dream on, my dear.

"addict"

(TW/CW: this story involves drugs and drug use involving teenagers)

As happy as Aspen was, with meeting Amber, she was struggling. Whether it was school, her mental health, no one noticed, which wasn't surprising, as no one really notices anymore. And not just with Aspen, just in general. No one knows what to look for. What really hurt her was that even if someone noticed, they probably wouldn't say anything anyways. At least, that's what Aspen thought. Aspen struggled with her homework, constantly. She knew she had to get it done, though, so she tried her best. Even if it was one of the hardest things she had to do everyday. She didn't understand most of it, but admitting her own stupidity and lack of understanding was better than getting help. She'd rather just cheat. She hates how worthless and small it makes her feel, how stressed she was. It wasn't going to help in the long run. It wasn't important at all. She fantasized about running away. Just thinking, fuck it. Go have fun, do shit that you'll actually remember and cherish in your life. Stop wasting your time on this meaningless shit.

But of course, those were merely fantasies. When you looked at Aspen, you would think that she's a good kid. What comes to mind when you think of a 'well-behaved, good' kid? However you perceive it, Aspen was in fact, a good kid. Except for the fact that she was an addict. Now, with no context, it sounds worse than it is. Of course, being an addict is never a good thing, but she wasn't one of those stereotypical junkies from shows and movies. She had this friend, back in her old town, who, you could say, wasn't the best person. This friend gave Aspen some pills, marjuana, just whatever drugs teenagers can get their hands on, and since then, Aspen did everything she could to get those drugs. Until she moved to the big city. It was different. She didn't know who to go to, who to ask, but she was going to figure it out. She had to, or she would go insane. The drugs were her relief, her distraction. It made her calm. It was a coping mechanism.

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Aspen was at school, bored out of her fucking mind. She always looked around, observing the other kids, assuming what they would be like, what they would talk like, what their lives were like. It was amusing to her. She saw these two kids, they always wore hoodies, really only talked to each other, and overall, seemed really quiet. One of them was more masculine. Slim, pale, but more masculine features. Sharp jawline, bushy eyebrows. Their veins were bulging out of their skin, and they had brown, curly hair. Green eyes, maybe hazel. They wore black skinny jeans and a black t-shirt, plastered on the front, was a picture of a band, and a black zip-up hoodie. The other one, basically dressed the same, had more feminine features. Long, straight, brown hair. Brown eyes, tan skin. lighter colored jeans, but baggy. Same kind of t-shirt and hoodie. Their face was more round and delicate, their eyes were bigger and kept their eyebrows shaped nicely. Of course, this was just society's view of masculine and feminine features.

Would it be too obvious to assume they're drug dealers? As she sat there, fidgeting and tapping her pencil on the desk, she saw one of them ask to go to the bathroom, and soon after, the other one followed.

Now or never, right?

She knew it was too obvious for them to be dealers, but who knows, some people really are that fucking obvious, and sometimes, life really does imitate art. She put all of her stuff away, as quietly as possibly, waited for her chance, and ran for the door. She would deal with that when the time came. She just needed to know if she could get what she needed. She looked around, jogging and trying to remember where anything was. She came up on a corner, and as she slowed down at the corner, and peeked her head out from the wall. They stood there, talking and laughing as they were going into the bathroom. Aspen followed them, but stayed at the door.

"How much did you get last time?"

Life. Imitates. Art. The stereotypes are not failing her.

"I got ripped off, dude. The bitch gave me half of what I asked for."

"Why'd you give it to her then?"

"She was hot." They started laughing, so loud, the neighboring schools could hear. Aspen took a second before she realized they were smoking weed.  Aspen walked in and leaned against the wall, crossing her arms.

"You two are so obvious." She laughed, as the two figures turned towards her and jumped, hiding their things in their pockets, waving and flailing their arms in the air, desperatly trying to get the smoke in the air to dissipate.

"Smoking weed in a school bathroom, talking about your deals, loudly, might I add, in a public space. You two are the smartest dealers I've ever seen."

"What do you want?" The first figure hissed.

"First of all, names. So it's easier to report you to the staff. Giving descriptions and asking around is so annoying." She rolled her eyes, talking in a way that, hopefully, taunted them.

"Do you think we're that fucking stupid?"

"Yes, actually. But I'm not going to report you. I'm just as guilty as you are." They turned and looked at each other.

"I'm Aileen, he's Max." Max looked down, frowned and clenched his fist, the immediate regret flooding his face.

"Now what do you want?"

"Drugs."

"Okay..?" They stared, waiting. "Free drugs, just whatever you got." Aileen tilted their head slightly.

"Seriously? Is this bitch serious?" Aileen looked over at Max in disbelief.

"At least discounted, then. I could always just report you, now that I have your names, it'll be way easier now." The pair once again, looked at each other. Max pulled a bag of weed from his pocket and handed it to Aspen. "Really? You were just carrying that around in your pocket?" He shrugged.

"This is all I have right now. Come back here tomorrow, before school. I'll get your shit tonight," Aspen smirked, relieved that her half-assed, implusive plan had worked. "And bring at least some money, or you aren't getting shit." She walked over to Max, grabbed the weed, shoved it into her backpack. She leaned in slightly,

"Thanks, Max." She whispered, winking. He frowned, his face so clearly portraying his annoyance with her as she smiled and walked out out of the bathroom. She sighed with relief as she walked out the door. That was the most stressful drug deal of her life. But, she felt like such a badass. She started walking back to class, when she heard a familiar voice calling her name. She turned around and smiled slightly, scared to death that Amber would find out. "Hey! What's up, Amber?"

"Hey, I was wondering if I you wanted to hangout today?"

"Today?"

"Yeah, I know it's short notice but we're friends, I want to hangout with you." Aspen smiled.

"Yeah, of course!"

"Great,"

"See you later."