Smoke And Steel

• Five - Fro-Yo and Late-Night Delights •

Avery

        Inhale. Exhale.

I sighed as I felt the smoke fill my lungs with each deep breath I took.

Ebony had been right, the smoke went straight up into the vents, so I didn't need to worry about anyone smelling the smoke by walking past. I don't even know how she knew it would, maybe she's naughtier than she leads people to believe.

I shook my head at the thought.

The smoke from these cigarettes smelt mostly like spice anyway, they were some expensive thing my father had bought and I had in turn stolen from him. God only knows how much they cost, but he imported them in massive lots and wouldn't notice a dozen or so packets go missing.

It's not like I was addicted to them or anything, I just liked the feeling of being able to do something and no one being able to stop me. I didn't even give a shit that they were bad for my health, hell, I was glad they were bad. Anything to get me off of this Earth quicker.

As a character from one of my favourite books, said "Y'all smoke to enjoy it. I smoke to die." Damn that book and the way it was so goddamn relatable and so heart breaking at the same time. Despite my attitude towards school in general, I loved reading. Books were an escape from the realities of life I had to put up with each day. They were a way to live somewhere else when I didn't want to exist in the current world I was in, or more correctly worlds.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of my phone ringing - the song was 1979 by The Smashing Pumpkins.

"You have reached the Teenage Sex Gods hotline, how may I assist you in obtaining pleasure?" I asked, taking a long drag from the cigarette balancing between my index and middle finger

"Jesus, Avery” I heard my best friend Tate say, "What if that was my sister calling, or someone else who totally doesn't want or need your pleasure?"

"Oh you don't need to worry about Tasha, she's received the Avery Steel Late-night Delight many times before -"

"You little shit" 

"- in fact," I said, carrying on "She's even had the pleasure of the Late-night Delight during the day"

"That's just sick bro" Tate replied, I could almost see him shaking his head at me through the phone

"You know it's true" I said with a laugh. It was actually true. I'd met Tate a few years previous, back when I was 13 and he was 14, we'd been friends since and last summer I'd had an on-and-off thing with his twin sister, Tasha, for a while, much to his dismay.

"If you weren't my best friend I'd kick your ass, Steel. But sadly -" He raised his voice a several octaves higher and put on a girly tone "- you're the only one who understands the real me, and you're just so gorgeous and wow, my heart just flutters out of my chest at the sight of you" 

The pair of us burst into laughter, me in the empty changing room and him wherever he was.

When the both of us stopped laughing long enough for me to get a word in I asked "So, what'd you actually call for?"

"Your - what did you call it? - Oh yes, I wanted the pleasure of your Late-night Delight of course. Nah, mom said to invite you around because we're having Sunday roast on Monday since we didn't have it yesterday 'cause Dad and me only got back from that hunting trip this morning"

"Free food? I'm keen" I said. Tate's mom Francesca was the best cook ever, and trust me, being the son of a multi-millionaire I had eaten at restaurants all over the globe, but no one had ever lived up to Fran's cooking.