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CHAPTER TWO
☆☆☆
"So how was therapy...?" Abel, my lifelong best friend, asked as he reached over to his speaker and turned down Tracy Chapman playing in the background.
I sighed, picking up the blunt that sat in his ashtray along with a lighter.
"Same as always," I said before flicking the lighter and putting it at the end of the perfectly rolled joint.
He looked at me weirdly as we sat on his bedroom floor, my back leaned against his black chair while he sat in front of me on his black rug. Black was his favorite color.
"So basically, you didn't try at all..." His voice was snarky, fading with disappointment, making me look up from the blunt that was now lit and smoking at the end.
"Don't say it like that," I said, tilting my head to the side, making my knotless braids fall to the right. Holding the blunt between my thumb and pointer finger, I brought it to my lips and took a long inhale, letting the toxin fill my lungs.
After a few seconds, I tilted my head back and exhaled the smoke.
"I mean, there's no other way to say it. You're not even trying. It's like you don't want to get better."
I looked away from him, seeing the anger written on his face. More like concern, but still.
"I do," I said, taking another hit from the blunt. It seemed to be affecting me slower than usual. I never got high right away when I actually needed to.
"No, you don't. You just wanna turn away anyone who wants to help you-"
I sighed, cutting him off and taking yet another hit. This time longer and stronger.
"Yeah, because none of them want to help me. They just want their hefty paychecks at the end of the day. You of all people should know that."
He sighed, shaking his head, a small laugh escaping-one that didn't convince me he found anything funny.
"Sure, Cory. But you of all people know it only gets worse. You're not doing what's best for you."
"But you know what? Do what you want," was all he said before reaching out and grabbing the blunt from me.
He rubbed his hands over his low-cut blonde hair-the color he had dyed it a few weeks ago. I loved it. It brought out his brown complexion. I was always too scared to try colored hair, too scared to put myself out there because of my skin tone. But he never had been, and I loved that about him.
