"You're not dying. You're hungover."
"Same thing. Worse. Dying would mean this would end." She rolled over and squinted at Ellie. Her eyes were puffy, her hair was everywhere, and she had a faint sunburn across her nose that would have been cute if she didn't look like she'd spent the night in a bush. "How much did we drink?"
"I stopped counting after the nursing students shared their cooler."
"That was at like two in the afternoon."
"Yes."
Becca pulled the pillow over her face. "We're twenty-five. We should be able to handle this."
"We're twenty-five-year-olds who haven't day-drunk since college. Our tolerance has atrophied."
"I kissed a nursing student."
"You did."
"Was it good?"
"It was very sloppy and apparently she tasted like margaritas and sunscreen. Your words."
"I don't remember saying that but it sounds accurate." A pause. "Did I enjoy it?"
"You seemed amused by it more than aroused."
"That sounds right. I remember her being fun. I don't remember wanting to take her home." Another pause. "I also remember dancing with the shots guy. Tell me I didn't kiss him too."
"You didn't kiss him. You did tell him you were impressed by how many shots they had. He thought you were flirting.”
Becca emerged from the pillow and reached for the glass of water on the nightstand. "Can we spend today not moving?"
"That was my plan."
***
They did indeed spend Sunday barely moving. The pool, the couch, a delivery order from the nearest restaurant that sold enough carbohydrates to rebuild them, not to mention a long nap in the afternoon that felt medically necessary even if it also made them feel old before their time. By the evening the hangovers had receded to a manageable dull ache, and they sat on the terrace watching the sky change colour, drinking sparkling water because the thought of alcohol made them both wince.
"That was a really good day though," Becca said.
"It was a great day."
"Like genuinely, apart from the hangover, one of the funnest days of my life. Just being out there, being part of it, the beach, the people, dancing, all of it. I felt like we were twenty again."
"Except when we were twenty we could drink all day and function the next morning."
"Details." She gestured vaguely and smiled at Ellie. "I'm glad the kiss was nothing. I mean, it was fun, but I'm glad it wasn't the thing. And thank you for permission. But if something's going to happen on this trip I want it to be real, not a drunk girl on a dance floor who’s going to forget about it ten seconds later."
"Agreed." Ellie grinned. “Either that or she’s sat there right now having a massive freak out about whether she’s into women.”
Becca laughed. “If she is then we’ve done our civic duty.”
They sat for a while in comfortable silence, watching the day fade to darkness around them and the pool lights coming on automatically.
“Think we should try that again before we leave?” Becca asked casually. A little too casually, Ellie suspected.
“I was going to suggest the same. But the hangover… let’s give it a few days.”
“Thursday? Gives us time to have fun round here, and gives us all of Friday to recover before our flights at the weekend.”
