Almost Friends

Chapter 12- Mia

Chapter Twelve

Mia

Puffs and Pills

"She does kinda look like E," Josh says with a laugh.

I grab the joint from him and take a hit, my gaze drifting to the Everquest character he and Mark are talking about.

We share the couch in front of the TV while Mark, sprawled out on the floor below us, laughs as he waves the controller towards his TV. "Especially the hair and, like ..." he cups both of his hands and shakes them up and down in front of his chest. Josh and I laugh.

I lean my head against Josh's shoulder. He's not bad for cuddling up to.

"Yeah," I say. "E does have great tits. I used to think she wore some kind of super padded push-up bra until I saw her topless and, trust me, it's all real. "

Mark rolls onto his back, his dark eyes narrowing. "You've seen them?"

"We're best friends, duh." I chuckle and scoot closer to Josh. Closing my eyes, I link my arm through his and take his hand, holding it as tightly as I can. His clothes smell like fresh laundry and ... well, like weed. So, maybe not a hundred percent fresh.

"I thought Kyle was your best friend," Josh says, his voice gentle in my ear.

"She is." I glance at our entwined hands. His are long and the color of coffee while mine are slender and pale in comparison, but we don't look as mismatched as I'd expect. "It's possible to have two best friends, you know."

"But, wait, we were talking about E's, um, you know. What do they ... what are they like?" Mark stammers. I laugh and glance up to find my cousin looking at me expectantly.

"Bro, you seriously need to get out more," Josh says with chuckle.

"I know, right," I agree. "Besides, it's not like I felt her up, Mark. I just see them every once in a when we're changing. And no more talking about my friend's boobs. It's creepy."

"Fine." Mark's blushing as he flops back down on the throw rug in front of his TV. With this, he unpauses his game and I watch his avatar enter a new terrain; some kind of forest area with huge trees.

While Mark's avatar approaches a river, he and Josh start talking about football or whatever and I feel weird. It's like my body is relaxed but my mind is turning into jellied panic. My thoughts are still present, but they're slow. It's like they're trying to run through jello. Yesterday, the weed made my thoughts all but disappear—today it's not helping so much. I can't seem to stop thinking about everything.

As if on cue, Ms. Reacher pops into my head; she's frowning and scared while a streak of blood runs down her forehead. This image fades to be replaced with the memory of the kid I accidently hit with a nearby locker; he's got his palm on his forehead, confusion and pain in his eyes. I take a deep breath.

All of a sudden I can see the face of that bearded perv from Leon's parking lot. I see him scream while bits of glass stab him in both of his eyes.

I shiver and Josh glances at me. "You cold?"

"I'm fine."

Josh returns to his conversation and I try not to panic.

I've got to make myself think about something else. If I don't, I'm literally going to go insane.

"A fight almost broke out in the stands," Josh says, the low timber of his voice vibrating through me. "I was like, 'Dude, y'all better stop before Unseen shows up and makes you stop.'"