It Burns For a Moment, but Then it Molds You

Chapter six: Innocence

You werent as excited as you thought you'd be to ride in the Batmobile. I mean, every kids dream, right?To ride in the batmobile next to Batman himself? Possibly pretending to be Robin by chance? Yeah. no that wasn't on your mind right now. Maybe if you were a bit happier at the moment and under better circumstances? Possibly. Not only that, but the weight of your dad's lies on your shoulders is making you nervous to even breathe too loudly.

The car ride wasn't that long ago, and he had drove off the moment you were dropped off at the apartment you called a home. There really was no back seat to the car. There were too front seats, lots of computer tech that he told you not to touch at all. In the back was a small compartment, you didn't know what it was used for but you figured it wouldn't be comfortable.

Jason had been on your mind all day, so of course the first thing you did when you got home was walk across the street to Jason's apartment. not even bothering to change out of your clothes, you just wanted to see your best friend. Part of you told yourself that he needed you too.

like those types of friendships where one can just tell there's something wrong with the other, all a mental feeling. Then again, you've known Jason's since Kindergarten, basically. The two of you only actually started talking to each  other -friendly- until about first, or second grade. And the two of you are both fifteen now, just recently turned fifteen to be completely honest. So that's close to nine to ten years of being Jason's friend, his best friend. Because of him, you've gained and lost friends. Because of you, he's gained and lost friends too. Aside from knowing Jason the longest, then it goes from Shiloh, to Layla, to Davin, then Maja. So, it's reasonable to feel like this, right? Sometimes you wonder, if he feels like you need him too sometimes. Because lately, you've been feeling it a lot.

You pulled at the yellow police tape in front of the yard, eyes widening as you ripped off the stretchy plastic. you stepped down hard, not even bothering to knock on the door since you just walk in the house so often anyways so it doesn't really matter. It's just about as normal as walking into your own house and turning on the T.V or going into the fridge.

Your hand grasped the doorknob, the faint smell of nicotine in the air was what caught your attention first out of all other things. His mother didn't seem to be home, her shoes were gone out from under the table and her purse was missing. So she probably was out, you didn't see Jason's creepy dad anywhere either. Part of you felt relieved, but something in your gut burned when you remembered yanking off the police tape.

You followed the scent of cancer in the form of smoke through the air, covering your left eye and rubbing a bit as it stopped at a bathroom, the door was open but the light was off. The silent sound of water moving around and slowly splashing ever so slightly against the wall was heard.

You peeped in, seeing nothing but a bright red ember that illuminated the left side of Jason's face off in the distance of the room. He was smoking again. Great.

"Jason?" You asked, tapping an index finger on the wall, it was loud enough to get his attention but it wasn't too loud. you couldn't see anything, just the brightness to his bluish green eyes that had his eyelids half hiding. Like he would just pass out any minute, some wet locks of hair that stuck to his face and his lips.

He didn't turn his head to look at you, but the bright ember at the end of the cigarette burned brighter, listening to him inhale the toxins into his lungs. He let out a sigh, the smoke leaving his mouth and going straight to your nose, the scent wafting through the air. He moved his back a little bit closer to the end of the tub, the sound of skin against tile was a confirmation for you that it was okay to come in.

"Can I turn the light on?" You mumbled, standing close to the wall with your hand against it. Ready to quickly flip the switch.
"Mmm." He mummed out, it came out in something that sounded like no. Okay, so he wasn't going to use his words today. Which means something happened while you were out.