The Green Ticket by Samantha March

Sleep.”
    “I know. Come on, up we go. Where’s the hottie man of yours? I like him.”
    “No! I like him. Me like,” I slurred, feeling the effects of all the beer, jello shots, and the tequila shot I shared with Carmen. We trudged up the stairs together, our platforms sounding like hooves, until we entered the kitchen. “My Hannah!” I squealed, running over to my friend and wrapping her in a hug. She was sitting at the kitchen table with Peter, a bulky sweatshirt covering her Posh costume and looking enviously sober.
    “Oh, what do we have here? Little drunk, missy?” Hannah laughed, returning my hug.
    I crawled into her lap like a little girl, resting my head on her shoulder. “Emma loser! I not pass out. I was so worried about you, Han. Don’t worry,” I tried dropping my voice to a whisper, which really didn’t work, “his friends said he’s the good guy.” I tried to give her the thumbs up, but struggled to keep the rest of my fingers down.  
    Peter, Hannah and Lila all begin to laugh at my announcement, which clearly everyone heard. Henry walked into the room suddenly, appearing from around the corner. “So the party’s up here now, huh?” he said, surveying us at the table, then seeing Emma sprawled out on the couch. Someone had been kind enough to slip some sweatpants on her so she wasn’t on full display in her tiny white miniskirt.
    “We think it’s about time to get us out of here. Emma and Alex need their beauty rest. And to puke probably,” Lila said. ”Oh, it’s going to be a long night for those two.”
    I jutted my lower lip out. “No! No puke. Gross. Just sleep.”
    “Let me go grab Carmen, then we can head out.” Lila disappeared down the stairs and Hannah gently removed me from her lap. Well, aimed for gently, but my limbs were feeling like all the jello shots I had taken and I fell to the floor in an ungraceful heap. I frantically tried to keep my dress down, wondering which pair of underwear I had decided on that night and if I wanted to show Henry them at that moment. I wanted to get up, get to my feet and locate my clutch, which had fallen out of my hands at some point, but the tiled kitchen floor was just so comfortable. Just another minute down there…
    Suddenly, I was being swooped into the air by a pair of strong arms. My eyes flew open, and I realized that Henry had picked me up off the floor, cradling me in his arms like a baby. Heaven. I snuggled into his broad chest, feeling giddy with excitement. I remembered feeling happy, tingly and maybe a tad sweaty. I didn’t remember passing out in his arms, having to be carried out to Hannah’s car, throwing up out the window on the ride home, having Carmen carry me into the dorm, throwing up more once I got home, and then throwing a fit when no one would order me a pizza. None of that was in my memories, but the girls were nice enough to fill me in the next day as I cleaned Hannah’s car and suffered through my hangover. Halloween. Gets me every time. 
     

Chapter 7
     
    The Tuesday following Halloween, I headed to Blissful right after class for my first facial. I checked myself in for the appointment, and sat up front with Kamille until Allie was ready for me. I used my time studying the menu of services. I really wanted to get them memorized so I didn’t have to always have one on hand when the phone rang.
    “You ready, hon?” Allie appeared in front of me, clad in the usual Blissful uniform: black dress pants and the white-collared shirt with Blissful Salon and Spa etched in black on the left side. She had her black hair pulled back in a tight ponytail with a thin pink band holding back her bangs. I was going to be doing more training after my facial, so I also wore dress pants and a plain white top, as I didn’t have my official staff shirt in yet. Dani had told me I didn’t need to wear my work shirt everyday though, just to dress up on the days that I didn’t wear it. I had planned to hit up the mall with