Something In The Way | $UICIDEBOY$ | RUBY DA CHERRY

I

(TW: DRUG USE)

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There was a ticking from an old clock in the darkness that filled the whole room in the deep silence. Aristos laid on the lumpy sofa in his cousin's beat down apartment, debating whether or not he wanted to grab the bong and take a deep hit. He was just too comfortable to move and didn't feel like disrupting the peace.

Aristos should be asleep right now, but other things were up on display in his mind that were louder than anything else. He wasn't really thrilled to be going back to college after three years of putting it off (again), but he knew he needed to. His mother and father were always in his ear, telling him he needed to decide on something, because the future wasn't going to wait for him.

"I know, Ma, I know," sighed Aristos, raking his hands through his long, frizzy hair, feeling trapped by the whole confrontation. He was still down a car, so he had to bum rides from his cousin, Scott, who... Had his own little thing going on, that Aristos was well more interested in than school.

Scott did some gigs as a DJ at local clubs, events, and, now, college parties. At least that was the scheme Scott had cooked up for Aristos on his first day back at The University of New Orleans; hand out flyers to promote a small gig Scott has organized as a way to put his name out, and also "reel some bitches." Aristos didn't really have "reeling bitches" in mind, but more so focusing on his rap career.

Aristos decided that if he wasn't interested in anything else, he'd go back to school for something relating to music, or make connections to get out of school quickly to make music... Something.

So, Aristos lied there, flipping back and forth between ideas for the set Scott had planned that upcoming Friday night, which was only three days away. He wasn't necessarily nervous, but eager and restless that the day couldn't come sooner... But he was stumped on what to actually do for the set.

The mindless back and forth, like a neverending tennis match, finally convinced Aristos to hit the bong, letting the milky white smoke slowly fill the neck of the glass until it reached his lips. He inhaled the hit in one breath, held for a second or two, before exhaling a cloud like a dragon. He sat the bong next to him on the couch, before flopping back down with a small sigh and a new buzz forming.

Well, he thought, I could always collab with Scott since I'm crashing at his place throughout college.

His parents were more than okay with letting him stay with his cousin, simply because he's now a grown man and doesn't need to be living with his parents. Aristos was already taking the initiative on going back to school, so there was no need to tell him no, even if his parents weren't too keen on the idea.

To say it bluntly, Aristos parents weren't the most fond of Scott, nor his influence on their son, but they can understand that what Aristos and Scott do together makes him happy. Not that Scott was... Bad. He had his own array of issues that he needed to handle on his own. Aristos could only be there so much before he was shut out for a while.

Before Aristos could notice himself, he had fallen into a very restless sleep.

-

He should've invested in a backpack.

After the end of his first lecture at 9AM, which happened to be Fundamentals of Music, he had accumulated maybe 12 pages worth of the syllabus for that class the whole year. He didn't think getting a chello was on his to-do list, but now he had to find a place to rent a chello for the semester.

Just to play for a semester? They really hate us, Aristos thought as he walked around campus for the remaining hour he had before his next lecture at noon.