I woke up feeling like shit. A headache was storming into my head and nausea started to invade my guts the moment I opened my eyes. Ittook almost three seconds to clear up my vision, and another twenty to realize where I was. I recognized the 'hole to another universe' graffiti on top of the left wall, followed by an almost erotic poster of some women's boobs below it. 'Think like a man' was written on the wall next to the door, with its paint slightly scrapped off. I looked to my left side and encountered myself with a fluffy ball of blue hair, a hardcore tattoo I almost knew like my right hand, and a beanie grabbed by the arm that followed it. Intense snoring came along with the steady breathing of the specimen sleeping right next to me and I couldn't help but to let go a tiny chuckle.
She's such a dork, I thought to myself. Clearly worth a shot.
I leaned to my right side where my camera was laying, took it, and stood up right above Chloe's sleeping body to take a picture. I regretted then the rushed got-up since it intensified the hangover, and took some seconds to recover from the dizziness. I smiled then when I saw Chloe's peaceful expression, and I took the picture.
The flash that came along seemed to bother Chloe's religious sleep, to which she slightly whined.
"What the-"
"Rise and shine, sleepy head" I said singsonly, throwing myself over Chloe, starting to laugh when she groaned.
"I'm going to fucking kill you, you idiot" Chloe whined. "Prepare yourself for the apocalypse" she proceeded, suddenly changing her tone into a serious one.
Chloe turned around very slowly towards me, showing a silly face resembling a ghost - eyes wide open, showing no pupils, sticking out her tongue and opening widely her mouth. She did seem pretty scary. Her hands were up, as in showing her nonexistent claws. I jokingly started to lean back as she approached me, and all of the sudden she was tickling me while I laughed hysterically.
"Please, stop! Show some mercy!" I laughed.
"Neverrrr!" she exclaimed, continuing the tickles.
When she stopped I had to take a huge breath, since the laughter had taken it away. Then the hangover hit again like a train.
"Wow, I feel like shit" I said. Cupping my forehead and closing my eyes, aiming to amortiguate the gunshots of pain i felt going through my temples. "How do you do this? Hangovers are bullshit" I whined.
"You'll learn, hippie. Takes some time" Chloe smiled, stupidly proud of herself. "Wait," she proceeded, showing then a confused, thoughtful expression, "what the hell happened yesterday?".
"Well, for what I can feel, we got wasted" I reasoned. "I don't really know further".
"The usual" She responded with a sigh. "We managed to go to the Halloween party, right?" she asked. The funny thing is, neither of us remembered. Its kind of a bummer, to be honest. All the fun just wiped from our minds like a sand castle by the sea. That's another reason i love photography; i make sure to keep those memories i don't ever want to forget.
Chloe's question triggered the memory of her costume, which made me almost melt; she wore a tank top with two blue wings standing out of her back, the classic pair of ripped jeans that she could rock so hard, some heeled black boots that amazingly stylized her legs, and a blue beanie with two antennas sticking out of it to give it an adorable tip. The reality is, she looked fucking hot. Goddamnit.
My outfit -well, my clothes. I didn't really dressed up, let's say- were next to my side of the bed. I decided, after some time of meditation, that I would go to the party as a photographer. Chloe tried to convince me to go as Lara Croft -she has this weird obsession with her-, but I didn't have the outfit, nor the hair, nor the looks. Chloe then called me a strange insult I have never heard before -shit factory I think it was- which I decided to ignore. Chloe hates it when I chicken out of fun, and i find adorable her annoying look, so it was actually a win-win.
"Hey," Chloe distracted me from my thoughts, "didn't you take pictures last night? I have this distant flashback that you couldn't let go of the camera," she exclaimed with a tinny giggle, "as always".
Well, she has a point. I never have much opportunities to get seriously drunk in my boring life, but when I do, my obsession with photography usually intensifies, so I take nearly a hundred pictures of everything I face, saying bye-bye to the expensive films i spend my savings in. Ah, the sweet smell of failure for still using a fucking polaroid.
"You are right. I wonder where are those" I implied fakingly, because i already fucking knew the answer.
Me and Chloe stood up at the same time, looking at each other, thinking the same thing; every goddamn time I go out with Chloe, get drunk and take photos, I decorate all of the floor with them, and then go to sleep, like a religious ritual I have to follow. I seriously don't know why I do this. Neither do I have any memory of doing it - i'm not much of a memory person, especially with alcohol in my veins. I probably should talk to a therapist about this 'fetish', should call it this way. Maybe my obsession with photography is not so healthy as my mom says, after all.
Naturally, the entire floor was covered in a grand variation of photos, each one funnier than the other. Chloe bursted out in a huge laughter as my cheeks started to redden.
"Every goddamn time," Chloe pointed out to the air, grabbing her stomach with her other hand to try to contain the laughter, "i will never get over it. Ever" Tears were nearly falling from her eyes as she calmed herself down. "Okay, let's take a look at your masterpiece".
We started to collect the photos and Chloe would let go a laugh every two seconds for every photograph she saw. The fact is, they really were funny. There was one where Chloe literally threw herself on top of Victoria, who was dressed as a bee - not a sexy bee, a funny chubby one, devotedly obeying a bet she had lost two weeks ago -, Chloe pulling her cheeks with her fingers and crossing her eyes, and Victoria showing a whinny, surprised face to the camera. I really do have a gift. I can capture a moment exactly when it happens.
"Oh my god, look at this!" Chloe exclaimed. "Poor Nathan!"
I saw the picture and I couldn't contain the laughter. Nathan was swearing – as always - something to the camera, trying to grab it to avoid the picture. If you looked closely, you could see Nathans mini skirt being pulled down by Victoria, and Nathan trying to pull it back up. Kate appeared in the back slightly chuckling and Chloe was the one taking the picture as a selfie, right next to Nathan, sticking out her tongue.
Nathan went dressed as a female cheerleader. Yes, he was also part of the bet, and yes, he had also lost it. He had a blonde wig with two high ponytails on the sides, a crop top that stated 'GO BLACKWELL', written with a black marker by Chloe. The mini skirt joined the top -both red-, followed by large white socks and red sneackers. He also had red pom pons but I'm guessing he had already lost them by then.
"We had a hella time" I said, still laughing.
"Please don't try to use 'hella' in a sentence ever again" Chloe said, making me blush. "Woah…" Chloe suddenly exclaimed, her expression changing drastically, showing some really scarlet cheeks. "I don't remember this at all".
She handed me a picture while looking the other way, embarrassed of something I couldn't decode. I looked at her with confusion in my eyes, as I received the picture. I slowly guided my eyes to the picture, afraid of what it may show.
I nearly chocked when I saw it. Chloe and I were kissing.