Chapter 11: Group Chat

He woke up just before noon with a headache and a dry mouth. His pillow was damp and he was slightly disturbed but mostly relieved to find it was from sweat. He was back in his hotel room and as he slowly rose, and the headache worsened, fragments of the evening were fleeting through his semi-consciousness.

Shots! At some point, he'd found himself drinking shots of Jägermeister. Like an idiot 20 year old who'd just discovered alcohol, he thought with a bit of regret, but a smile still formed on his face.

He reached for his phone. It was dead - he'd forgotten to plug it in. Actually, head couldn't remember with certainty how he'd gotten back. He'd never have cycled in that state. Would he have? No. Definitely not. He felt a flush of embarrassment. Couldn't have. No matter what had happened last night, he'd never be so careless.

He plugged in his phone and headed for the shower. As he washed, more fragments floated back to him. It had actually been a great night; no drama, lots of laughs, a bit of partying. They may have had more mushrooms and definitely took a couple of toke breaks.

He quickly brushed his teeth and allowed himself to air-dry while he turned on his phone. They'd added him to a group chat they had going in an app he'd never heard of, called Signal. No new messages today, but a couple of blurry selfies of the group from last night. That smile returned.