cuffed • g.d

17.

Time was flying by so quick but I was so glued to his stories the thought of me being caught after curfew slipped my mind completely. I sat on the bottom bunk with the deep green sheets, Aaron sat on the top bunk with another runaway named Kai who looked about 10. Grayson sat across from us and told us everything.

"It was me, I had the drugs but Ethan had gotten ahold of them and he hasn't been right ever since. At first I just thought, 'who cares, another buddy to smoke and have laughs with' we would get high and drunk and party and have a blast, have sex, living it up ya know?" He paused for a moment and bit his lip.

"But one night Ethan had drugged a girl and.... well you know. And he didn't even feel bad about it, he would just be so high when he was finished he would beat her a little and go back to partying while she would just lie there in shock letting the drugs slowly kill her. Thank god someone found her before it was too late. " he pauses and looks up to try and keep in the small tears.

"When I found out I was in shock, I had created a monster. I went to go check on the girl and when I did the doctor told me the drugs were in her system too long and she had gotten into a coma. They had no evidence it was Ethan a d the girl couldn't testify so he wasn't charged. Once he realized he wasn't gonna get caught he just kept doing it." His voice began to crack but he pulled himself together. "That's why whenever E goes to a party I try my best to stop him and follow him but he's always one step ahead so I end up having to chase these girls down a d make sure they're okay... like I did with you Taya." He looks up at me a gives a small smile. "I had enough, I turned him." He finishes.

"My parents and sister blamed me for it. They'd yell 'it's all your fault, go to rehab, get rid of the drugs, you ruined his life.' And all this bullshit and then they kicked me out and i live here now." He smiles as he extends his hands.

I wasn't expecting him to tell me all that. He opened up so much and I had nothing but sympathy. I caught myself staring at him, the way he explained everything, how he tried to help those girls. He was no longer a mystery, I had solved it. A boy who was caught up in the fast life, and it caught up with him costing him almost everything. He was so beautiful not just his look but his soul.

"Your turn." Aaron leans over the top bunk and points at me. My stomach dropped. How am I supposed to explain my family and everything. "Uhh uhh." I was stuck, if they found out how dysfunctional I really was they wouldn't want to talk to me anymore and this is the first time people would actually be willing to listen. I wasn't sure, but I looked up at Grayson. He trusted me with his story, I could trust him with mine. I closed my eyes and began.

"A slut, an alcoholic dad, and a suicidal teen."