all the little things

ch1

aaron in the top pic btw!

Aaron-

the bell rang, signalling lunch break. thank fuck. walking out into the courtyard, i smelt something horrible coming from around the corner. it took me a minute to fully register the smell, and as soon as i did i turned the corner, trying not to gather any attention. there, not far from where I stood, i saw Renton Beckett. i saw him around the school a couple times and exchanged greetings in the hallway because some of my friends knew him, but nothing more than that. he was holding a blunt, eyes closed as his head was tilted up against the wall, blowing out that putrid smoke. i walked over to him, scrunching my nose at the smell. "Renton, are you fucking stupid? the whole school can probably smell that shit." i half scolded. "ohh, hey aiden." he said sluggishly. he was fucked. "aaron. its aaron." i said, pulling the blunt out of his hand and stomping it. "hey man there was still like... 2 hits leftt!" he whined. ignoring his high ass, i helped him up. "look, Renton, im not gonna snitch or nothing, cuz im not an asshole. i'll spray you with cologne and get you some food so you can sober up bro. if you go into class this fucked, you'll get caught straight away." i quietly spoke. he paused, taking the information in and let out a giggle. sighing, i sprayed him and took him to the lunch hall.

he told me he wanted the mac'n'cheese and a cherry radnor fizz. we sat down in a secluded spot and i watched him eat, thinking to myself. i mean, sure, he was 15 and had bad grades, but i didnt expect this kinda shit from him. i thought he was the type of guy to vape and refuse anything else. "aaron, im finishedd" he said sounding less high and more tired. i looked at him as he glugged down the radnor letting out a burp after he did so, laughing at his action. he had the cheese sauce all over his mouth. "renton, wipe your face man. you look like a kid." i said, laughing. he picked up the tissue that came wrapped around the wooden utensils and wiped his face clean. we sat there as he was telling me about dinosaurs, jellycats and sweets. he was still high, but it was less noticeable than when i found him. the next half hour of lunch passed and the bell rang again. i helped him up and he wrapped his arm around my shoulder to stabilise himself. i led him to his science class and reminded him to act sober before heading to my english lesson. i sat, trying my hardest to listen to miss gibbons teaching us about romeo and juliet for our gcse exams. about an hour passed, and the bell rang, signalling the end of the day.

when i got home, i greeted my mum and went to my room, plopping down on my bed with my phone in hand. scrolling through tiktok, i thought back to renton. i knew i had to help this boy somehow or he would get expelled and have a hard time getting a job in the future. thinking for a bit, i pulled up google on my laptop and searched 'how to help someone quit weed'. scrolling past all the rehab and therapy websites i found one titled 'ten steps to quitting marijuana'. clicking on the website, i read through the steps. '1] start by gradually smoking less weed for 5-7 days. 2] move on to safer options such as strong cbd oils, cbd infused vapes, cbd tea etc.' stopping after reading the first two steps, i took a picture of them on snap and saved them to my eyes only. i was going to try help renton stop at least for the rest of his academic years. i went back to tiktok, scrolling abit longer before completing the homework set for the next day and got myself ready for bed. i found a good position and dosed off.

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