Maddy awoke reluctantly and still weary the following morning. Her eyes were heavy and she had no desire at all to open them. That is, until she remembered where she was.
There was something about waking up next to the person you loved more than anything in the world. It was one of those warm, fuzzy feelings, the kind that painted a silly smile on a person’s face for hours afterwards – especially if said loved one was in a pleasant state of undress. Maddy opened one eye and peered down at the dark-haired beauty who was curled up at her side. The party had not gone entirely to plan, but she still wouldn’t have changed the night’s events for the world.
After she and Liv had helped Felix to bed – luckily managing to avoid any more bouts of sickness – they’d turned to the task of shooing out his house full of guests. Luckily, there weren’t so many of them left; a fair few had followed Dan and the other members of Helyx on to the local rock club. The stoners in the living room had not been hard to shift, nor had the group of drunk boys who had been egging on Felix’s drinking: Maddy had simply directed them to the local fast food restaurant. They’d struggled most with the couples who’d secluded themselves away in private corners of the house. Neither Liv nor Maddy had really wanted to venture in to disturb them, and it had taken a lot of shouting through doors before the house was finally empty and secure. Exhausted, the two girls had headed back up to the master bedroom and fallen asleep in each other’s arms.
It was now late morning and the crisp autumn sun was streaming in through the windows, casting golden light across the pillows. Maddy tried to roll over, wishing she’d thought to close the curtains.
“Get off,” Liv muttered sleepily from beside her. “You’re squashing me.”
“Sorry,” smiled Maddy and she placed a delicate kiss on her girlfriend’s cheek.
“Is it morning already?” Liv grumbled. “That was no way near enough sleep.”
“Who says we have to get up?” Maddy asked, entangling Liv in an embrace. Liv, however, pulled away and sat up in the bed.
“The clock does,” she replied, stifling a yawn. “We don’t have time to lie in. If we’re going to get this place straightened out by the time Felix’s parents get home, we’re going to have to get a move on.”
“Alright,” sighed Maddy, conceding. “Though I don’t really think there’s that much to do.”
Maddy couldn’t have been more wrong. Only once the girls had gotten up and dressed, emerging from the bedroom into the hall, could they assess the damage that had been done the night before. The hallway and stairs were littered with paper, cups and, scarily, random articles of clothing. Pictures hung on the walls at odd angles and a pair of knotted trainers had been dangled over the chandelier.
“Eurgh,” Liv groaned. “Do I even dare look in the bathroom?”
The pair trod carefully as they made their way to Felix’s bedroom. It was dark and stuffy inside, and it didn’t smell particularly pleasant, though Maddy was pleased to note the bucket she’d placed by the side of his bed the night before was still clean and empty. Felix was lying, still in his jeans, on top of the bed covers, his snoring akin to that of an old dog’s.
“Reckon we should leave him for a little whiles longer?” Liv whispered, kindly. “He did have a rough night.”
“Hell no,” Maddy snorted. “He’s the one who organised all this so he sure as hell is going to clean up the mess.”
Maddy picked up one of the numerous pillows that Felix had knocked on the floor and brought the squashy implement unceremoniously down on the boy’s head.
“Wake up, piss-head*!” she cried, walloping Felix for a second time, then a third until the boy eventually stirred.
“F**k off,” he muttered, rolling over and burying his face into his pillow. “I’m trying to sleep.”
“How nice for you,” Maddy responded, sardonically. “However, unless you’d like to be missing two testicles in a few hours time, I suggest you try to get up and clean this house before your parents get back.”
There was a moment’s silence. Then Felix poked his head out from between a pair of pillows.
“Is it really bad?” he groaned, squinting groggily up at Maddy.
“It’s going to take some effort,” said Maddy, truthfully.
Felix sighed and, with what seemed like a tremendous amount of effort, sat up/
“Oh god, my head!” he muttered. “What did I drink last night?”
“You should be asking what you didn’t drink,” said Liv. “From what I saw, you’d helped yourself to a bit of everything.”
“That would my why my mouth feels like sand paper,” moaned Felix, rubbing his forehead.
“Entirely your own fault,” Maddy chipped in. “Now come on, get your arse out of bed and let’s get to it.”
“Alright,” Felix sighed again. “Just give me five minutes, will you? I’m going to get dressed and take some aspirin. I’ll meet you downstairs.”
The little clean-up crew reformed shortly in the kitchen. Maddy had already taken it upon herself to devise a plan of action.
“Alright, here’s what we’re going to do,” she announced, when Felix finally joined them, looking worse for wears. “I’m going to take this rubbish sack and start clearing out the debris, okay? Liv, I want you to get the broom and follow behind me – make sure you get up as much of the little bits as you can. Felix, get a bowl of hot, soapy water and a cloth and make sure every mark is cleaned off the floor and walls. You might need some detergent on some of the sticky patches.”
“Ew,” Liv muttered.
“Any questions?” asked Maddy, as she pulled on a pair of pink rbber gloves.
“Yeah,” muttered Felix. “Can I go back to bed?”
“Absolutely not,” Maddy replied, with a hint of a smirk. “Now let’s get a move on.”
And so the trio set out to erase any evidence of the night’s massacre. Maddy was surprised by how much ground they covered in so little time. What with her picking up the rubbish, Liv sweeping and Felix scrubbing, the task of cleaning certainly seemed feasible.
The living room proved their biggest challenge. Not only did the furniture need moving back, but the floor in here was littered with beer bottles, empty plastic cups and bits of pizza crust. There was ash trodden into the rug from where someone had been smoking, and the room had acquired a strong, suspicicious smell.
“Did someone bring weed?” Felix asked, almost immediately upon entering.
“I did think I noticed someone smoking something weird,” replied Maddy. “I was too busy dealing with you to check it out though.”
Maddy opened a couple of windows to allow in some fresh air, and the let the smell diffuse.
“Who orders pizza to a house party?” Liv sighed, as she swept up bits of dried pepperoni off the floor.
“Someone with the munchies, apparently,” smirked Felix. He was on his hands and knees scrubbing ash out of the carpet with a soft, yellow sponge. “God, if this didn’t come out, my mum would’ve skinned me alive.”
Maddy and Liv set about the task of moving the sofas back into their original positions. However, Liv had only pulled hers a couple of feet off the wall when she gave a cry of surprise.
“Hey, what’s this?” she asked, bending down to pick something up. She retrieved a small object and held it up for them both to see. It was a clear, plastic bag, inside of which was a small amount of a fibrous, green substance.
“Cool,” Felix grinned. “Freebie. I’ll keep it.”
“No you will not!” said Maddy, sternly. “You know what your dad would do if he ever caught you with drugs. Liv, go upstairs and flush it down the toilet.”
“Spoilsport,” grumbled Felix, as Liv trotted obediently up to the bathroom.
***
Mr and Mrs Crompton arrived home a couple of hours later. The house was spick and span, cleaner even than when they had left it, with a single exception - three rather dirty and dishevelled teens were fast asleep, side-by-side, on a sofa in the living room.
Mrs Crompton glanced at her son and his two best friends, then to her husband.
“Remind me why you decided to take me away this weekend?” she asked of him, suspiciously.
“Don’t be so distrustful, Marion,” came Mr Crompton’s short, gruff response. “Would it kill you to think that the boy might have done something selfless for once?”
“I suppose not,” Mrs Crompton murmured, as Mr Crompton shuffled off towards the kitchen to make a cup of tea. She cast another observant eye over her living room. She felt a little guilty, and she might have been inclined to give her son the benefit of the doubt, had she not spied the green neck of a beer bottle poking out from beneath an armchair.
/ my profile 
