Hard To Get

Weed

-Damien-

My sister was sitting on the porch when I got home, same as she had been a few nights prior.

"Hey, Nikki," I greeted, taking off my helmet. "How's it going?"

"Fine," she smiled, taking a sip out of the Coke in her hand. "Where you been?"

"Went with a friend to visit his mom. She's in the hospital," I explained. I sighed softly, "I'm going to get some schoolwork done, then I'll come back out in a little bit."

"'Kay," she muttered.

I went inside and up to my room, tossing my backpack down and getting started on schoolwork.

***

Around eleven that night, the neighbors got loud again. I sat outside with Nikki and my youngest brother, Anthony. I was the oldest one living at home. Then there was Anthony, and Nikki was the youngest. Above me were Jonathan (the oldest), then Elise, then Nicholas. Of course, it wasn't a surprise that I was the screw-up. John was a lawyer, Elise was in med school studying to be a neurosurgeon, and Nicholas was planning on going into engineering. Anthony was a straight-A freshman in high school and already looking into scholarships at a top medical school. Nikki - though she was still in middle school - had never gotten a grade below a 93 in her entire life, and had sworn to be the CEO of some fancy company since she was in fourth grade.

Me? I didn't know what I wanted to do. I liked working on my motorcycle, and I enjoyed smoking weed. But other than that? Nothing. My highest grade had been a 90, and I hadn't gotten a grade like that in any core subject. I was failing several classes, but that really didn't bother me to be honest.

I got out my weed and rolled a blunt, lighting it. The drug entered my body, almost instantly taking effect.

"You know, it's not good to smoke," Nikki pointed out.

I rolled my eyes, "it's not good to be a loud mouth, either."

I wondered if Jacob got good grades. I suspected he did, though I supposed it didn't really matter. It wasn't like he and I would ever have a lasting relationship, even if I did get him to go out with me.

There was some yelling next door, and I caught the words 'useless son' before the sound of a bottle breaking.

"Does that man have a son? I thought he was the only one who lived there?" I asked, frowning.

"Yeah," Anthony nodded. "Supposedly he used to have two sons and a wife, but one of the sons died in a car crash three years ago and his wife got sick. Now it's just him and his younger son who live there."

"How come we never see him?" I raised my eyebrows, taking another hit from the blunt in my hand.

Anthony shrugged, "Maybe he goes to public school. I think he's around your age, but I'm not sure."

"Hm," I frowned, curious about him. But the thought soon left my mind as I took in more of the weed.

-Jacob-

I thanked God that the next day was Saturday. My father was off work, but he was also hungover and I knew he would spend most of the day in bed. Therefore, I got up and went to Koby's house for a day of pizza and video games.

"Hey!" Koby greeted as he opened the door for me, grinning from ear to ear.

I smiled, "Hey, Kob. What's up?"

"Oh, just the usual. Want to play GTA 5?" He led me up to his room.

I laughed and settled down next to his television, "Sure."

He set up the game, tossing me a controller. A few hours later, we ordered a pizza, switching over to one of his other games.

"Whoo hoo! I win!" I shouted, tossing my hands up in the air.

He stared at me for a moment, his eyes widening. I put my hands down, face flushing as I realized I had pushed up my sleeves during that last round.

"Dude, what happened to your arms? They're covered in bruises!" Koby exclaimed, concern written across his face. He came over and sat next to me.

I pulled my sleeves down over my hands, fiddling with a tear in the stitching. "It-it's nothing. It's fine, don't worry."

"Dude, I'm not an idiot. First you looked like you got punched in the face, and now this? What's going on?" He grabbed my hand, pushing up the sleeve to inspect the bruise. I let him, though reluctantly.

"It's nothing," I murmured, not sure what to do. If my father found out Koby knew, something terrible would happen, I knew it. "It was an accident."

Koby raised both eyebrows, "How is this an accident?" He demanded, releasing my hand. "Who did this? Your dad?"

"Please," I whispered, "Please don't tell anyone."

Koby ran his hands through his hair. "This seriously isn't okay."

"I know, Kob, but--" I began.

Koby shook his head, "does this happen often?"

"No, it was just the once," I lied, "It was an accident."

"It was just the once? What if it happens again?" He got up and started pacing, "Jacob, you can't live there with someone who is going to abuse you!" He stopped suddenly, fixing his eyes on me, "Did he do anything else? He didn't... He didn't violate you, did he?"

I found my voice, instantly pushing the mask back up. I hated lying to my friend like this, but I couldn't let him know what was going on. I didn't want him to worry about me. "Gosh, no! Koby, please, stop freaking out. My dad just offered me some beer one night. We got drunk, got into a fight, he hit me and grabbed my arms, but I hit him back. It was fine, it's not going to happen again. We both had a good laugh about it in the morning."

"Since when do you drink?" Koby asked, not quite believing me.

I shrugged, "I don't do it often. Don't worry, okay?"

He sighed, "Okay, but promise me it won't happen again."

I promised, though I knew it was a flat-out lie. Even so, we returned to our games, and I prayed he would forget about the whole thing.

***

Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I added TH2C by Krewella. Let me know what you think! Don't forget to vote and comment!

Alaina