I groaned from the dull pain in my head, and rolled over to reach for the bottle of water that always sat by my bed for mornings like this, only to feel my knuckles hit hard wood. I winced and pulled my hand back and then slowly opened my eyes. This was not my room.
I sat up and immediately winced. I felt like throwing up.
“Relax, Sweetie,” a soothing voice whispered next to me. I felt someone place their hands on my shoulders. Who the fuck was touching me? “It’s okay, Babe. Here,” I felt the person’s hand nudge my arm. “Take these. They’ll help with the headache.”
I took the white pills from their hand, while they handed me a glass of water with the other hand. I noticed the rose gold chrome nail color she had, and immediately without thinking blurted out, “You have very pretty nails.”
I heard her laugh, and I felt myself redden. Of course that was the first fucking thing I said. I didn’t even know who she was.
I quickly swallowed the pills and the water, hoping that I would stop blushing. “Sweetie?” I heard her say, “Do you remember anything from last night?”
“Um… I remember going out with my friend… and um… drinking, a lot… There was something happening with fire, or something like that… and uh… I might’ve passed out…?”
“Mhm, and do you know where you are right now?”
I thought for a second and realized I had no idea where I was, or how I had gotten here. “Um… Where’s Callie?”
“She’s with Roman,” she said as she moved so she was sitting directly behind me. I felt her hands move to my back around my shoulder blades, rubbing in little circles. “She’ll be fine.”
I moved to face her, achieving a sharp pain in my head. Her hands dropped, and she smiled. “Who are you, just by the way?”
“Oh, I’m Roman’s sister, Ellie.” She took my hands in hers. “It’s very nice to meet you.” She softly moved her thumb back and forth across my hand, while still smiling.
I raised an eyebrow at her, and took my hands from her. What did she think she was doing? I obviously had Callie to look forward to, and I needed to focus on her, especially since this break seemed like a good chance to get on her good side.
“Oh Honey, please don’t be like that.” She directed me to turn back around, then wrapped her arms around me. “Roman has told me a lot about you, and your papers and the interviews that you had your friend fill in for. You seem like such a sweet little thing, don’t ruin it and be mean now.” She moved one of her hands up, and ran her fingers through my hair.
“Um. I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but if you haven’t noticed, I have Callie-”
“Callie? You honestly think you have that girl?” She sneered, before she went back to petting my head. “No… Roman has her, Babe. And to be honest… I’m a little jealous that my little brother has found someone before I have… But you’re so sweet. We could be…” She paused for a moment. “Well, we could be something too…”
I pushed her hand away from my hair, and myself away from her. “Look, I get that you’re upset about your little brother or whatever, but I don’t even know you.”
“Yeah… I understand that… But we could get to know each other. We wouldn’t have to be alone. We could be together, or at least try to.”
I leaned back. Maybe I was being too picky and needed to expand my people interest. I mean, how bad could getting to know someone be? Even if a relationship didn’t work out, maybe we could be friends, and I wasn’t complaining about making new friends. However… She wanted me, or at least she enjoyed the idea of having someone to be with. But Callie was still here… And she- I felt the hurt grow, and I bit down on my lip to stop myself from whimpering.
I would feel like I was betraying her… I remembered last week when it felt like she was doing the same to me, even though she owed me nothing. I could still taste the bitterness. I wanted to be with Callie, not the sister of a stuck-up prick who was stealing my girl.
Ellie though… I glanced at her, with her puppy dog eyes. I could give her a chance, and maybe my interest in Callie would fade and I would start liking her, and then I would finally be with someone I wanted to be with.
I took her hands in mine and smiled at her. “You know, maybe we could try something.” Even though I felt better about not rejecting her, something cold and dark crept upon me. The hurt in my chest grew, and I felt like I was going to cry.
She smiled and stood up. She kissed the top of my head, “You know, you’re much cuter when you’re agreeing with me.” She left the room, shutting out most of the light, probably because of the hangover and all. But she left me with my own thoughts, and feeling even more cold and alone than ever.
