The Gray Zone

CHAPTER 10

 Weekend 

"So how are things going with Mr. Douchebag?" Madison asked me taunting as we both walked to the toilets. We were about to see this action movie and I was everything other than concentrated on that. 

"I told you about the beach thing... That was it." 

 "So you're officially dating now?" she asked again and I shrugged. 

 "I don't even know, Madison. Like, we haven't actually talked about it so I don't know." 

 She shook her head "Well you better hurry, before there are some weird rumors about you two." 

I sighed and silently nodded. 

In front of the cinema room, the other ones were waiting and Sasha handed me my popcorn, which he had paid for even if I didn't wanted him to. 

 "Are you ready?" He grinned and looked at me. 

 I tried my best to smile convincing. "Absolutely, Sash, absolutely." 

 "Shall we go to our seats then?" He made a step aside so I could enter before him. Even if Jesse was absolute overwhelming and everything, he couldn't 'control' my entire brain the whole time. Especially if we were in this "we almost dated" zone. And I still felt like he didn't really care. The movie was alrigth but Sasha laid at one point his arm around my shoulder which felt so weird. 

 In the restaurant Sasha sat next to me in the comfortable booth, just like during the film. You could see through his thin shirt his well-defined arm muscles which were actually a turn on. And like everyday he was very caring and smiled a lot. It was like a miracle for me that he was single. Maybe I stared a bit too much at his arms. After we placed our orders he turned around to me. 

 "Q has some weed with him... Do you and Maddi want to drive to the park and maybe chill for another hour later?"

With Q he meant Quentin, one of his boxing dudes, who was also here today. 

"Sure, why not?" I agreed and he happily continued the small talk.

I rarely spoke to the other ones who were with us. Maybe because I didn't liked them as much as Madison and Sasha. And maybe because it was pretty hard to get in contact with someone else when the blond guy next to me practically occupied me the whole afternoon.

Even when we drove home he insisted to sit next to me. Whatever, I thought. I always thought whatever. It didn't matter in the end, did it? Nothing mattered and my mouth was dry because it felt like all of my body liquids had to drown the thoughts in my brain. But, you know, who cares?

Like every time I was in Borchard Park with some people, nobody else was there. It was just past seven and finally a bit cooler. The six of us who had stayed sat next to a fence a few feet away from the parking lot. I was leaning against a tree and we enjoyed the sight of the Newbury Park High School and some of the mountains in the back. Every day the same scenery. Quentin passed me the blunt he had rolled and I took a few puffs before handing it over to Madison. The weed was shit, to be honest. But so was everything and at least nobody talked for a few moments. From someone's phone played shitty pop music and I thought about what the five around me were thinking right now. That this is their time of their lives, maybe? That they actually liked what they saw? That they were proud to be a part of this community? Did the thought of how 'dangerous' smoking marijuana underage and in public was cross their mind? Maybe they were all so excited about not being at their dinner tables at home right now. To be quite honest I wouldn't even mind getting caught. I took another puff, leaned back and closed my eyes while the others began talking about the football team of the High School. Ugh.