Pass It On

2. watch out for the addict

he's always trying to break you down

watch out for his madness

'cause it's hard to turn back around

James Bosque knows he's good looking. In fact, he prides himself on this fact. Other than that, however, he's got no captivating qualities, no hidden talents; he can barely drive a car without crashing it. And yet it was despite the fact that he is bland as can be, everyone is attracted to him. He is the definition of the term "social butterfly," which makes his band of cronies - sorry, friends - extremely jealous, and at the same time, extremely impressed.

So it comes as no surprise that when he wakes up in a bed he doesn't recognize with a girl on either side of him, there are two boys already awake, sitting opposite the bed, smoking. "Hello, James," rings out the deep voice of the one with dreadlocks, the first one. At first glance, he appears cold and maybe even a little mean, but James knows how to crack through the exterior. Eric has been hurt more times in the past year than James has in this entire life. Faced with the death of his mother, father and older brother in a car crash - where he was the only survivor - Eric turned to other methods of numbing his pain, which is when he met James, and their other best friend, Dragon.

Dragon has been a pusher for almost five years now - an unreasonably long time considering how young he is and how clumsy. Forced to escape the authorities, he moved cross-country, adopted an alternative name and started to sell weed disguised as oregano to high-schoolers in the area. On the night of the party that he met Eric and James at, Dragon had been trying to persuade Eric to try crack cocaine ("it'll make you go wild! Literally, you'll turn into an animal. How do you think I got the name 'Dragon'?") before James saw how uncomfortable the poor guy looked and stepped in to save the day. After a few punches were thrown and Eric agreed to buy a packet, the three boys became fast friends.

Dragon is often considered the ringleader - at 22, he is easily the most experienced of the three (except with women, where James prevails). Eric and James are both barely legal. None of the boys went to college, not like that should come as a surprise.

"Hi, Eric," mutters James, gripping his head. The throbbing that started as soon as he had lifted his head off the pillow is worsening. Dragon senses this and hands James his joint. In thanks, James pats Dragon on the back. "Where's everyone else?" he adds in an attempt to seem decent. Eric shrugs, neither knowing nor caring about everyone else. Dragon pulls another joint out of his pocket, lights it, and puffs on it. The three stay in the room silence, occasionally stopping to cough or sniff. Finally, one of the girls next to James stirs. The platinum blonde gets up, half-clothed, her wide blue eyes looking around to find the source of the smell. Sheepishly, James puts his joint out against the leg of the other girl and tosses it on the floor. "Hi, Yekate... Yeka... you."

The girl smiles widely. "Is okay. Call me Katya." She bats her eyelashes and leans in conspiratorially. "Thanking you once again for what we are doing last night. Veronika and I enjoying very much! Next time, we can do for free!" She backs away and smiles again at James, who steals a glance at Eric: he has his eyebrows raised and a smirk is playing on his lips. James flushes slightly and gets up to put the rest of his clothes on.

You never told us you had to pay for them, Eric's grin says. Dragon is too preoccupied with packing up his stash and doesn't notice James' silent embarassment. James puts his clothes back on, fiddling with the buckle of his belt and the sleeves of his shirt, and Eric beckons to him to come. "Thanks, Katya," James smiles with a small wave, "and say thanks to Ronnie too."

"Ah, yes! I will! Callings you later," Katya says with the cheesiest wink possible, and as the boys head out the door, they see her attempt to stir her friend by shaking her and hitting her over the head. The last thing they hear before they shut the bedroom door is "Vy is my leg feel like burning?" Sniggering, Eric and Dragon lead the way out of the trashed house. Nobody could have imagined it was the mansion of a rich real-estate owner. Out for the weekend, Richard Kemmis left his son, Ken, in charge of the house. Ken had then proceeded to call half the city into the mansion and the party had carried on from 5pm until about 5am this morning. It is now 11:40, and the minute they open the door and find the first source of light they had seen in a long few hours, Dragon and James squint with pain from looking at the sunlight. Eric laughs.