The Party Scene Saga: Stories Yet To Unfold

Part 25

My body was aching all over as I woke up. My eyes opened fully; it was morning and I was still outside. I'd slept out on the roof all night, with my bong resting between my legs.

"Lily!" a voice hissed.

Slowly I turned my head in the direction of the voice; Zack was hanging out of my window.

"What do you want?" I grumbled, sitting up and rubbing my head.

"I dunno." he shrugged. "Just wanted to see you I guess."

Zack climbed out onto the roof and lay down next to me so we were looking right at each other. He looked terrible, like he hadn't had a decent night's sleep in a long time. I could see in his eyes that something was bothering him; he seemed uninterested and bored, even though nothing was going on.

"Everything okay, Zacky?" I asked quietly.

"I guess...I just...I just keep having these weird nightmares." he muttered. "I-Is that normal? I mean, with the meds?" he asked, looking at me again.

"Yeah." I murmured; I lied. "Wanna talk?"

He shook his head quickly. I think he knew I was lying about the nightmares being normal. Anti-depressants like the ones we take have a shit ton of side effects, but nightmares aren't one of them. He closed his eyes for a minute, which gave me the opportunity to eye him suspiciously. I remember the days after I first started smoking; my system was still getting used to the pot and it fucked up my sleeping for a while. Surely...no, he couldn't have...surely he hadn't gone that far too?

"Does it help?" Zack suddenly asked.

"Does what help?" I said blankly.

"That." he muttered, nodding to my bong.

"Uh, I guess..." I shrugged. "But I wouldn't recommend it. You don't wanna end up like me..."

"Why not? You're amazing."

"I'm really not." I scoffed.

"Shut the fuck up, yes you are." he snapped. "Y'know, Lily, if I didn't have you in my life I don't know what I'd do. You're awesome and you deserve to be told so."

I pressed my lips together, hoping it'd stop the tears that had filled my eyes from falling. It worked to some extent; a few stray tears managed to escape, but Zack didn't notice. He never seemed to notice the tears anymore. Saying that, who can blame him? He has a million and one problems of his own now, and he really doesn't need to be worrying about me too.

"Zacky, you do know that you're the bestest brother in the world right?" I said eventually, smiling slightly.

"I guess." he chuckled.

"No seriously, you are." I told him. "So many other guys your age would never dream of being as supportive as you were of me."

Zack shrugged again. He was acting so weird. This is the first time since the day he came out of hospital that he's actually said more than 2 words to me, and he's never been like this when we've talked about drugs before. Normally he just tells me it's the wrong thing to do and never questions me about how it helps. This is not normal Zack behaviour at all, and it made me think that he was considering getting high...or had already been so. All the signs were there...I just didn't want to put two and two together and come out with the right answer.

"Lily?"

"Yeah?"

Zack paused for a moment, biting his lip as he thought of what to say. I don't think he expected me to answer because of how quiet I'd been.