Behind the Strings Read Online Free PDF Page B

my house to get to my bed. What I didn’t remember, though, is why when I woke up that morning I rolled over to find that I hadn’t gone to bed alone.
     

 
    8
    I had to rub my eyes a few times to get a clear vision of Logan, facing me from the other side of my bed. His eyes were closed, shoulders bare and hands grasping tightly onto the pillow where his head lay. My hands lifted up the sheets that covered both of us and I let out a heavy breath to see that both of us remained clothed.
    As soon as I pulled my head from the pillow the room began to spin around me. I plopped it back down and moaned. My agony was loud enough to startle Logan out of his sleep. I saw his eyes open and I turned slowly towards him, my hands grasping at my head.
    “Good morning, sleeping beauty,” he said.
    He lifted himself up onto his forearm and reached over to pat the top of my head.
    “Oh, Logan, please stop.”
    “Those weren’t the words you were saying to me last night.”
    I froze for a moment then looked wide-eyed at him. My mouth was moving, but my lips couldn’t seem to formulate any words. I tried so hard to remember the night before, but short of reaching the final stair to the second floor, there was nothing.
    “It’s okay, I won’t hold it against you.”
    “I’m so sorry, I don’t…”
    I sat up quickly, forgetting the significance of my hangover until I was fully upright. I placed my hand over my mouth, threw the sheets off of me and ran to the bathroom. Damn that whiskey. Nothing ever good came from it.
    “Everything all right in there?” Logan asked.
    I could see him peeking through the bathroom door. With my head hung over the toilet, I nodded. It took me a couple of minutes to gather myself up; then, sluggishly, I brushed my teeth and slipped back into bed. I was alone only for a minute when Logan returned with a glass of water and a bottle of aspirin.
    “Thought you might need this,” he said.
    “Thanks.” I dumped out a couple aspirin and swallowed them. I returned my head to my pillow and curled my knees into my chest. With my eyes closed I tried to speak. “Logan, did we really…” I couldn’t get the words out.
    “Have sex?” he finished my sentence for me. “No, I was just playing with you.”
    “Oh my god. Seriously? Not funny,” I said, flailing my arm in his direction.
    “I thought your reaction was quite amusing, actually. Well worth it. But no, I would never take advantage of a drunk girl on any occasion, you especially.”
    “Good to know,” I said. Then I asked for a play by play to debunk any other facts I might possibly misinterpret as I sobered up.
    Apparently the cab I got into was the back of Jesse’s Mustang. Neither Logan nor I were in any state to drive so Jesse offered his services. I was so thankful I at least made it to my driveway instead of anywhere inside his car before the alcohol really hit me.
    “Yeah, you were kind of a mess,” Logan said as he lay back down beside me. “I didn’t want to leave you here all alone. I slept on the couch most of the night, but I think I was too tired to walk downstairs the last time I came up to check on you, so I just crashed.”
    “You’re a good friend.”
    “Yeah, I know.”
    We both laughed and then Logan had the horribly awful idea to ask me if I was ready for breakfast. The thought or smell of anything at that point would most likely send me back to the bathroom. I flailed my arm at him one more time before I pulled the covers back over me and slept the day away.
     

 
    9
    By Monday morning, all that was left of this past weekend’s hangover was a minimal appetite. My headache was gone; everything around me had stopped spinning in circles and the bathroom was no longer my most trusted companion. You know you’re growing up when it takes longer and longer to recover from a night of drinking.
    “I come bearing gifts,” Jaycie shouted as she burst through the front door.
    She never knocked anymore. This place may as