Chapter 34

Hannah

God, I felt awful. I turned over and blearily reached for the water and aspirin Nikolai directed me to put by my bedside. I had to admit, I was grateful for it. My mouth felt like it has been pasted together and my head was banging like someone was playing a tiny percussion instrument inside of it. After taking the water and medicine, I flopped back in my bed and reflected on the many, many things that happened in the last twenty-four hours. It was almost too much to absorb.
I reached over for my cell phone on the nightstand and found a hilarious drunken text from Ava that she sent at 3:30 a.m.
Ava: Hannnnnnnnahhh, so glab we hung ot! Love u girl! Y did you let Jack tak me home??? I made some bad decisns. ://
I guess we’d exchanged numbers at some point last night. I laughed again at her horrible spelling, and then found myself incredibly curious about her bad decision-making. Did she hook up with Jack? I saw that it was ten o’clock, and, not certain of what time she usually got up, sent her a text to see if she was awake.
My phone soon lit up with an incoming phone call from Ava.
“Hey, how do you feel?” I mocked gently, because, seriously, I had no room to talk.
“Ha! I could ask you the same question!” Ava responded, laughing.
“I know, I know. Trust me, I’m feeling it right now,” I said and took another slug of water.
“Oh my god, I know, I’m dying over here.”
“So, do you realize you sent me a text last night?” I asked Ava.
“What? I did? Oh, Jesus, hold on, I want to read it really quick.” There was a short pause while she, I assumed, read the text.
“Oh my god!” she squealed. “I can’t believe I sent that!”
“So, do you mind telling me about your bad decisions?”
“Holy shit, Hannah. This is so embarrassing. I kind of made out with Jack last night. Well, made out and a little more.” I could practically feel her blushing over the phone.
“Whoa, tell me everything! What is making out and a little more?” I wondered if what Nikolai and I had done would be termed that way. I thought people used bases for this kind of thing. First base was kissing, and so on. I was so out of the loop.
“Well, we made out for a little while. Then…we did other stuff.”
“Ava! You cannot hold out on me. Look, I know we only really became friends like five minutes ago, but I like you, and I have gossip to share with you, too. So spill!”
“You do? What? Did something happen between you and Nikolai? Tell me!” she insisted.
I sighed. “You see the irony here, right?”
Ava sighed too. “Okay, I get it. Full disclosure, okay?”
“Deal,” I replied. It was fun to have a girlfriend to confide in. It was also fun to actually have noteworthy events to confide about to said girlfriend.
“Okay, well, my memory isn’t one hundred percent, here, but Jack took me home and parked in my driveway. I think we got into a little fight about, something, I don’t even remember. Then all of sudden, we were kissing. I felt like we kissed for hours, but it was probably like fifteen minutes or something. He is an awesome kisser, Hannah, I’m not kidding.” Her seriousness when relaying that information was kind of funny.
“So, after the kissing?” I prompted.
“Okay, let’s put it this way, we both walked away satisfied from the experience.”
I sat up straighter. “Did you have sex?”
“What? No! I just meant we both walked away with an orgasm.”
“Oh, well, that’s more than Nikolai left with,” I blurted out.
“Oh, do tell!” Ava demanded good-naturedly, switching gears from her story to mine.
“Well, there isn’t that much to really tell. Like you, we kissed and a little more. Although, it sounds like you guys did a little more than the little more than we did,” I said.
“Ha! So, from what it sounds like, you got yours, but Nikolai got left high and dry?” I winced, remembering just how turned on he had obviously been.
“Ugh, when you say it like that, I feel so guilty! I sort of offered to help him out, but he refused.”
“Well, in that case, enjoy his generosity,” Ava replied logically. “I mean, if he refuses, what are you supposed to do? Overpower him and pleasure him against his will?” I laughed at the image, but realized she was right.
“So…you don’t think it has anything to do with me? That he didn’t want me to…take care of him? Or maybe he didn’t feel comfortable asking?” I asked, my fears about his refusal surfacing.
Ava was silent for a moment. “Well, Hannah, Nikolai does not strike me as someone that is shy about getting his needs met. And if his behavior last night is anything to go by, he is plenty into you. I mean, this was supposed to be an act, right? If he’s making out with you in his car, who is he acting for? No one. It means he really must be attracted to you.”
My ego was blossoming under her flattering analysis. “Thank you, that sounds reasonable. It’s hard to stay objective about all of this.”
“You obviously like him. It’s impossible to look at any situation with a guy reasonably when you like him,” Ava said with certainty.
If this was what it was like in every relationship, I couldn’t disagree with her.
“Okay, we’ll have to wait and see what he does now. Should I text him, or wait for him to text me?” In that moment, I was feeling so grateful I had Ava to confide in and question about this stuff. I was so clueless.
“Hmmm, I suppose you could send him one text and see what happens.”
“Okay. Back to you, what’s going on with you and Jack now?”
I could hear Ava flop back on what I assumed was her bed. “I have no idea. I don’t know what to do with him, Hannah. I know his track record with girls. It’s about a million times worse than Nikolai’s,” she finished glumly. I couldn’t exactly disagree, though I wanted to, for her sake. I mean, she definitely liked Jack, but Jack had gotten around.
“Okay, you can look at his history and conclude he isn’t a safe bet, but then again, look at Nikolai. I mean, who would have thought he would actually treat me like a real girlfriend? Based on his reputation, that’s really out of character. Did Jack do anything that you’d consider out of character?”
Ava was silent for so long, I thought our connection had been dropped. I actually pulled the phone way from my face to see if we were still connected. “Ava?”
Ava moaned. “God, Hannah, this is so fucking embarrassing.”
“What? What are you talking about?” I asked, puzzled.
“I actually asked him to have sex with me. I mean, I was totally wasted but not that wasted that I didn’t know what I was asking for. He said no.”
Now I was the one who was silent. I could barely process what she was telling me. “He said no?”
“Yep, but then we did the other stuff.”
“Did he give you a reason?”
“Yes, but I don’t really remember what he said because I was pretty mad. He got me out of my bad mood pretty quickly, though,” Ava said, laughing.
“Okay, Jesus, Ava, you don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to see that his behavior is way out of the norm,” I responded, still shocked that Jack would turn Ava down. He definitely liked her.
“I know, even I’m not that dumb. It just makes me nervous because of his reputation.”
I nodded my head. “Fair enough. I guess he’ll have to prove himself to you.”
“Ugh, I hate games. I don’t want to make him jump through a bunch of dumb hoops. But I also don’t completely trust him,” she reasoned out. “But I also really like him…ughhh, boys suck, Hannah!” She finished on a groan, and I think she was hitting herself in the face with a pillow.
I laughed. “Well, at least we have each other to figure all this stuff out,” I said, hoping it didn’t sound too dorky.
Ava readily agreed. “Yes! I’m so glad we connected last night. I feel like I’ve known you for a hundred years.” I felt this glow inside at her words. My life really felt like it was changing, and for once it was for the better.
We said our goodbyes and promised to text each other if we heard from either Jack or Nikolai. I laid there for a moment, then figured I had better get up and show my face. I was also starving.