CHASE HOME
The softness of the down comforter
deflates under Courtney's
body. The feathers fall and then rise again,
reaching up to caress her and soothe the tension and exhaustion of last
night.
She lies there, eyes closed, pillow
held tightly to her head, body melting into the bed, for several minutes.
She slept a few hours at Whitney's before Jason drove her home this morning,
but it was fitful, unfulfilling sleep, and now it feels like it didn't
happen at all.
Jason practically dragged her to
that bedroom in Whitney's house. They managed to snag some blankets and
pillows, and find some open space on the floor. And Jason wanted to go
to sleep right away. He refused to tell her anything about what had sent
Lauren flying from the room.
Even when Courtney tried to move
away from whatever that drama was, Jason didn't seem very interested. He
returned her kisses halfheartedly and was almost totally unresponsive to
her touches. Eventually she managed to fall into a hazy sleep, but thoughts
of Lauren running away and Jason and Alex's strange behavior kept weaving
themselves in and out of her consciousness.
When she woke up before dawn this
morning, she was hoping she'd be able to get up and find Lauren, but climbing
over all the bodies and combing all the rooms in search of her -- especially
considering the toll last night's partying did -- didn't seem appealing
enough to do. And when she and Jason finally got up and left, Lauren was
gone.
Now she realizes that, like last
night, these thoughts are overriding her sleep. It's not happening now
... and it won't until the situation gets figured out, she has a feeling.
Lazily she lies buried in the covers
for a few minutes longer. Finally she reaches out and grabs the phone off
of the nightstand and punches in the very familiar sequence of numbers.
The answer comes on the second ring.
"Hello?"
"Lauren! Hey," Courtney says. "How
are ya?"
"Um ..." The pause on the other end
of the line is full of drama just waiting to be told. "I just got out of
the shower. So at least I feel like a decent human being again."
"Did you just get home?"
"Hour, hour and a half ago. I had
to eat something before I showered. I was staaaaarving."
"Staaaaaarving, huh?" Courtney laughs.
"Yup. So ... how was your night last
night?"
"Not bad. Nothing too great. But,
uh ..."
"What?"
Courtney hesitates, and then: "Laur,
what happened last night? I saw you flying outta that room like a bat out
of hell. Jason and Alex wouldn't tell me what went on."
"Court ... Hey, listen, you wanna
get together and talk about this? I think it'd just be easier in person."
"Oh, uh, yeah, sure. Where and when?"
"Cassie's? Half an hour? Is that
okay? I just don't feel like sleeping right now. Maybe it'd be better to
do something and try to talk about it." She sighs and her exhaustion carries
over the phone line. "Besides, I could go for a huge cup of coffee right
now."
"Yeah, that sounds good. I'll see
ya there."
"'Kay. Bye."
Courtney hangs up the phone and springs
out of bed. She begins rifling through the closet, looking for something
she can toss on quickly without looking like too much of a mess.
Finally, she thinks as she
pulls on a navy blue Gap sweatshirt. At least someone is being
kind enough to let me back in the loop. Maybe now I'll have some idea of
what the hell is going on.
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