MINE

Chapter 1 - I Call on You

"Whenever I'm down

I call on you my friend

A helping hand you lend

In my time of need"

***

I think I've never laughed so hard in my life. Tonight's been amazing. I just love hanging out with my friends, drinking, smoking and making fun of each other.

It takes away all the stress from the boring duties of day to day life. It numbs the pain left in my chest from the times when I feel alone or ignored. It makes me feel special and like I'm a part of something, which is a feeling I thought I could never have again. I ran away and left everything behind with every intention of never settling down in one place and never opening up to anybody ever again.

But then I met Mike. I can't even begin to explain the bond we have. He just got me right from the start. I think we were siblings in a past life or something. He's the only one who knows my story, and I'd like to keep it that way.

My roommate Helen is also very sweet and seems to be trustworthy, I got very lucky with her. I was desperate to find someone to share the housing expenses when I got here, and hers was the first add I found. I didn't tell her my story because I was afraid she wouldn't let me live with her. I know it's not fair, but I think as long as she doesn't know the truth, she'll be safe.

After a year of getting to know each other better, Mike and I became almost inseparable. When I told him I was ready to be around more people, he introduced me to his best friend and roommate Nick. We had a weird dynamic going on at the beginning since Nick seemed to not like me very much, despite my efforts to be nice to him.

They used to throw these really big house parties with lots of people, which was understandable due to their line of work. Nick's an event manager and Mike owns a small brewery.

Then, about six months ago Mike started dating this amazing girl, Anna, that lives in a town an hour away from here. And eventually, the huge parties turned into smaller groups of people, and nowadays it's mostly the four of us hanging out.

Tonight was everything I needed after this week ... I felt drained.

So far I can't remember how many beers I've had, but I know I'm definitely drunk, and on my third cigarette of the night. Nick's being a bad influence as usual, cause I was already three months without smoking and he convinced me that only one wouldn't matter...

But obviously that was bullshit, since after smoking one, what was the harm in smoking two? And so on....

And that leads me to right now, inhaling the harsh smoke deeply, letting it fill my lungs and exhaling it back to the cold night air. Mike and Anna just called it a night and went to bed a few minutes ago. It's around 2 am, and there's only me and Nick left sitting on the porch.

"Did anybody ever tell you you're a bad influence Nick? And a shitty friend..."

He just laughs and shakes his head.

"All the time actually... But I consider myself to be a facilitator of bad behavior and fun. I just bring out whatever it is that people want deep inside and make it happen. I think that makes me one hell of a friend, thank you very much."

"Oh my god... you're so full of it" I laugh tilting my head up to look at the stars.

He so is full of shit... He's a manipulative bastard. He gets Mike into all kinds of trouble because he convinces him everything will be fine, which is rarely the case.