The fall out from last night.

I woke sometime late Saturday morning with sunlight coming through the gap in my curtains. For a few seconds I had no idea what time it was or why I felt so tired. Then everything from the night before came rushing back. The concert. Trish. The backseat. The drive home. Heather.

I rolled over and reached for my phone. Before I could even unlock it, it started ringing. Michael - Calling.

I answered. “Hello?”

“Finally!”

I pulled the phone away from my ear. “What?”

“Dude, you missed one hell of a night.”

I groaned and dropped back onto my pillow. “The dance?”

“The dance,” Michael confirmed. “You should've been there.”

“Was it really that good?”

“Actually, yeah. I thought it was going to suck, but it was pretty good. Ms Holmes was there for some reason, and oh my God, she was so freaking hot, and Lyndsay nearly fell over trying to dance with her.”

I laughed. “What happened?”

“Nothing worth explaining. You had to be there.”

“Sounds like I made the right choice.”

There was a pause. “Maybe,” Michael said.

Something about his tone caught my attention. “What?”

“You know Kat and Rebecca were looking for you, right?”

I sat up slightly. “Yeah?”

“Dude, they're pissed.”

I rubbed my eyes. “How pissed?”

“Kat? Really pissed. Oh man, I wouldn’t want to be you.”

“Shit.”

“Rebecca isn't exactly happy either.”

I suddenly remembered that I'd promised to meet them at Rebecca's house before the dance. And I'd completely forgotten about it.

Michael continued. “I'd stay away from Kat on Monday if I were you.”

“Thanks for the warning.”

“No problem. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you what you missed.”

“Yeah, thanks.” We said goodbye, and I ended the call.

I sat there for a moment, staring at my phone. Then I opened the notifications. There were far more than I'd expected. Most of them were from last night. I opened the messages.

A few minutes later:

Then:

And finally:

I swallowed. I hadn't even realised she'd been trying to get hold of me. Then I saw the messages from Kat. The first one had come earlier in the evening.

The next had arrived half an hour later.

Then.

The final message had come much later.

I stared at that one for a long time. I'd completely screwed up. I'd been so focused on Rebecca, the concert ticket and everything else that I'd forgotten I'd actually promised to meet Kat at Rebecca's house before the dance. I scrolled back through the messages from Rebecca.

There was another one I’d missed.

I put the phone down on my bed.

“Shit.”

For once, I didn't immediately know what to say. Usually, if Rebecca was pissed with me, I'd be desperate to fix it. I'd spend the whole weekend thinking about what I could say to make her happy again. But this time my mind kept drifting somewhere else.

To Trish. I picked up my phone again. Her friend request was still sitting in my notifications. And underneath it was the message she'd sent me.

I stared at it. My thumb hovered over the screen. I could reply. I could tell her I'd had a great time too. I could ask how she was feeling about everything. Instead, I locked the phone and placed it face down on the bedside table. Seeing those messages from Kat and Rebecca made me feel sick about my decision last night. If I was being honest with myself, I was feeling guilty and a pretty shitty guy all round. I didn’t want to bring that energy into messaging with Trish. Besides, we weren’t an official couple or anything like that.

I was still staring at the ceiling, feeling bad about myself when I heard a soft tap against the glass. I frowned. Another tap. I sat up in bed. For a second I thought it was a branch, but there was no wind. Then I heard my name.

“Hey.”

I knew that voice. I scrambled out of bed and crossed the room. When I pulled the curtain aside, Rebecca was standing on the other side of my bedroom window. I stared at her.

“What the hell?”

She pointed at the window. “Open it.”

I unlocked it and pushed it upward. “What are you doing?”

“What does it look like?”

“You’re really climbing up here?”

“Your bedroom’s on the ground floor.”

“Still.”

She climbed through the window and stood in my bedroom, brushing herself off. I closed the window behind her. She was dressed plainly in a short white singlet top and a pair of pale pink shorts. She did not look happy.

Rebecca stared at me. “You're an asshole.”

I sighed. “Yeah, I know. Michael already warned me.”

“Good. At least somebody did.” She folded her arms. “Do you have any idea how pissed Kat is?”

“I can imagine.”

“No, you can't.”

She stared at me. “She was actually looking forward to last night.”

“I know.”

“You were supposed to meet us at my house.”

“I know.”

“I practically set the two of you up.”

I did not know that…

Rebecca shook her head. “I kept thinking something had happened to you.”

That caught me off guard. “I’m sorry.”

She looked away for a moment. “I was worried.”

“I should have called, but I didn’t have my phone with me.”

“Yeah. You should have.”

There was a long silence. I sat on the edge of my bed while Rebecca remained standing.

“So,” she said eventually. “Are you going to tell me what happened?”

I hesitated. “I got a ticket to see The Weeknd.”

“I didn’t know about the ticket.”

“It was completely sold out, and I decided to go. I made a bad choice.”

Rebecca's expression tightened, but I think I could see her starting to soften.

“You could have told me.”

“I know.”

“You should have at least told Kat.”

“I know.”

She sighed and finally sat beside me. For a few moments neither of us spoke. Then she looked at me.

“Do you feel bad about it?”

“Yes.”

“About Kat?”

“Yes.”

“Then fix it.”

I looked at her. “What?”

“Fix it.”

“How?”

“Talk to her.”

“She's not going to want to talk to me.”

“Probably not.”

“Thanks.”

“But maybe she'll listen if you actually apologise.”

I thought about that. “When?”

“Tonight.”

I looked at her. “Tonight?”

“There's still stuff happening after the dance. An after-party at Carla’s house. People are going out afterwards. Kat will probably be there.”

“You think she'd actually talk to me?”

“I think she's angry enough that she'll probably tell you exactly what she thinks.”

I smiled faintly. “That's reassuring.”

Rebecca smiled despite herself. “You deserve it.”

I looked at her. “Thanks for coming over and giving me a chance.”

She shrugged. “I wasn't going to wait until Monday.”

There was something different about the way she was looking at me. For years, I'd have given anything for Rebecca to climb through my bedroom window just to see me. But now that it was actually happening, I found myself thinking about someone else.

Rebecca noticed my expression. “What?”

“Nothing.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You're thinking about something.”

Before I could answer, my bedroom door opened without a knock. Heather stood there. She looked at me. Then Rebecca. Then the open window. Her eyebrows shot upward.

“Well, this is interesting.”

Rebecca immediately turned. “Heather!”

Heather grinned. “Your girlfriend is sneaking through my brother's bedroom window now?”

Rebecca's face changed instantly. “Girlfriend?”

Heather laughed.

“Oh, come on. You two have been circling each other forever. I always knew you’d end up popping each other’s cherry after The Dance.”

“That's not...”

Heather held up a hand. “Relax. I'm not judging.” She looked at me. “Mom's going to love this.”

“Don't you dare,” I said.

Heather turned toward the door. She laughed. “Fine. Your secret is safe.” She started to leave, then stopped. “Oh, I’m so telling this to Trish.”

Rebecca's head snapped around. “Trish?”

Heather looked at her. “Yeah.”

Rebecca stared at her. “What about Trish?”

Heather suddenly realised she'd spilled something I hadn’t told Rebecca about. I could feel the glee coming from her. “Oh, nothing.”

“No. Who's Trish?”

Heather looked between us. Then she smiled. “I’ll let your boyfriend tell you who he went out with last night.”