Page 26 of Exactly What I Needed
“What happened last night?” she whispered.
More groaning filled the house, and I watched as Katie and Tera both plummeted from the couch, crashing against the rug. Sydney clamped her hands around her ears. “Why is everyone so noisy? It’s too early…”
“It’s eleven, Syd. It’s not that early,” I replied as quietly as I could. Katie and Tera stood from the ground, stretching. Their same outfits from lastnight lay as haphazardly upon their frames as the makeup that left dark smudges beneath their eyes.
A shrill ring pierced the air, and all three girls screeched.
“Make it stop!” Katie shouted.
“Answer your damn phone, Cosi!” Tera exclaimed.
“It’s not mine.” I shrugged my shoulders as Sydney tugged her cell from her sweatpants pocket. I’d helped her change into them last night after she’d puked all over her other outfit.
“It’s mine.” She rubbed her eyes and blinked rapidly, trying to focus on the screen.
All at once, she was no longer hungover. Snapping upright, she gasped. “No. Way!”
“What is it?” I asked.
“Oh my gosh! Why is she calling me back? I can’t believe she’s calling me back! My voicemails must have finally gotten through.” The barstool nearly flipped over as she flung upright and squealed.
“Everyone shut the fuck up! I need to take this,” she said and rammed the phone against her ear. “Hello? This is Sydney Davenport.” She rushed from the room and slammed her door closed.
“I have to pee,” Katie mumbled with a groan, and stumbled down the hallway toward the bathroom. She clicked the door shut as Tera walked my way, scratching an itch on her head. Sliding onto the barstool that Sydney had vacated, I pushed the next mug of coffee her way.
“Thanks,” she said and lifted it to her lips as I turned around to get a third mug, and hopefully the last.
Reaching up, I gripped the handle as Tera spoke again. “I know what happened last night.”
Pausing, my stomach fell to the floor.
“Wha-What do you mean?” I stuttered, hesitantly pulling the mug from the cabinet.
“I wasn’t as drunk as I pretended to be, so I remember everything. And I know what I walked in on when I opened that door.”
Closing the white cabinet, I remained with my back facing Tera. “It’s not what you think,” I replied, panicking.
“So, you didn’t sleep with Asher last night?” she drilled.
“No, I didn’t.” That wasn’t a lie.
“But you were tying your shorts?”
“You really think that there was enough time for both of us to undress, have sex, and get dressed again before you showed up at the room?” I turned around, and the coffee hissed as I poured it into my mug. “Besides, why would someone like him, a famous rock star, have anything to do with the likes of me?”
“True…” she mumbled, taking another sip. “So you haven’t slept with him, at all? Like not once?”
I swallowed stiffly. “No, I haven’t,” I hoarsely said. That lie sucked to tell.
She shook her head and sighed. “What’s going on with you? I could see this coming from Katie, but not you,” Tera replied, narrowing her gaze. Spinning my finger around the top of my mug, I stared at the black liquid. Steam rose upward, the aromatic smell coating my senses did nothing to dull the twinge of guilt boiling within me.
Telling a lie was nothing new. This one, however…
“What do you mean?”
“You’re a terrible liar, Cosi. Always have been. And you just told me a bold-faced lie. Plus, I know he wasn’t looking at Sydney at the concert.” She slid her finger up and down the handle of the mug.
“I-I-I’m not sure what you’re talking about.” I cleared my throat, hiding the phlegm building. This lie was so different. This lie hurt the people I cared about, even if denying myself of Asher hurt me even more.
