I smoked on the way home, taking my time. The cigarette made me feel dirty. Upstairs I was relieved to find Audrey was in the shower. I sipped coffee. The caffeine only reactivated the coke, agitating me.

Audrey came out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel, an opened beer in her hand.

“Found it in the fridge,” she said. “I love drinking beer in the shower. I felt like shit when I first woke up, did you?”

“I’m still a little shaky,” I said.

“Here,” she said, handing me the beer, still half full. “This will help. Can I borrow some clean clothes?”

“Sure,” I said. “Whatever you want.”

After a few sips of beer I started to relax and my headache eased up. Audrey emerged from my closet in a yellow sundress, and it gave me a feeling of déjà vu. Something about drinking in the morning, the way the light came in the window.

“Danielle used to always borrow my clothes,” I said.

“Yeah, mine, too. She was like a poacher. Of tank tops.”

“She used to live here, you know.”

“What?” Audrey said. “In this apartment?”

“Yeah. A couple of years ago. Before prison and all that.”

Audrey looked around in wonder. “How long have you lived here?” she said.

“Since middle school. It was my mom’s place. I inherited the lease.”

“I’ve never lived anywhere a whole year,” she said. “Don’t you get tired of it?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think about it. There was never a reason to move, you know?”

“The memories don’t bother you?”

“Wouldn’t I still have memories if I moved? I’d have the same brain.”

“No, you get a new brain when you sign a lease,” she said. “I can’t believe you didn’t know that.”

“In that case I should definitely move. Not all the memories are bad, though.”

“I hate to think about the past,” Audrey said, finishing the beer. “Even good memories make me sad. “Cause they’re over.”

“I see what you mean.”

“Do you want to go get breakfast?” She picked up a pink barrette of mine and stuck it in her hair.

“I don’t think I can eat,” I said. “Not yet.”

“Poor baby, still feeling bad? I guess we drank a lot.”

“And the coke,” I said. “I’m not used to it.”

“I had fun last night, though,” Audrey said. She smiled at me. “Let’s split another beer.”

“Okay.” I got a beer from the fridge and lit a cigarette while she loaded her one-hitter.

“This will make you feel better, too,” she said, handing it to me.

I took a hit and held it, watching her in the yellow dress. My apartment felt less stable with her in it. Less like mine. She reminded me too much of Danielle. It was unsettling.

“That dress looks awesome on you,” I said. “You should keep it.”

“Don’t be silly, I’ll give it back. I like wearing your clothes, though.”

“Really, why?”

“I don’t know. They’re cute. They smell like you.”