Diego. In case you didn’t remember,” he says, then exits the room. Bits and pieces of memory start to come back. I cover my face with both of my hands and lay back on the bed, wondering what else I did while wasted.