Chapter 4: The Morning After

Kirsten woke with a start. Light was streaming into her bedroom since the curtains had not been closed the night before. She looked down to find herself under the blanket that was usually at the end of her bed. She lifted it up and saw that she was still in the clothes from the night before…the bikini top and the skirt. Normally, Kirsten didn't wear anything that was that revealing, but she was feeling more risky than normal last night.

Shit! Kirsten thought. She had to get changed into her pajamas to look like she at come home alert enough to at least change out of her other clothes before someone came into her room. She jumped out of bed, but as her feet reached the floor, her legs became unsteady beneath her and she had to support herself by grabbing the side of her bed. Simultaneously, her head began to ache tremendously, as the hangover from the night before suddenly hit her. She also somehow still felt slightly drunk.

Damn it! she thought. Definitely shouldn't have had that much to drink. However, she couldn't remember how much "that much" had even been. She concluded that it was probably one of the highest amounts of alcohol she had ever consumed in one night. She slowly walked toward her vanity and looked at herself in the mirror. She had obviously failed to remove her makeup the night before, which resulted in dark circles under her eyes from the mascara. She quickly removed it and changed into pajamas. It was then that she first looked at the clock. It read 8:09. Oh, man. Too early to be awake.

So she decided to go back to sleep. As she arranged herself underneath her covers, she tried to piece together the events from the night before, not being able to remember too much a few moments ago. She remembered getting drunk fairly fast…and Jimmy showing up…she might have danced with him, but she really wasn't sure…she vaguely remembered Kelly getting dropped off after the party…but after that her mind was a blank.

Shit! she began to think. How did I even get up to my room? Was I actually awake, but totally out of it that I don't remember? Did I pass out? Shit…and why do I keep seeing an image of Jimmy Cooper crouched over me…

Sleep overtook her thoughts a few minutes later and she drifted into a calm sleep.

Suddenly Kirsten awoke to Hailey running into her room and practically tackling her on her bed.

"Ahhh! Hailey! Can't you see I'm asleep! Did you ever hear of knocking?" Kirsten yelled at her. Kirsten looked over at the clock. It now read 8:30. Great…a solid 20 minutes of sleep…

"Sorry Kiks…I forgot…Anyway, Dad wants you up…we're all going out to breakfast," Hailey informed her.

"Oh, man…Yeah, okay…give me 20 minutes or something to at least look presentable," Kirsten told her sister. Kirsten got out of bed and walked toward her closet to find an outfit to wear.

"Hey Kirsten…" Hailey started. Kirsten turned her head toward her little sister. "Who was the guy that was carrying you last night?"

Kirsten tensed up for a minute. Guy? Carrying me? Shit, I don't even know what happened…damn it, this is why I shouldn't be doing this stuff…I'm setting a horrible example for Hailey…

"What are you talking about Hails?" Kirsten said, trying to play it cool.

"I saw a guy carrying you to your room last night…you were asleep I guess…15 minutes before that some car horns woke me up and I couldn't fall back asleep…I heard him going into your room…" Hailey informed her.

Fuck! I passed out! Ahh, this is not good…car horns…Matt…Matt must have carried me upstairs…

"Oh, that…I fell asleep during the car ride home…I got a ride from Matt, you know, Kelly's boyfriend…he must have carried up to my room…probably didn't want to wake me up…" Kirsten rambled.

"Oh, okay," Hailey replied, accepting the answer for now. Although she was only going into first grade, Hailey Nichol was already somewhat corrupted by the adult world of Newport Beach…aided to some extent by the actions of her sixteen-year old sister. However, her gut told her that Kirsten's story was not the whole truth, and lately, Kirsten didn't seem to be her usual self. Something is definitely up, Hailey decided.

Breakfast with her family seemed to go fairly smoothly. It appeared that Hailey hadn't informed her parents of being carried upstairs by a guy, and Kirsten tried her best to look awake and alert, and not show that her head was throbbing and her stomach nauseous. She had looked very presentable for the outing, wearing a knee length kaki skirt and a collared sleeveless shirt. She didn't particularly enjoy dressing so conservative for family outings, but she knew that her father would say that it would reflect badly on the Nichol family name if she didn't.

Kirsten, however, was in fairly good spirits by the end of the meal, something she normally didn't feel after an outing with her family. Her mother seemed in unusually good spirits, much better than she had in the past month, and Kirsten was hopeful that her mother's binge drinking would be gone for good. And her father seemed in a good mood as well, telling Kirsten that she should invite "James" over for dinner tonight, as a thank you for stepping in to escort Kirsten at the last minute. Kirsten was thrilled at the news, and she hoped that Jimmy would turn out to be a more of a person than most of the shallow people of Newport.

Jimmy Cooper, she thought, as she walked down to the beach to meet Kelly for some late afternoon surfing. There's just something about him…he's actually kind of cute and he seems so nice and caring. Kirsten found it unusual that she was thinking about Jimmy in this way…normally she didn't allow herself to be totally fixated on boys…she had too much to concentrate on with school, charity work, cheerleading, and her duties as Vice President of Harbor High School, not to mention the family problems she had been facing in the past month more than likely carrying over into the school year. A few guys had tried to get her to go out with them; however, Kirsten had told them all that she was too busy for a boyfriend. But there was something about Jimmy that she couldn't get out of her head…

As she reached the beach, her thoughts were interrupted by Kelly's yelling.

"Hey Kirst!" Kelly yelled to her.

"Hey Kelly," Kirsten replied back as she hugged her best friend.

"So how are you doing after last night…I think you set a new record for amount of alcohol consumed, Kirsten…" Kelly asked.

"I'm actually doing okay now, surprising enough. I had a pretty bad headache earlier, but it's gone…my stomach is still bothering me a little bit I guess, but it's not like it was this morning," Kirsten informed her.

"That's good…So Matt told me you passed out on the ride home…" Kelly began.

"Yeah, I kind of gathered as much…Hailey kind of caught me last night…she saw Matt carrying me up to my room…I made up something about falling asleep and him not wanting to wake me up…I don't know if she bought it…" Kirsten told her.

"Hailey said she saw Matt carrying you up?" Kelly asked.

"Well, she just said "a guy" was carrying me…she didn't know who it was…I just assumed it was Matt…I mean, who else could it have been…" Kirsten said.

"Cuz Matt said that he had to leave you on your doorstep…he couldn't find your keys in your purse and then I guess Taryn and Amber started pushing the car horn so he had to go get them to stop so your parents wouldn't wake up…he was really worried about leaving you there, but he didn't know what else to do…I mean he knew that your dad would kill you both if he knocked on the door…" Kelly rambled.

"Well, you got that right…but this is so freakin weird…because I woke up in my bed this morning, so somehow I got there…who could have carried me up there…did my dad find me…no, he couldn't have…Hailey would have recognized him…jeez, I'm kind of creeped out…well, I guess if the mystery person would have wanted to hurt me or steal something he would have, right? I'm still a little freaked, though," Kirsten went on.

"Yeah, definitely…" Kelly started. "Still up for surfing, Kirst?"

"Of course! Let's go," Kirsten said.

After about two hours of surfing, Kelly and Kirsten headed back up to their houses. As they were walking, Kelly decided to start in on Kirsten about Jimmy Cooper.

"So, Kirst, you seemed to be really clingy on Jimmy Cooper last night," Kelly started.

"I was not!" Kirsten denied. "I just wanted to make sure he wasn't all alone…I mean, he's new and he doesn't know anyone, and since I was the first one to meet him, I thought I could at least hang out with him and introduce him to people, and stuff."

"Uh, huh…right…you were hugging him and dancing with him…and Kirsten, you are not a hugger," Kelly accused.

"I was drunk, Kelly…you know I'm more outgoing when I've had a little liquor," Kirsten stated back.

"Face it, Kirst…you have a thing for Jimmy Cooper…you have a crush on him," Kelly accused again.

"I do not!" Kirsten tried to deny again. Kelly gave her a look, and Kirsten relented. "Okay, maybe a little crush…but nothing more."

"Well, admitting it is the first step," Kelly teased. As the pair approached Kelly's street, Kelly turned to Kirsten, "Bye, Kirst…we'll talk about this more later…don't think I'll let you go with just that."

"Bye Kell," Kirsten called to her best friend before turning and continuing walking toward her house, with her arm wrapped around her surfboard. As she walked up the hill, she saw a figure in the distance that was walking a dog. As she got closer, she realized it was Jimmy Cooper.

"Hi Jimmy!" Kirsten called out as she neared him.

"Hey Kirsten," Jimmy replied.

"Hey, listen, sorry I was a little crazy last night…I'm usually not that bad…honest," Kirsten told him.

"It's okay. I know how those things go," Jimmy told her in an understanding tone.

"Oh, hey, I…well, I guess my dad too…anyway, we were wondering if you wanted to come to dinner tonight…my dad wanted to thank you for stepping in at the last minute to be my escort…and before you say anything, I know from first hand experience that you do not want to refuse Caleb Nichol," Kirsten stated.

"Well, I guess you leave me no choice. I'd love to come to dinner," Jimmy replied.

"Great! You can come over around 6:30, if that's okay. My house is the one at the end of this street. It's 11 Ocean Palm." Kirsten informed him.

"Yeah, I know," Jimmy told her.

Kirsten gave him a funny look and said, "How would you know that…you've never been to my house."

Jimmy panicked for a minute, but managed to think quickly and replied, "Oh, I mean, I've heard about your house, well, with it being the biggest one in the neighborhood and all…" Kirsten looked satisfied with the answer, and Jimmy finished by saying, "So, 6:30 sounds great! I see you soon!"

"See you then!" Kirsten said, trying not to show too much excitement at the news. She turned the corner and made her way home while Jimmy continued on his walk with his golden retriever.

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I know that it has been stated in OC episodes that Kirsten doesn't like surfing…I'll get to that in later chapters.