I came to groggily.  My window was open, letting in cold air.  My room was dark.  I wondered if I had been dreaming.  I sat up and noticed a paper bracelet on my wrist.  What the hell?  Had I been to the hospital?  For a moment I panicked, wondering what had happened.  My heart pounded as my head swirled.

            In the darkness I struggled to read it by starlight.  It said “age of majority” on it.  I realized someone had checked my ID to see if I could continue drinking.  That was funny.  I didn’t remember that.  I didn’t even remember coming back to the dorm.  I checked the clock.  It read 4:17.  I had lost about five hours.

            I got off the bed and noticed my garbage can beside it, with a little puke at the bottom.  I wrinkled my nose.  My stomach churned and I ran to the bathroom.  I got to a toilet just in time.  I felt my stomach lurch and only a little came out, but the dry heaves lasted a long, painful time.  I guessed my stomach must have been pretty empty by then.

            I drank a lot of water from the fountain, feeling wrung out.  I looked at my face, haggard in the mirror, and washed vomit out of my beard.  I then went back to my room.  I got out of my clothes and put on some clean track pants and a sweatshirt.  I wandered down the hallway, keeping my ears open for signs of life.  Occasionally I had to touch the wall for support, as I found myself weaving and wobbly.

            I found it in the common room.  Several people from the bar were still up and watching a movie.  I entered to applause, and blushed.

            “Not bad for a first time,” Mandy said.  “You only made a complete ass of yourself, which is normal.”  She giggled.

            “What happened?” I asked.

            “You don’t remember?”  Jon asked.

            “Not after you told me to remember to eat,” I said sheepishly.

            Jon laughed.  “You drank seven beers after that, with vodka shooters in between.”

            “And then you flirted with every girl in the bar.  And knocked over a table.”  Mandy said.

            “And you quoted the Wedding Singer when you threw up:  ‘Alcohol equals puke, equals smelly mess, equals nobody likes you.’  It was pretty classic.” Jon laughed.

            I blushed and ran a hand through my hair.  “That’s embarrassing.”

            “Yeah, well, the best was saying that, according to Einstein, ‘after the Big Bang the constant light made separate realities.  I’m still sober in one of them, so it’s okay to be drunk here.’  That was funny.”

            I blushed, running my hand over my face.  That fit some of the things I’d thought about when sober, but it was all mixed up.  “I’m an idiot!”

            “It’s no big deal.  Everyone there was your friend, and we don’t care.  Dan made sure you were royally drunk, so no one expected polite behaviour.”  Mandy said kindly.

            “How do you feel?”  Jon asked.

            “Like crap.”  I said

            “I’m surprised you’re awake.  Drink a lot of water, it will help with the hangover.”  Mandy suggested.

            “Thanks for the advice.”  I huddled on the couch and sat through the remainder of the movie before heading off to return to my room.

            I checked on my coat before returning to bed.  Thankfully, I found my wallet in my pocket.  I also found a folded piece of paper that hadn’t been there when I left.  I unfolded the scrap.

            Someone had drawn a heart, and inside it placed their phone number and the words “Call me!”  I put it on my desk, unable to remember where it came from.

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