Marlboro Lights

t h r e e

She took another drag.

"Why do you do it?"

At the sound of his voice, she froze. She willed her lungs to stop moving and her muscles to be still.

"Why do you care?" Her lips tipped into a lazy smirk, with the cigarette between her teeth as she readjusted herself, aligning her spine with the back of the basket.

"Curiosity." He slid closer to her and as her eyes widened with discomfort, his smile tipped up a little more.

"Well, you see, there's something called nicotine in cigarettes that caus-"

"That's not what I'm talking about." There was silence for a moment before he continued. "And you know it."

Her eyes sparked with defiance and anger. But underneath, he knew there was something else. Something like fear, but it was only there for a second before vanishing along with any other emotion that festered inside of her.

"I do it so I can stop hating myself."

Then, she took another drag.

After they fell into an awkward silence, she spoke.

"why are we even here?"

She fidgeted in her place, rolling the cig between her fingers.

"Here where? " he asked. "Up in this spot or our existence?"

"Our existence." she muttered under her breath. The lights didn't seem satisfying to her anymore so she dropped her gaze and the cigarette hung limply between her fingers.

"What are you saying?" he asked.

"I rather be dead" she replied.

Then silence settled between them.