MONEY TREES, gossip girl [DISCONTINUED]

24

tw! mentioned needles and
of drug use/addiction, sex, early mania

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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
LOOK AWAY
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ONE thing Cristian appreciates about his dad? He doesn't make a big deal out of little things like his mom does.

Cristian didn't know what to expect waking up on November 3rd, but whatever his anxieties were, Sergio didn't bring them to life. There were no awkward gaps of silence, no odd and lingering looks, no weird questions. CJ had told him the truth, and that was that. Nothing had changed.

Cristian goes to school bright and early with a novel sense of hope, and an old sense of overwhelming of nervous tension. He tries to focus on the good things as he approaches Constance and St. Jude's, but his mind keeps reverting to the bad. And the aforementioned bad? The itch has come back, stronger than ever.

Craving drugs is different from any other craving. It's not like sex, it's not like food, or anything else. It's a whole other monster. Once becoming an addict, the brain changes and what it needs changes. Those simple desires aren't as intense, because the relief it provides doesn't equate to the relief of using. Nothing compares to the high.

And the desire to use never really goes away. CJ can manage it some days, but other days it's all he can think about. Today is one of those other days.

On his way to school, CJ comes up with a game plan: Distraction. Do so much that his mind doesn't have the capacity to diverge onto any dark roads. Cristian is behind on some of his assignments, so he won't have to worry about running out of things to preoccupy himself.

Cristian blasts music through his headphones as he walks up the front stairs of the school. His steps are brisk as he barges into the hallway, eyes darting around on his first task of many. He spots Audrey standing near the windows of the quart yard, obsessing over her phone.

Cristian yanks out his headphones and makes his way towards her, "Hey."

"What?" She snaps, but upon looking up from the phone screen, her angry expression relaxes, "CJ! Thank god you're here."

"Don't give him the credit." Cristian jokes.

"Whatever, as long as you're here." She sighs, "The hospital has stopped answering my calls, and when they do answer, they put me on hold. What if something happens and I can't reach them?"

"They'll call you if anything happens." Cristian reassures her, but his assurance doesn't seem to break through her constant worries.