The cell phone alarm blared its shitty digital melody. Every time I hit snooze, it came back with exponential vengeance. The default Verizon ringtone was beginning to blend into my nightmares, whether it was waking me up as an alarm or announcing a call before Jeff came through on the other end telling me to hurry the fuck up and get to wherever I was going. I sat up in bed and waited for the hangover symptoms to take hold – dry mouth, burning eyes, mild pounding in my head. Not too bad.
I picked out some fresh clothes from my suitcase. The hotel floor was littered with wet towels outside the bathroom. Charlie and Greg had made it up for a morning shower; it was Greg’s first shower in a week. Jace was inside the bathroom plucking his eyebrows in the mirror.
“Jace, get out. I need a quick shower.”
“No way dude, I’m about to shower. And I’m using the last towel. Too bad, you should have woken up sooner.” He slammed the door in my face, giggling until the sounds of running water drowned it out.
I pounded a fist on the door, “Well hurry the fuck up then.”
“Don’t count on it. I’m shaving my legs too.”


