In and Out

3

The bus pulled up with a screech, screaming into the ears of the sisters. Andy gave Mary a pat on her head, and watched as her sister walked onto her bus. The high school bus would arrive shortly. As the bus pulled away, Andy took out her vape, turned it on, and inhaled, savoring her special treat. She puffed the vapor out of her nose, watching it trail away with the wind. She put it away as she heard the bus pull up.

Checking her beanie to make sure that her hair wouldn't shove it off her head, she embarked on her journey to school. Andy walked straight to the only open seat closest to the back. She pulled out her old beat up iPod, and blasted her music, allowing the beat to drown out any of her thoughts. Not even thirty seconds into her first song, and a boy turned around, saying something to Andy. She removed her earbuds from her ears, giving him a strange look. "Yes?"

"I said I like that song." He repeated. Andy glanced down at her device to check what had been playing. Janie's got a gun, Aerosmith she thought. Not many people listen to this kind of music...

Andy nodded "Yeah, it's one of my favorites." She tried to be friendly, deciding that she couldn't disrespect someone with a good choice in music.

"My name's Lucas." He smiled, something twinkling in his mahogany eyes.

"Andy." She replied, guessing where this was going. It happened everywhere she lived, boys would endlessly chase after her. But she wasn't interested. Andy quickly put up several walls, locking every part of her that would interest anyone and hid it away.

Lucas smiled at a girl that sat down next to him, "Hey Max," he smirked at her. Max replied with her own greetings, sweeping her dark purple hair out of her face. "This is Andy," He gestured to her, "Andy this is Max."

Andy nodded in acknowledgement, debating whether or not to put her earbud back in. She fiddled with it, zoning out from the conversation for several minutes, lost in her own mind.

She snapped back into reality when Max waved a hand in front of her face. She looked up, confused. "I asked you, do you smoke?"

Andy had used to smoke, back in her hometown, after the monster started attacking her. It was her release. She nodded, "I did back when I could get a hold of it. Why?"

Max and Lucas exchanged glances, demonic smirks painted on their faces. "Want to ditch with us today, and come get high?" Max finally said, playing with one of the many rings on her hand.

Andy joined them in their smirking, daydreaming about the feeling of freedom. "Hell yeah." She replied immediately, knowing that just because you smoke with someone you don't have to tell them your whole life story.

Lucas held out a hand to her, saying in a fake business voice, "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful partnership, Miss. Andy."

Andy took his hand and shook it, letting her laughter melodize with the others voices.

"Come on, Freshie." Lucas laughed, sweeping his unruly dark hair out of his face. He had started calling her that since she had told him and Max that she was a freshman. The two of them were sophomores, and had been best friends since kindergarten.

Andy rolled her eyes at the nickname, following them through the woods behind the school with her hands stuck in her pockets and her head turned toward the sky. This was better than being trapped inside that stuffy building. She pulled out her vape for the second time that day and inhaled.

Max turned around, walking backwards as she lead Andy and Lucas to 'The Spot'. Which was more or less where all the stoners went when they skipped school. Andy held out the vape, offering her a breath. Max smiled, taking it and breathing in. Without warning she started coughing.

"It's been a while since I've had any nicotine in my system." She explained after she recovered, handing the device back to Andy. Max turned around, pushing aside several branches to reveal a hidden clearing that already had several people occupying it. The air was thick with smoke, with the branches specifically positioned so it wouldn't be easy to see in. Logs sat around the edges, with a cooler and a couple blankets strewn about. This place had obviously been here for a while.

"Everyone this is Freshie!" Lucas yelled out, pulling Andy's beanie off of her head. Andy's face blushed bright red, drowning out her multitude of freckles, as she jumped up to try to steal her hat back.

"Give it back you asshole!" Andy stared him down, holding her hand out. Lucas smirked shoving the hat down his shirt.

"It'll cost you."

"If you don't give me back my hat this second, I will kick you in the nuts so hard that you won't be able to walk for a week." Andy's voice lowered, a threatening growl entering it.

Lucas shrugged handing it back to her, "Your loss." Andy quickly slid her protective layer over her head, pushing as much of her wild mane into it as possible.

Max met Andy's gaze as she glared at him while he walked away. "Sorry he has does that to everyone. Don't take it personally. He doesn't actually like-"

"Hey Freshie, I'm Ben." Max was interrupted by a towering giant of a man. "Senior, and the main dealer here. If you want I'll give you your first joint for free."

Andy smiled, all of her anger at Lucas fading away. "Must you even ask?" as she said this something twinkled in the back of her head. He doesn't actually like who or what? Me? But she shrugged it off, taking a freshly rolled joint from Ben and lighting it. She took a nice long breath of it, blowing the smoke toward the sky. All of her worries were already fading away.

"By the way Ben, my name is Andy." She stared up at him, unable to keep an angry face, but instead trying and having her expression crack every five seconds, making it look like she was having facial spasms.

"Welcome to the pack Andy." Ben pat her on the head, before walking toward Max, exchanging money for a Ziploc bag of weed and a second one full of a rainbow of pills.

The pack. She thought, her mind starting to unravel. Sounds like fun.

Judith looked up Saturday morning when Andy walked in, red eyed, with a little girl walking right next to her. This girl looked nothing like Andy except for her gleaming green eyes that held an innocence that Andy didn't have. Her hair hung down her back, frizzy like Andy's, but instead of a blazing fire, it was a soft golden yellow, like an angelic halo. Her skin was pale, but it was not spotted with freckles. Her entire appearance screamed innocence.