Life's A Drag

Chapter 1 Pass the Joint

Chapter 1


"Please allow me to introduce myself,

I'm a man of wealth and taste.

I've been around for a long, long year,

Stole many a man's soul and faith."

I closed my eyes and tilted my head back, reveling in Mick Jagger's voice. Fuck anyone who looks down on The Rolling Stones. Those guys know good music. I slowly took another drag, and opened my eyes as I slowly exhaled the smoke in a perfect circle by pursing my lips. I enjoyed this. This high. This exhilarating feeling of rebelling, doing exactly what I shouldn't and loving every second of it.

"Hey, Mia! Quit hogging it. Pass it over here," Frankie yelled from across the circle. I gave her a lazy smile and then took another drag. She was always too lazy to get the stash herself, so it was usually me or Danny who got it. So I was going to enjoy every exaggerated drag knowing that she couldn't say shit.

She was scowling at me, and even more so when I passed the joint to Rick instead of her. God I hated that bitch. She always thought she was hot shit, just because she used to be Tyler's girl. Not anymore, I thought while sending a smirk her way.

"Fuck, this is some good shit," Rick said after taking a drag. "The ones you get are always the best, Mia." He sent a wink and a smile my way, took another drag, and then passed the joint to the left.

"Seriously, how come they always give you the good stuff and pass off the totally shitty ones to me?" asked Danny from across the circle. I looked over at him, his brows crinkling in annoyance. Danny and I were pretty close. Well as close as I could possibly get to a druggie. See, I just dabbled here and there, not committing to any one drug and making sure to know my limits. Danny, on the other hand, loved anything you gave him and he knew no bounds. Be it weed, ecstasy, crack, over-the-counter pills; I once had to stop him from going overboard and trying heroin, but as long as it got him high, Danny would do it.

But I eventually learned not to judge him for that. It's not like I was much better. Not anymore, anyway. Once I got passed all that, I learned that he's a really funny guy who even in his worst moments had my back.

I looked at him with his short cropped hair, brown eyes that were getting hazier after each drag, and his mouth giving a cute little pout.

"Well, Danny boy, there are two main reasons they like me better than you, hence I always have the better stash," I said with amusement.

"Oh yeah? Enlighten me. What are those two things?" Danny asked curiously.

"Well," I drawled out. "You know...A little of this, a little of that." I said while shaking my chest a little. That got the circle howling.

"Yeah, that'll do it," Danny said while holding his stomach as he doubled over with laughter.

I laughed along until I felt someone breathe on my ear, then a familiar voice said, "Any chance we get to see a bit of this or that?"

I looked over to my left to see Tyler smirking at me. Oh god, I think I just melted. Tyler was the unpronounced leader of the group. Even at a party like this, with thirty or more people, most of whom he couldn't name to save his life, they all knew him and practically kissed the ground he walked on.

You couldn't help it. Every part of him oozed dominance and this suave yet bad ass nature that just drew people in, wanting his attention and his approval. I looked into his big blue eyes, and knew that I had been under his spell since the minute I saw him when I was just a freshman in college.

His short blonde hair with matching dirty blonde eyebrows, large piercing blue eyes that always sparkled with mischief, his appealing pink lips always in a smirk, it was all so mesmerizing. But I never let him know that. That's why he liked me. I didn't fawn over him like the others. I respected his dominance, and appreciated his good looks and charm, because God almighty how could I not? But I kept my cool and didn't just giggle at his every quip like Frankie did.

So I gave him a smirk of my own and said, "Well it matters if you play nicely today."

He smiled appreciatively and looked me up and down, before whispering in my ear, "How nice are we talking here, Mia? Because we both know I don't like to play nice. Especially when it comes to you."

His breath on my ear tickled me and made me feel all giddy inside. This was our thing, constantly flirting back and forth, but nothing ever really happening. Lately, though, the flirting was different. I don't know, it seemed like he actually might follow through with all the teasing. I really hope so. I've been waiting for this since the moment I saw him at my first college party at the beginning of the year. The semester was coming to a close soon and he'd be graduating this year and going off to work for his dad. These couple months would be my last chance.

Before I could respond, the gang seemed to have finally noticed Tyler's presence next to me and they began to get extra rowdy and passing him drinks and what was left of the joint. I sighed, annoyed by the fact that it wasn't us one-on-one anymore. Tyler took a drag as Kashmir by Led Zeppelin started blasting on the speakers.

I closed my eyes and tilted my head back again. I refused to ruin my high with my jealousy. I needed these few moments to get me by, I needed this rush of calm. I smiled to myself as I appreciated all the colors dancing behind my lids, forming shapes and symbols I couldn't recognize.

I mouthed the lyrics when it came to my favorite part, laughing to myself as I did so,

"Oh I been flying...mama there ain't no denyin, I've been flying, ain't no denying, no denying."

Suddenly, I felt someone put a joint to my lips. I opened my eyes and looked over to Tyler who was gazing at me with a seriousness I'd never seen before. With his fingers still holding the joint to my lips, I took a drag without breaking eye contact. No one around us seemed to have noticed this moment I was having with Tyler. Everyone was either drunk and dancing around, getting it on somewhere, or sitting in a circle clouded by a haze of smoke, each enjoying their high differently.

I took my lips off the joint and Tyler dropped his hand down, still holding the lit blunt. I then leaned back on one hand, and gripped the front of his shirt with the other to pull him closer. I slowly blew the smoke out near Tyler's mouth, again, pouting my lips to make perfect rings of the smoke. He parted his lips and took in the smoke I let out. He was gazing at my lips, when he slowly lifted his eyes to mine.

This was finally the moment, the moment where all the teasing would become a moment of real passion. His gaze went back down to my lips and he eased closer to me. I'd finally get to kiss the guy I was crushing over all year. Every flirtatious moment, every slight touch, every teasing banter led up to this moment.

And of course Frankie had to totally ruin it.

"You guys!" The bitch yelled over the music. Tyler and I jumped away from each other, both shocked and annoyed by her shrill voice that broke us out of our reverie. I looked over at her, and she was giving me the death glare. The bitch did that on purpose.

"Let's go for a dip! I'm sick of lazing around all the time. We need to do something fun!" Frankie said with fake enthusiasm. Her brown hair was cut short, barely reaching her shoulders. She had pretty hazel eyes, that I totally hated her for, and nice thick shaped eyebrows. Very Keira Knightley-esque. With her high cheekbones, and large appealing mouth, oh and don't forget the nice figure, I knew I was lucky that she was an annoying brat. Or else, I would have never gotten this chance with Tyler because, let's face it; she totally outranked me on the hot scale. Oh and the experience scale, she was way up there, I wasn't even on the scale, but I hoped that would change soon.

"I'm sorry, are we boring you?" Tyler asked condescendingly.

Frankie turned bright red and began to sputter. "No, that's not what I-"

But Tyler continued in a cruel voice, "Because the door's right there, Francesca. No one's forcing you to be here."

She now looked absolutely mortified. Everyone was either stifling laughter at Tyler's out lash, or giving her looks of sympathy. No one wanted to be on the receiving end of Tyler's anger, because he was absolutely terrifying and no matter if he was wrong or right, everyone always sided with him. Always.

I don't know why I did what I did next. Maybe it was because I felt bad for the girl. She'd lost all her dominance and confidence since Tyler dumped her last month. Nah, that couldn't be it. I mean, I wasn't a horrible person, but she was a bitch and wouldn't have shown me the same kindness if the roles were reversed. So I don't know why I did it, but I helped the girl out.

"You know what, Frankie? That's a good idea," I said. Everyone gaped at me like I'd gone crazy. I quickly stood up, and took off my cropped Bob Marley T-shirt and threw it at Danny's head. I turned to Tyler with a mischievous grin, "You up for it?"

He looked up at me, smirking and said, "What the hell. Let's go for it."

Once the idea had Tyler's stamp of approval, Rick yelled out, "Last one in is a rotten egg!" I quickly ran out of the living room, and was the first to the sliding door leading to the backyard and pool area. I hastily opened the door, but heard multiple footsteps and laughter coming from behind me.

I ran out while taking off each of my boots. Once I was near the pool, I fumbled with the buttons of my denim shorts. I quickly shrugged the shorts off and threw it somewhere behind me, leaving me in my black bra and panties. I was about to step forward and jump in, when someone's arm came around my waist and twirled me around.

I squealed and then began to laugh profusely when I recognized Tyler's black chucks with the skulls drawn on the front. He then set me on my feet and I stood in front of him trying to gain my balance when everyone came rushing into the backyard and the guys started throwing each other in the large pool.

There was laughter and screams piercing the warm night air. Then The White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army" started blasting louder than before, someone having probably brought the speakers out to the backyard. I looked around to see everyone having a good time, whether they were fooling around in the pool, or dancing around it and avoiding everyone's clothes littered on the floor.

Once I got my balance, I looked up to see Tyler smirking at me, his arms now around my waist. I had my hands around his well-toned arms, now noticing that he was shirtless. I had butterflies flapping around my stomach when I fully took in how close we were standing and the fact that I was half-naked, and he had his shirt off.

I smiled up at him and said, "Gonna let me go anytime soon?"

He began to chuck off his-well his chucks-and said, "Now why would I want to do something like that?"

I bit my lip and blushed while looking everywhere but in his eyes. I didn't like him seeing me blush. I was afraid he'd lump me with all the other girls who drooled all over him. I didn't want that.

I noticed his pants were still on, so I decided to evade my red cheeks with some more teasing. "You need help taking those off?" I asked while gesturing to his pants.

He began to laugh, but before he could respond someone I didn't recognize yelled, "Come on, Tyler. Stop flirting and finally get the girl wet!"

People began cheering and some wolf-whistled, yelling for us to quickly get in the water. Since they thoroughly ruined the moment, I just pushed off Tyler with a laugh and jumped into the water.

The water rushed around me and I savored the moments under water. Wow, swimming while high was the most amazing feeling ever. It's like I could feel every particle of my being tingling and relishing in the cool water. I popped my head out of the water and took a deep breath of air. I noticed Tyler still hadn't come into the water.

I then looked at the guys in the water and mockingly said, "Men. You can never count on them to make you wet." I then winked at Tyler while he smiled and shook his head. The boys yelled out "Ohhhh" and "Burn" towards Tyler, but he didn't pay them any mind. He just took off his pants, revealing his black boxers, and dived into the pool.

The guys went back to wrestling and joking around as Tyler swam underwater until he was near me, then I felt a tug on my ankle and let out another squeal. Tyler pushed me down into the water for a few seconds, and then we both came up from the water taking in deep breaths.

"Tyler!" I yelled and hit him on the shoulder as he smiled down at me.

He leaned forward and whispered in my ear, "At least I can get you to yell out my name." He leaned back to wink at me.

After that we started a splash war, continued flirting nonstop, and chased each other around the pool. At one point, he caught me, and cornered me to a side of the pool that seemed to be more secluded.