In Six Years' Time

Out With a Bang

Joe did indeed catch up with me again, thankfully a little more sober than he was last time.

"Talia," I heard in the hallway as I was walking to my tech class. I turned around out of instinct but I had forgotten Joe's voice. I immediately groaned when I saw him pushing through the crowd to get to me.

"What is it, Joe? We don't have a lot of time in between classes." I muttered once he had caught up. I didn't slow my pace, however. I just continued to walk in hopes he'd get the point and leave.

He didn't.

"Can't you just skip the first half or something? I really need your help." He sounded so whiny. I honestly couldn't believe I had ever been head over heels in love with him before.

I rolled my eyes. Of course he wanted me to skip. "No. I don't skip classes anymore. I told you, I've changed."

"Yeah, I know," he said, grabbing my arm. I flinched, he grabbed it exactly where he had grabbed it last time and the bruise still smarts. He didn't grab me hard, but I still felt the pain. "That's why I thought you could help me. I want to change, too."

I jerked my arm from his grasp, softly rubbing the place that throbbed. "Okay, well, first off, you can start by not grabbing people anymore. Rule number one of being a new person." I grumbled back, glancing at the clock hanging from the ceiling. "Rule number two, don't make other people late for class. I think those are good places to start."

He raked a hand roughly through his hair. His movements were jerky and spastic. Maybe not as sober as I had thought. "You know what I meant, Talia." He said harshly.

"Yeah." I answered. "I do. But I've already told you, I can't help a drug problem." I said the last bit in a hushed tone. "You need to seek professionals about it. I wouldn't know the first thing about breaking a heroin addiction." I turned to walk back to my class, hoping that would be the end of it, but I heard Joe's footsteps as he followed.

"Well can you just... I don't know. Can you give me twenty bucks to tide me over until I can get help? I mean th—"

"Did you just ask me for money to fuel your drug problem?" I asked hotly, whipping around to face him. He immediately threw his hands up in surrender.

"No. You're right. I'm sorry." He immediately said, much to my surprise. "You just don't know what it's like, Lia." He sounded defeated, and for a second, I felt bad.

Until I heard the bell ring.

I gave a hefty sigh. He had made me late. Now I'm officially skipping the class, just like he had asked me to.

"Listen, Joe, I get it. It's hard. I may not know how to break addiction but I generally know how it works. And if you want to get better, I can maybe help you find some therapists or something. But you're making me late to class. We can talk about this later, I have to go." I think he understood I verbally put my foot down, because he smiled.

"Okay. Thank you, Lia. I knew you wouldn't abandon me. Thank you so much." He seemed so giddy. Probably mania. He turned and practically skipped off, leaving me in the hallway, seriously reconsidering my life choices up to this point.

Thankfully I wasn't given too hard a time in class when I made it a little late, and it breezed by, leaving me to my own devices for our lunch.

I had taken to eating with Molly and her group of goody-two-shoes student council while we brainstormed more ways to make the school a safer and better place. Currently, they were still planning the specifics of the food drive/fundraiser/charity event while I was currently planning the specifics of my first redo date with Kace.