The next morning I woke up with a terrible headache. My entire body ached and felt extremely nauseous. I ran to the toilet to puke. When I had returned to my room I noticed a passed out Elma spread across the foot side of my bed.

Suddenly the events of the night before came flashing through my head. I felt like I wanted to die. I know what we did, and the things I may have said, were embarrassing. I thought my friend would never look at me the same way she did before. But a part of me also felt victorious. Yes, I admit it. It was a wonderful feeling to bed my crush, but she was also my friend. Pondering these things, I slowly walked out the bedroom. I didn't want to wake Elma. At that moment I was worried how she would take it. I was hoping that what we did wouldn't cause a rift between us.

But then again, it's not like I forced her or anything. We were just two consenting adults. Sober, no. Consenting, yes.

I threw myself on my sofa- the one Elma and I were drunkenly making out on the night before. The scent of our sweaty, oversexed bodies hadn't worn off from it. My belly started to grumble. I remembered that I had work. I decided to call in sick. I know my boss would be pissed but I couldn't possibly manage my job and a hangover. It's not like I always called in sick because of a hangover.

Feeling hungry I ordered takeout from a nearby restaurant for both Elma and I. As I sat impatiently waiting for the delivery guy to arrive, I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around to see Elma, wrapped in my bedsheets holding her head in her right hand. She walked to the bathroom and disappeared from my sight. As I waited for the delivery guy, I heard sounds coming from the bathroom. Elma was clearly puking. I wrapped on the door.

"Elma, are you ok in there? Do you need any help?"

"Ah I'm good Nai"

We were both taking the hangover pretty badly.

I watched her when she exited the bathroom, holding her tummy.

"I feel terrible" she said as she kept her distance. She braced on our kitchen counter and I watched her from the sofa.

"Me too. I ordered takeout. Delivery guy's taking a while to get here."

There was a slight pause then I felt compelled to say something.

"So last night was pretty crazy, huh?" I asked.

Her face changed to a bright red colour and her pupils dilated. Her lips opened and then closed for a bit. She looked like if she was searching for the right words to say but couldn't find any.

So that was what the previous night meant to her; nothing, absolutely nothing. She couldn't even say a word.

Ding dong

The sound of our doorbell drowned the awkward silence between us. I paid the delivery guy for the food.

"Um, El, you should um, call in sick. I already did."

"Ye-yeah." She picked up the phone and called work. Afterwards we both ate in silence. Elma hungrily downed the squid and rice balls I had ordered. For the next few days, we remained like that- barely able to make conversation or look each other in the eye. It was awkwardly painful, not to mention disappointing. I thought:

Why did I get my hopes up for someone who would never return my feelings for them? It's what I didn't want to do in the first place. All I meant to her was someone she had a drunken fling with…

TO BE CONTINUED