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ONE, mi casa su casa
italics — rues narration
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elliot's mom never really liked the fact that he did drugs. she loved him and they had a close bond but the one thing she absolutely could not stand was the fact that he was a user. not only was he a user, but his mom considered him an abuser.
she knew his life wasn't perfect, but his mom liked to think that she did a good job raising him. given the fact that his dad up and left them when elliot was in fifth grade, she thought she was doing good on her own. she gave him and his siblings whatever they needed and wanted, she tried her best to be the perfect mom.
she was really disappointed in him when she first found out he was doing drugs. he had just started high school and met an older guy named soren. she was happy he had made a friend since he wasn't very social, but she quickly realized how much of a bad influence soren really was.
soren introduced elliot to opioids within his first two weeks of high school. soren was a senior, and vowed to take elliot under his wing. he cared for him like a brother would and made sure elliot never did too much, and elliot appreciated that until soren graduated and was never heard from again.
elliot's mom took the fact that her son was an addict really hard. he had gotten so bad towards the end of the year that she realized she couldn't have him living with her and his siblings anymore. he had started to lash out due to withdrawals and she didn't like him hanging around when he was high either, so she sent him to valley glen to live with his cousin.
ironically, this only seemed to fuel his addiction. his cousin was a pothead, so he had free access to weed whenever he wanted it. and pills were easy to get in valley glen, there were drug dealers everywhere. the only thing he didn't have here that he had back home were friends.
he was relieved when he met liana because he finally had a friend. he didn't know her well but she was nice, and that made him feel like he was able to breathe. she was also pretty, which he liked. he hoped that he would end up going to east highland after he met her and when he did, he searched for her everywhere.
she was the one who found him though, wandering the halls like a lost puppy. they immediately rekindled the bond they had made the week prior and elliot invited her over to his house after school where he quickly realized just the kind of bond they had.
"when did you learn to play the guitar?" liana asked. she was sitting on his floor with a blunt in her hands while elliot sat at the edge of his bed next to her strumming away on his guitar. he shrugged his shoulders, "maybe like, ten. eleven." he said. "were you already talented or did you have to actually learn?" she asked. "i was a musical kid, me and my brother were. so i guess i was already talented." he said.
"that's cool. what's the apple for?" she asked. "what?" liana turned to him and pointed to her face, just below her eye. he quickly realized she was talking about his apple tattoo. "oh, it's for my little sister." he said. she furrowed her brows, "you have a sister? is she the one you live with?" she asked. elliot shook his head, "nah, nah. my sister is seven and she lives a few hours away with my mom and my brother." he said.
"how come you live here then?" she asked. he shrugged, "my mom doesn't like that i do drugs." he said. he watched as she took hit after hit of the blunt, furrowing his brows and tapping her shoulder for her to give him the blunt. "why?" she took one more hit and reached over to give it to him. "she didn't like the way i acted around apple and alex, she says i'm an addict." he said. "are you?" she asked. "what?"
"are you an addict?" elliot took a hit of the blunt holding it in one hand as he strummed his guitar. "i guess, i don't know." liana looked over at him, "then why are we doing drugs right now?" she asked. "it's just weed." he said. "we snorted lines on new years." she said. "that was new years. this is monday, a whole new year." he grinned at her.
elliot didn't consider himself an addict because he knew he could stop doing drugs if he wanted to. but he found himself in a gray area a lot where he didn't see a reason to stop. he wasn't harming anybody anymore since he was away from his family and nobody had really given him a reason to not do drugs.
liana didn't respond but leaned her head against his bed and looked back at him. "do you like east highland?" she asked. he shook his head, "not really. i thought about dropping out like six times today." he turned his body towards her and put his guitar on his lap, giving her his full attention. "are you gonna?" she asked. he shook his head again, "no, i like having you there. it's tolerable."
elliot genuinely smiled, reaching over and placing his hand on her head and rubbed his thumb gently into her hair. he propped his guitar back up, putting the blunt in the corner of his mouth and getting his hands placed on the guitar. "what's your favorite song?" he asked. "why?"
"i'm gonna play it for you." he said. she let out a big dramatic breath, thinking hard before she told him her favorite song which he immediately began strumming away on his guitar. she cheered and clapped once, beginning to sing the lyrics while elliot stared at her and tried his best to keep up.
elliot really liked that day. he thought about it often, but he thought more about the conversation he had with his cousin after liana had left.
"who was that girl you had over?" she asked, smoking a joint next to elliot on the couch as they watched a movie. "a friend." she raised a brow. "i've only seen you bring bout three friends up in this bitch," she chuckled. elliot shrugged, fighting back a smile that wanted to make its appearance. "and she's one of them."
