Sweetener

eight | ghostin

Drew was in the middle of nowhere.

He had agreed to take the job, needing something to take his mind off the earlier conversation with his dad. The unknown guy had given Drew his address, and Drew agreed to show up with his two grams in an hour.

And sure enough, an hour later, Drew had pulled up to the location. He wasn't sure exactly where he was though. All he knew was that he was in an empty parking lot, thirty minutes away from campus and waiting on some guy named Joey.

Three minutes later, Drew's patience was wearing thin. He was about to head back to his dorm when a car pulled up in front of him. A lanky blonde haired kid stood in front of him with a smirk. Drew also took note of the two buff guys in the car- one in the driver's seat and the other in the back. Drew gave them a nod. They looked a little older than him, probably around 23. They nodded back.

"Hey man. Got held up. You got my shit?" He leaned against the car, puffing his chest out.

Drew simply nodded and dug in his backpack for the bud. The kid was trying to look intimidating and Drew almost wanted to laugh but decided against it. He wasn't scared of the boy. Drew was taller and buffer and could easily handle him if shit went left. It was the two guys in the car he was worried about.

"Here." Drew tossed the bag to Joey. He let the kid look at it and sniff it until he gave a slimy satisfied grin.

"Thanks. Here's the money."

He handed Drew a $20. Drew held up the bill into the light to make sure that it was real and wasn't really surprised when he found that it wasn't. People had tried to scam him before, but he wasn't stupid.

He noticed Joey moving closer to the passenger seat and grabbed him before he could open the door.

Drew smirked devilishly. "You gave me a fake. Where's my shit, man."

Joey raised his arms as if he was surrendering to Drew and let out a nervous chuckle.

"Oh, yea...um... it's right here!" Joey wound his hand back, attempting to punch Drew. Luckily, Drew had already expected it and dodged. He punched Joey in his face, causing him to stumble and fall back against the car door.

Joey shook his head, and wiped the blood leaking from his nose. He banged his hand against the window of the passenger's seat and the two other guys walked out, towering over Drew.

He was pissed. It was 20 fucking dollars. Was this Joey guy really that broke that he would rather jump Drew than pay him? He looked between the two guys as they leaned against the car. He could probably take one of them, but both were out of the question.

Drew laughed to himself, rolling up his sleeves. "This is just unfair. Two against one?"

The two guys just looked at him and laughed. They blocked his exit route. It was clear that these guys weren't going to let him leave. If it was a fight they wanted, it was one they would get.

The first guy launched a punch at Drew, which he ducked, but he couldn't move fast enough to dodge the other guy's fist. It hit him square in the face. His jaw was in pain and he could feel a bruise forming on his cheek. Drew spit out some blood on the floor.

He was able to land a punch on both of them, making them both stumble back. He punched the first one in the stomach before the second one grabbed him and shoved him to the floor. They both took turns punching Drew. He put his arms up to protect his face, but his attempts were futile. They kicked and punched the shit out of his face and stomach until he felt like he couldn't get up anymore. He could hear Joey laughing with each punch that connected.

"And stay down, bitch." Joey cackled.

Sick bastard.

When they finally finished punching the shit out of Drew, they hopped back in their car as if nothing happened. Drew heard the squeaking of their tires, and then they were gone. They took all the weed that he had on him too. Drew laughed– it hurt, but he laughed.

And soon his loud laughter turned into rough sobs that ripped through his chest. What a shit day. What did he do to deserve this? He wondered if his life was meant to be like this too. Nineteen years of having no one to rely on but his dad. Having a mother who hated him. Selling to chase some sort of thrill and forget his pain. Having no one to laugh with...

His friends.

Imani.

Even as Drew laid on the ground, going in and out of consciousness, he could only think about her. Was she thinking of him like he was her? He thought of her brown eyes looking over him in that moment. Reassuring him that he would be okay. A smile on her face to convince him. He just prayed he would be alright so he could see her again.

~*~

Later that night, Imani was getting ready for bed. Or at least trying to. She couldn't help but feel like something was wrong.

She was pacing back and forth in her dorm. She had heard from Jade that Drew had left her and Sir in a bad mood after a phone call with someone. Her light was on, and she couldn't stop her thoughts from running a mile per minute.

"Imani, he's probably fine. You've got to stop pacing back and forth, you're freaking me out!" Jade said.

Imani waved her off. She couldn't help it. She hadn't heard from Drew all day; not one phone call, not one silly text message. Usually, he would respond back whenever Imani texted him. But instead, she got nothing.

"It's just not like him, Jade."

Jade sat up with a sigh, "I get that you worry about people. I get it. But, I'm sure he's fine. Just because he's not on his phone 25/8 doesn't mean we should sound the alarms."

Imani took a deep breath to calm herself down. "You're right. I'm freaking out over nothing."

She crawled in her bed, wrapping herself in her blanket and reassuring herself that everything was okay. Imani shut her lights off.

Except thirty minutes later, Imani was still awake.

Something in her gut was telling her that something was wrong. She had to calm her nerves somehow. She took her phone from her nightstand and called Drew's number.

It rang and rang and rang until she got his voicemail.

Yo! It's Drew! I'm either busy or ignoring you. Leave a message after the beep if you want—

Imani quickly hung up the phone.

Everything's okay. He's okay. He has to be okay.

She kept repeating that till she could convince herself. And soon enough, she fell asleep.

An hour later, her ringtone was blasting throughout the dorm. Jade groaned and grabbed a pillow to drown the noise out. Imani sat up and reached for her phone. It was Drew.

"Drew? Where have you been? I was worried." Imani picked up the phone as she rubbed her eyes. She checked the clock on her desk. It was 1:37 am. "Do you have any idea what time it is? What's going on?"

Imani only received silence from the other end. She could hear Drew's hoarse cough and harsh breathing and she knew something was off. She sat up in her bed a little straighter, a knot forming in her stomach as she waited for Drew to say something. Anything. She felt nauseous.

"Drew, what's wrong?" Her voice shook.

"I need you."

~*~

👀 oop-