Cherry

Chapter 5

Cherry

As I pull into the diner's parking lot, I see that Ethan is already off work. He's propped up against the outside of his car, wearing a plain white t-shirt that compliments his muscles nicely, which isn't his uniform, indicating he's already changed for our... hangout? I don't quite know what to call it, because it's definitely not a date. Ethan is just a friend, and it's going to stay that way. I mean, what's the worst that could happen? There's nothing wrong with having a little fun this summer. I live for excitement, after all.

Once I park my car and step out, I walk over to Ethan and say, "Hey."

"Hey. You ready to go?" he asks me.

"Yes, but I have a suggestion on where we should go instead of the beach." I don't know if I'm making a mistake by telling him my idea, but you only live once, right?

"Yeah? What's that?" he curiously asks. "Considering you're in a bikini, I assume we're still going somewhere that involves water." He scans my body up and down, then brings his eyes back to mine.

His advance makes my heart beat a little faster than it did previously. How did such a small action have such a big impact on me? I quickly snap out of the trance and say, "Uh, you told me you wanted to be more adventurous this summer, right?"

He nods his head and grins. "I do remember telling you that, yes."

"Well, I can give you directions to a lake only about five minutes from here. It won't be crowded like the beach. We'll be the only ones there."

"And how do you know this spot won't be crowded?" his right eyebrow arches at me.

"I go there to smoke weed," I bluntly explain.

"Did you happen to bring weed for us tonight?"

"Maybe," I smile and move my eyes to my cream-colored tote bag that's resting on my shoulder, which contains the weed.

Ethan moves his eyes away from me and to my tote bag like he's contemplating his answer. He then looks back at me and devilishly smiles. "You know what? Fuck it. Hop in and let's go."

***

"You're telling me you've never smoked weed before?" I ask, completely shocked. I feel like smoking weed is such a common thing, everyone's had to of tried it at least once in their life. Well, besides Ethan, I suppose. 

"I knew you were going to make fun of me," Ethan laughs. He sits down in the grass, joining me by sitting criss-cross beside me. With these seats, we have a clear view of the aqua-blue lake sitting directly in front of us. It's my favorite spot in the world. 

"I'm not making fun of you! I just assumed you've smoked before," I smile. "You don't have to smoke with me if you aren't comfortable-"

"I want to," he looks at me.

"You sure?"

Ethan nods his head up and down, letting his nonverbal act say he wants to get high with me this afternoon.

"I like this adventurous Ethan. I couldn't imagine what you were like in college." I grab my tote bag that I had placed on the ground. I pull out an already rolled blunt, along with a lighter. "You don't need a blunt of your own. Your tolerance is going to be low since you've never smoked. We can share this, though." I take the blunt in my left hand and the lighter in my right. I put the blunt to my lips and light it. I inhale for about five seconds and exhale, causing gray smoke to surround us. When the smoke reaches Ethan, he coughs a little bit, making me laugh. I can only imagine what he's going to do when he inhales. 

I pass the weed over to Ethan and watch him as he puts it to his lips.

"Do you know how to inhale?" I ask.

"I guess we'll find out," he doesn't hesitate to inhale, followed by an immediate reaction to the drug. He coughs and coughs for what seems like forever. I knew this is what was going to happen. He passes the blunt back to me, and the entire situation makes me laugh hard. "God, you're so bad at this," I inhale more of the blunt.

"I told you it was my first time!" he chuckles with me and fans the air, trying to get the smoke out of his face. His coughs begin to weaken, but every few seconds I can hear him start to choke again.

"I know," I laugh and blow smoke out.

"I guess you come here a lot, huh?" Ethan asks me as I pass him the blunt again. He doesn't cough as bad his second time, but it's still pretty bad.

I grab the drug again and lie down in the grass on my back, looking up at the clear, blue sky. The only clouds out are from us. "Yeah, I guess so. It's quiet and no one knows about it but me." I look to my right to glance at Ethan, and I watch as he adjusts himself, too. His back is now laying in the grass, like mine, and he turns his head to the left to look at me.

"So, the Cherry took me to her secret spot? I'm honored," he smirks.

"Don't say my name like that," I grin and pass the weed back to him.

"Why? Cherry is such a cool name. It suits you, too. You look like a Cherry, with your red hair and all."

I inhale again, and as smoke leaves my body, I say, "I kind of hate my name."

"Really?

"Well, I guess I don't hate it. I just hate where it came from," I sigh and get flashbacks to my childhood. "My birth mom named me Cherry because all she wanted to eat when she was pregnant with me were cherries. It's a cute idea, you know. I just wish it didn't come from her."

"Why don't you like her?" Ethan sits up and asks me. "I'm not pressuring you to tell me anything you aren't comfortable with, though."

I think back as far as I can remember before I got adopted; around five years old. It's crazy how the human brain can hold so many old memories, even the ones you have tried so hard to forget about. "She just wasn't a good person."

"Oh," he says, like he was expecting a bigger explanation than what I gave him. Maybe one day I'll be comfortable telling him about my past and who I really am, but I honestly wouldn't count on it.

Ethan moves closer to me and leans down, tucking a piece of my hair behind my ear. I get chills from the littlest touch from him, and it scares me that my body reacts to him like this. I move my eyes up to meet his, and it's almost like they're glistening and sparkling brighter than they ever have. Right, the weed.

"I'm sorry about that, Cherry."

"It's fine. You don't have to feel bad for me," I tell him as our eyes stay glued to each other. My mind tells me to stay away from him, but my skipping heart wants to ignore my brain and move closer.

His hand is gently placed on the side of my head, and he's looking at me like if he moves away he might miss something.

"Do you want to do something fun after our highs go down?" I ask him.

"What'd you have in mind?" he devilishly grins, not removing his hand from my head.

"Weed always makes me hungry. Do you want to go get some food soon?"