Intergalactic Matchmaker

Chapter One: What Happened?

She awakens with a start. It is 7:45 am Sunday morning according to the little black alarm clock sitting on the bedside table, whose green numbers shine much too brightly in the woman's dark room. Her curtains are drawn in an effort to keep the early morning sunlight out and there is a nasty, burning sensation in the back of her throat. Almost instantly, her stomach begins to churn and her head starts to pound. No, no, no, she thinks to herself in a panic, clapping a hand hard over her mouth as she gingerly swings her long legs over the edge of the bed and rolls herself to a standing position. The pounding in her head increases in intensity, quickly becoming pulsating waves of agony and its all she can do to waddle to the bathroom door before last night's drunken meal of pizza, French fries and way too many jalapeno poppers comes up for a surprise reappearance.

Should've seen that one coming... she thinks to herself as she wipes her mouth and slowly pushes herself up off the bathroom floor, clutching at her temples in an effort to keep the massive headache from splitting her head wide open. "Alright, Ana, get it together. You chose to drink, and now you have to suffer the consequences," Ana Shepard mumbles to herself, removing her hands from her head to wash her hands and grab ibuprofen from the medicine cabinet.

Before the medicine has had time to kick in, Ana's bedroom door is thrown open and a shrill voice pierces the air. "Ana! Ana, where - oh, there you are. Jesus, you look like hell, what's the matter with you?" Hailey, Ana's roommate, asks as she rounds the corner into the bathroom, her sparkling blue eyes wide with concern.

"What's wrong with me? Four shots and a bottle of cheap tequila are what's wrong with me," Ana mutters through gritted teeth, green eyes shooting daggers at the cheerful and obviously not hung-over Hailey. "What do you want?" She turns to the mirror and winces at her messy haired, make-up smeared, blotchy reflection. Hailey's right, I look like shit. Grabbing her washcloth off the towel rack and pulling her long, red hair up into a ponytail, Ana gets to work gingerly scrubbing away remnants of last night's makeup.

"Oh, um..." Hailey begins, momentarily forgetting the reason she barged in to her roommate's bedroom so early in the morning after such a long night of drinking. "You know, you really shouldn't have had so much to dri-" Ana stops mid-wash to turn and glare once more at Hailey, who holds her hands up in defense. "I'm just saying. Anyway, uhh... Oh! Yeah, so I was getting on my computer and that website was still up... you have like, 20 messages."

"Hailey, my dear, I have no idea what you're talking about." Ana's voice is muffled as she blots her face dry with a towel, then reaches for her toothbrush.

"You know, that one... um... oh, what's it called. That dating website we signed you up for last night?" She absentmindedly starts snapping her fingers, trying to recall the name.

"What? Dating website? Hailey!" Ana exclaims through a mouth full of minty toothpaste, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "I don't remember signing up for any dating website," she pauses to spit and rinse. "That is all your doing, I'm not taking part in any dating website. And by the way, how on Earth are you not hung over right now?" The redhead glances at Hailey as she re-enters her still dark bedroom. Hailey looks - as usual - perfect though she is dressed in a simple outfit of a form-fitting black tank top and jeans. Her long ebony locks are still wet from her morning shower, and her flawless skin is free of makeup.

Hailey and Ana had been friends for years; the two of them had joined the Alliance at the same time, and had become fast friends though they were polar opposites. Hailey was the stereotypical party girl, though she was incredibly intelligent and committed to her job; Ana, on the other hand, while also very intelligent and committed to her job had never been to a party in her life before she and Hailey had decided to rent an apartment together and very, very rarely took part in Hailey's get-togethers. Last night had been one of a handful of exceptions, as Hailey, Emily, Jenna and herself had been celebrating Em's most recent promotion. The four of them were finally all at the same level and very close to graduation - obviously cause for celebration. Emily and Jenna were their neighbors, and also happened to be Hailey's friends from grade school so of course the four hung out quite often.

"Maybe because I didn't down a bottle of cheap tequila like a certain loveable redhead I know. And as far as the dating website... I thought you might say that." Hailey smirks, coming to sit on the edge of Ana's bed while she peels herself out of last night's outfit and rummages in her dresser for a clean set of clothes. "I brought you some coffee," Hailey gestures to the steaming cup sitting on Ana's bedside table before continuing. The ebony-haired girl stands quickly, getting ready to dash out of Ana's room to avoid the death glares and protests that were sure to come. "I think you should give it a try, that website. You and I both know you're still not over your ex-" Hailey pauses to scan Ana's porcelain-skinned face for any obvious pangs of sadness at the mention of the "unmentionable ex" before rushing on. "Anyway, I've got to run to the store, my computer is in the kitchen. Please just look! Love you, bye!" With that, Hailey dashes out of Ana's room and heads for the front door before she can utter a single sound in protest.

Fifteen minutes later, freshly showered, dressed and feeling somewhat better, a hung over Ana shuffles into the kitchen where Hailey's computer sits idly on the counter – Hailey, however, is nowhere in sight. Ana sighs, takes a big swig of her still warm coffee and eyes the computer for a moment before taking a hesitant seat on the cushioned bar stool at the island. Here we go, she thinks to herself. What the hell did drunken me get sober me into?

A/N: Hello, everyone! I just wanted to say thank you for reading the first chapter - I am already hard at work at chapters two and three. Things will pick up soon, I promise. If you have any CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, or any suggestions/things you want to see in later chapters, please let me know! I would love to hear from you all. If there is anyone specific you want to see within these first few chapters, speak up. There is still room for change at this point! Again, thank you all so much.