The next morning...

Ryan wrapped his pillow around his head, blocking out most of the sound and light that filled the dorms of Sac U. The acidic taste of bile still filled his mouth. In all of his time in college, that was the first time Ryan ever drank that much in one sitting. Even when his friends tried to drag him off to some party where someone managed to get their hands on a few bottles of Jack Daniel's and Smirnoff he didn't drink much. Now with his body trying to de-toxify itself, he remembered why.

He lifted the pillow up enough just so he could get a look at his room. It was a mess, which really isn't saying much as the whole place was a mess most of the time. But at least then it had some strange sense of order to it. Piles of textbooks and battered paperbacks were scattered across the floor instead of vicariously stacked towers along. Sheets of paper with badly written notes also joined in instead of being on his desk with his other stuff. And why is that waste basket making that god awful smell? Ryan leaned over to get a better look and scrunched his face up as soon as he saw why. He had a long day of cleaning, aspirin and possibly classes ahead of him unless he came up with a better excuse why he couldn’t make it other than drinking himself to death.

On the bright side, he managed to get his thoughts away from those books. Well, for now anyway.