Page 8 of Inside the Penalty Box

The second the cool night air hit me, I started shaking. I walked as fast as I could to warm up, but I was frozen. Perhaps I wasn’t cold and it was just anxiety. I couldn’t believe what had happened, and as I made my way back to my room, I felt dirty. I wondered if this was what my mother felt like because if it was, it wasn’t worth it.

My stomach turned more and more the closer I got to my room, and before I made it, I found myself bent over, throwing up in the bushes. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. What had I just done? This definitely wasn’t something I’d ever do again, I thought to myself as I approached the door to my room, throwing up one more time in the bushes.

I tapped my keycard, stepped inside, slipped my shoes off, and tiptoed to my bed, quickly shedding my skirt. I crawled into bed, lay on my back and stared up at the ceiling, swallowing down the never-ending feeling of regret that was already settling in and vowed to myself never to mention the events of this night to anyone.

* * *

One thing I knew my mother never did was lose sleep over these types of things, which proved to me I’d probably made the worst mistake ever. I’d tossed and turned most of the night, the entire evening replaying over in my mind. I’d even thrown up one more time before the sun rose. When I decided I’d tortured myself enough, I got up early, took a hot shower, popped a motion sickness pill, and made my way down to the lobby bar to get a coffee before breakfast. I needed to clear my mind before the girls got to me, and the only way for me to do that was to be alone.

I sat at a table that seated five and sipped on my black coffee, a plate full of food in front of me. I’d already taken a walk on the beach, looking for little shells to divert my attention to anything but last night. Once the buffet opened, I wandered up and filled a plate full of fresh fruit and returned to the table, and now I sat looking out over the water. I was about to shove a piece of papaya into my mouth when I saw my friends approaching. Everyone looked well-rested, except Willow. She looked rough.

The four of them wandered over to the table and sat down.

“Didn’t hear you come in last night. Or leave this morning,” Lorelai said, shoving her beach bag under her chair before sitting down.

“Yeah, I was super quiet, didn’t want to wake you,” I lied, not wanting to give any hints to what had happened last night after I’d left Willow. However, she lowered her sunglasses and gave me a questioning look.

“Willow didn’t come in until the wee hours of the morning.” Adalyn giggled.

“Must have been a good night.” Hannah laughed.

I looked at Willow, practically begging her not to say anything about me, only it did little good.

“It was, but I think you should all ask Aurora how her night was.” She giggled, dropping her glasses back down to cover her bloodshot eyes.

All three girls looked at me, wondering what it was Willow was talking about. I looked at Willow, trying to hide the fact that I wanted to kill her for saying anything at all, then I turned to look at the girls.

“Well, come on, don’t keep this a secret. We want all the details,” Lorelai cried.

“Yeah, spill it.” Hannah laughed. “It’s probably way too good to keep to yourself.”

“Was he tall, dark, and handsome? Did he slip you the tongue, or better yet…something else?” Adalyn questioned, resting her chin on her hand, her eyes full of curiosity.

I felt my cheeks flush at her suggestion because that was exactly what had happened, in exactly that order. I didn't want to tell them anything. The first thing they’d wonder was his name, and I didn’t—huge tramp that I was—even know it. I mean, who the hell agrees to not exchange names? My stomach turned at the thought that I’d slept with a guy I knew nothing about. He could have had anything, I thought, beginning to panic only to remember he had worn a condom.

As I glanced around the table at my friends, I could see the questions in their eyes while I looked over at Willow, seriously ready to hurt her. How had she even seen me leave with him?

“Ask her what time she got in?” Willow giggled, knowing full well she was getting under my skin.

The three of them looked at me. “What time?” Lorelai asked, mild concern beginning to line her face.

Once again, I said nothing. I just glared at Willow, who sat there looking back at me, looking proud of herself, which made me wonder if she really hadn’t orchestrated the entire thing.

“What is going on, Aurora?” Lorelai questioned. “Are you alright?”

Everyone was quiet as they waited for me to respond. Then Willow cleared her throat and leaned forward.

“I saw her pinned up against the wall outside that guy’s room as he sucked on her neck around one in the morning.” Willow laughed, looking at me over the frame of her sunglasses.

“You didn’t!” Lorelai cried with excitement.

“Oh my god, you reclaimed yourself!” Adalyn cried as Hannah shook me with excitement.

“Tell us all about it!” Hannah exclaimed, while Lorelai looked at me with shock.

I buried my head in my hands, wishing I could hide from their eyes, but I couldn’t. I was so ashamed and knew that this was why I didn’t want to tell my friends. I couldn’t imagine how my mother ever felt good about doing stuff like this.

“Girls, give her a moment to digest what has happened. Go get some food, you’ll need it, because I have a feeling this story is going to be explosive!” Willow said, digging into her beach bag and pulling out some headache pills.

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