Luna found the ‘Druggie Zone’ as she called it freshman year. It was an accident; she had snuck off from gym class because she refused to run the mile and found a little cleaning that was blocked off by a fallen tree. She hid there when she heard Coach Martin calling for her and watched as she walked right past her. The next day we snuck out there after first period, sharing a joint and a bottle of cooking wine I snagged from my mom’s cabinet because it was the only thing, we could get our hands on. After that it became a constant go to for us. If we didn’t want to go to school, or if a class got too overwhelming, or if we wanted to get fucked up, we came to the clearing. We tried to use it as a school only place, I was too paranoid that if we used it to escape from home my dad would find it and ruin something good like he always did.

“Fuck, all my shit is in roger’s car.” I say to myself as I dig through my bag. I sigh and walk over to the base of the fallen tree and start digging. Sometimes we would hide our stash there when we didn’t have a safe spot at my house and I was hoping if I dug deep enough, I’d be able to find something. Thankfully there were two old Perc’s and some weed and my old pipe I had thought I’d lost. I quickly took the perc and dug through my bag for a lighter. The weed was so dry that I felt like I was hacking a lung out every time I inhaled but I didn’t care, I needed my brain to stop thinking about Mike and Luna and everything she said. I lied down in the part of the clearing where the sun shined down in between the leaves and soaked up the warmth. I was finally at a good enough high where all my brain would focus on was the sound of the wind rustling the leaves and the numbness that was starting at the middle of my back and slowly making its way to the rest of my body. I called that the first wave and it was always my favorite part.

I was just about to doze off when I heard the rustling of feet. ‘Fuck’ I thought ‘it’s Luna coming to try and talk.’ That was the last thing I needed just as I got my high so I shuffled behind a tree and peaked my head just enough so I could see her without getting caught. I was expecting to hear her call my name out at any minute, but to my surprise instead of Luna, a tall dark-haired girl in a baggy sweater came running through the clearing and sat down on one of the logs Luna and I had dragged out there and put her head in her hands. She was sobbing.

Shit, how does one sneak out from under a tree and avoid not being seen without it being awkward? I crane my neck some to get a better look at her as quietly as I can but it didn’t matter, she was already looking at me.

“Um, hello?” she said, coming closer towards me “Is there a reason you’re underneath a tree?”

I give her an awkward giggle and slowly crawl out. “I wasn’t spying on you or anything.” I say sheepishly “I uh didn’t know anyone else knew about this place, I thought you were my friend looking for me.”

“So, you hid from them?”

“Uh yeah.” I chuckle “She’s kind of the last person I want to talk to right now.” I gave her a quick once over as I wiped the dirt off my clothes. She was tall and more on the thicker side with long wavy black hair which she had done up in a ponytail braid combo. She had on a long flowy black skirt that moved ever so slightly in the breeze and a Nirvana t-shirt. I had seen her somewhere before but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

“I’ll just get out of your way.” I say gathering my stuff together “Sorry again if I creeped you out.”

I started to turn away when she grabbed my arm. “No, you’re okay.” She says “I wasn’t even looking for this spot, I just started running until I couldn’t anymore. Is this like your little secret hide out or something?” She was wiping away her tears as she spoke and I could tell she was doing her best to force out her smile.

“Yeah, something like that.” I pull out a napkin from my bag and hand it to her “Are you okay?” She smiles and shakes her head as she grabs the napkin and wipes her eyes, the sun hitting them as she did turn her dark brown eyes into a more amber color that I couldn’t stop staring at.

She sits back down on the log and sighs “You aren’t the only one who’s avoiding a friend today. I just couldn’t handle it and needed some space so I got a bathroom pass and kind of just ran. I don’t know, I normally don’t do this but it was all just too much ya know? Like my head was just too full I couldn’t focus.”

I laugh a little “trust me I know all about having your head be too full. Lucky for you I’ve got the perfect cure.” I sit next to her and pull out the stash bag I dug up and grab the last of the weed and put it into the bowl. “It’s old so it’s kind of harsh but it’ll definitely help if you want some.” She stares at the bowl for a minute thinking about it before she finally says “Fuck it.” and takes a hit. Instantly she’s coughing and dry heaving but she takes another hit.

“You weren’t lying about it being harsh.” She says between coughs handing the bowl back to me. There was just enough for one more hit. “We aren’t going to get caught, are we? I’ve never done drugs at school, only at parties.”

I shook my head and let out the smoke I was holding in. “Nope, the reason I like this place so much is because no one can see it, perfectly hidden to do whatever you want.”

She laughs and looks over at me “I’m sorry, now I’m being the weird one.” She says looking away awkwardly.

“Oh, so you did think I was weird! Here I thought I had smoothly talked my way out of that.” She gave me a little shove and rolled her eyes. “It’s okay to stare though I know I’m looking a little rough for the first day of school. I wasn’t really expecting to come in today after last night’s party.”

“The party! That’s where I’ve seen you before!” She exclaims pointing at me “I accidentally spilled my drink on you and completely embarrassed myself!” Her face got bright red and she instantly buried her face into her hands and started muttering ‘oh my god’ repeatedly. I thought back to my hazy memories from last night trying to place her face but I couldn’t, but I definitely remember crashing into someone while looking for Luna.

“So, you’re the reason I woke up smelling like a cranberry.” I say and I hear her saying ‘Oh my god’ even louder. “Hey it’s alright I’m not mad, just a basic party foul on both our ends. Trust me I’ve had worse stuff spilled on me.”

She shook her head and lifted it from her hands, her face still red. “You don’t understand I was so embarrassed and blathering about it all night to Jazmyn because-” Before she could finish the bell for the end of the first period rang. “I um, I guess we should make our way back” she says “my mom would kill me if I missed every class today.” She stands up and reaches her hand out to help me up but I shake my head.

“I don’t think I’m gonna go today.” I say “I’m a little too fucked up and definitely wouldn’t get through a class without the teacher noticing. I’d rather deal with my parents being mad I skipped instead of them finding out I’m on so many different substances I can’t even name them all.” She nodded and we both kind of stood there in awkward silence, neither of us really knowing how to finish the conversation.

“Um, thanks for the weed. Hopefully it’ll help keep my head clear for the rest of the day.” She finally says. “I guess I’ll see you around?”

I smile “yeah definitely, I’ll be here.” I say jokingly pointing to the ground. “Have fun in the hell hole. She laughs and gives me an awkward small wave before quickly making her way back to the school. I could hear her muttering to herself and even though I couldn’t hear what she was saying, I had a pretty good idea what it was. I waited until I knew she was out of the woods before I took the last Perc and laid down on the ground. The adrenaline from my fight with Luna was wearing off and the hangover slowly came back. My head ached and I felt like I was going to throw up everything in my stomach and I didn’t want to deal with any more side effects so I closed my eyes and waited for the pills and weed to slowly put me to sleep.

Next Chapter: Chapter Four