Chapter 3

When I wake up, I look at my phone and see it's just past noon.

I groan and manage to pull myself out of bed and trudge into the bathroom for a shower.

Once I'm done, I feel ten times better and go to my closet to pick out some clothes.

We were planning on going to this carnival the university is hosting on campus to celebrate the end of the semester.

They do it every semester and it's usually pretty fun.

Since it's the fall semester though, it's going to be cold.

So, I pull on a pair of leggings and a comfy sweatshirt with the name of the university I went to for my undergraduate degree.

I then grab some cozy socks and a pair of boots and head into the kitchen to grab a bite to eat.

Both Taylor and Ella are sitting in the living room on their phones.

They look ready for the carnival too.

It starts at two, so I know I need to hurry with my snack.

After I get some sustenance, I go into my room and grab my coat and phone, then I'm back in the living room telling them I'm ready when they are.

We leave the apartment and they decide for me that I'm driving because Ella tosses me my purse with my keys inside.

I manage to steal a spot from an obvious freshman and we head to the lawn where the carnival is being held.

It's only 2:05 and it's already filled with students who are walking around in bundles of clothes, clutching onto hot chocolate.

It's not even that cold, I regret bringing my coat, because now I have to carry it around.

We walk around for a while before Ella decides she wants to ride in the tilt-a-whirl that they have set up.

I get in line with her and Taylor decides to stay back.

She gets really bad motion sickness on rides, so she's always the one to hold our stuff at these kinds of things.

We're finally able to get on and when they start it up, several people are screaming and others are laughing.

We meet up with Taylor once we're able to get off and we head over to a few of the booths set up with games.

The two of them play and I decide to opt out since I suck at carnival games.

I always have and I'm pretty sure I always will.

"Chloe, can you believe that this next semester is our last semester?" Taylor asked right before taking a large sip of her hot chocolate.

"No," I answered, following suit with my own coco.

"Look at the two of you, about to have your master's degrees, I'm so proud," Ella chimed in, slinging her arms around both of our shoulders and bringing us both into her side, nearly making me trip and fall.

"Yeah, it's pretty crazy," Taylor agreed, then she gets distracted by someone screaming with joy after they win one of the carnival games.

"Do you two soon-to-be-graduates want to get out of here and celebrate?" Ella asked suggestively as she gently tries leading us away from the carnival.

"Sure," Taylor and I managed to simultaneously agree.

We leave and head towards the parking lot, still able to hear the loud music playing from the speakers at the carnival.

I climb into my car and they follow suit, when I start it up, I turn on the heat and Ella tells me to drive straight to the apartment, so I do.

After we get inside, Ella goes to her room and comes out a few minutes later in a pair of shorts and a sweatshirt.

"I thought we were going out," Taylor said, sounding disappointed, as Ella walks into the kitchen.

"Why go out when we can celebrate right here?" Ella asked, pulling out a sheet of paper from our collective binder of recipes.

Her grin says everything and I head into my bedroom to change as well.

I take off my boots and leggings, but leave on the Oakhaven sweatshirt and my socks, then pull on a pair of shorts.

Before leaving my room, I grab my phone and then head into the kitchen where Ella is making eggnog.

It's her grandfather's recipe, and it's strong.

Taylor and I patiently wait for her to finish, and when she does, she brings us wine glasses that are three quarters of the way full with eggnog.

I put on a romantic Christmas movie and we enjoy the evening, eventually switching from hard eggnog to even stronger margaritas.

Tomorrow should be interesting.

I woke up the next morning laying in Ella's bed.

My head is killing me and I can't even open my eyes.

It's like the sun is staring me down from two feet away.

I feel the bed move a little and hear Ella groan.

She manages to get out of the bed and I can hear her moving around in the room.

I have no idea how she can even stand because I know she drank a lot more than I did last night.

And it's hot as hell in this room, I can feel myself sweating pretty much everywhere.

I find the strength to get up and walk into the hallway to the thermostat.

It's set at 78 degrees.

What the hell?

I quickly change it and head into my bedroom where I immediately climb into my bed.

Not long after, Ella comes into my room and forces me into my shower.

I hate every moment of it, but I do feel a little better after.

When I get out and get dressed, I find a glass of water with some pain medication on my nightstand.

I silently thank Ella and quickly take them, hoping they kick in fast.

I lay on my bed and try checking my phone, but even on the lowest brightness setting, it's too bright.

I hate hangovers.

"Al, we have to go to work, come on," Taylor announced as she walked by my bedroom.

I inwardly groan and force myself to get out of the bed.

Whenever they work on the weekends, they drag me along with them so they aren't bored when it gets slow.

At least I'll have plenty of time to study for finals.

Before leaving the apartment, I grab my bag and everything I know I'm going to need before we all climb into Taylor's car.

When we arrive, their boss looks pretty mad.

I overhear Ella apologize for being late and they both disappear into the back room.

I order my usual drink while they're back there and sit at the counter, ready to die from this hangover and having to study with one.

I know I didn't even drink that much, which makes me question just how much alcohol was in that eggnog.

A few hours in, I find myself dozing off, my head dropping to the counter and Ella loudly banging on it to wake me up.

I send her a strong glare and she winks, nodding in the direction of the door.

I don't even bother looking back, I just stare at my laptop with several pictures of old, long past dead, artists.

A familiar voice sounds from next to me and Ella places a cup right in front of me.

I managed to write a new version of his name, convinced even if I spelled it correctly, he wouldn't be able to tell because my handwriting looks like chicken scratch right now.

Ella practically snatches the cup out of my hand and I go back to staring at the pictures.

Taylor was right, I shouldn't have gone to graduate school for art history.

It isn't nearly as fun as the art itself.

I'm way too far in to change it now.

I have just one semester left, and then I'm going to finally be done with college.

There's no way I'm going any longer.

Looking at my notes surrounding me makes me really wish that finals were already over.

"So, how are finals going?"

"Good so far, I only have two left, which I'm happy about," I answered with relief clear in my voice.

"Lucky, I have three left," Clara replied.

She takes a sip of her coffee and continues, "what are your plans for winter break?"

"I don't know, I think I'm just going to stay here, hang out with Ella," I answered with a shrug.

"No plans to go home?" She asked.

"No, not really," I responded, my voice tapering off.

I never go home during breaks, so this one isn't going to be any different.