I furrowed my brow. “Just to check things out. You wanna come, or are you staying?”
I looked back, watching as she shook her head. “No, thank you. I’m staying behind.”
“Suit yourself!”
I found my way around the corner and saw Kayla sitting with Meredith. They smiled up at me before Meredith patted the seat on the porch swing next to her. A couple of guys I didn’t recognize leaned against the porch railing. One of them had a joint in his hand, and he inhaled deeply. Holding his breath. Staring straight at me before puffing the smoke back out.
And slapping me in the face with it.
“Want some?” he asked.
Meredith grinned. “It’s the good kind. Just one puff will relax you.”
Kayla giggled. “And by the sounds of it, you do need to relax a little bit. Did you shake off your entourage?”
I shook my head. “What?”
Meredith lowered her voice. “The boy that keeps ruining your evening? Did you shake him?”
Kayla snorted. “See why girls dump their boyfriends before college? They all do that. They all get possessive and weird and clingy. Happened to me. Happened to Mere. It’ll happen to you.”
The guy handed me the joint. “Try it. Take it in slowly, hold, then let it out.”
I looked down at what looked like a large turd. I wrinkled my nose at it, the smell already getting to me. But I wanted to fit in. I wanted to make friends. I wanted to fucking relax. I looked around, making sure Clint wasn’t anywhere to be seen. Then I saw down next to ‘Mere.’
She patted my back. “There you go. The first hit’s gonna be rough. Just work through it. Force your lungs to take it all in.”
I nodded as the guy handed me the rolled-up joint. I sighed as I held it to my lips, tentatively sucking on it. The smoke filled my lungs and I already felt my body working against it. My throat jumped as I opened my lungs, forcing the smoke to go in.
“That’s it.”
“Hold it.”
“One, two, three.”
“Now, let it out and do it again. Quickly. Come on, come on.”
I let out the smoke and quickly took another puff. Only this time, it went down a little smoother. I sucked a bit more down for good measure, then held my breath as I handed it off to Meredith. She smiled at me before taking a puff, and I felt the world slowly tilting around me. I felt lighter than air. Relaxed, and full of happiness.
And as I let out the smoke, the guys in front of me clapped.
“Ten seconds. Good one.”
“You want in on another round?”
I nodded. “Oh, hell yeah.”
I sank back into the porch swing with Meredith. She threw her leg over my lap as my head fell back. The joint came back around to me and I lifted my head long enough to take a long drag of it. My lungs filled with the smoke and I battled to keep it down. I let myself fall away from my own mind. I didn’t think about anything. Not my mother. Not orientation. Not Allison, or Michael, or Clint. Not home, or my money issues. Nothing, except the fact that it felt like my body was floating around in the air.
“Oh, this feels so nice,” I moaned.
Meredith groaned. “Here comes trouble.”
My head snapped up. “What?”
“Rae? Are you serious?”
My eyes slowly panned over to the corner and I saw Clint emerge. He walked around, his gaze landing directly on me. Smoke from the joint caught his gaze and he snickered. He shook his head, like he was some sort of disappointed parent.