I don't understand what I did wrong, but I kept feeling like I said or did something to offend him. Then I noticed it, the small curve around his chest, he was wearing a binder. Maybe we had something in common after all, but it's too early for me to assume. A thought hit me, he never said his name last night. Was it because he didn't have one yet or he never got to it. I took another drag off the cigarette and ground it into the bottom of my shoe, I let out a slow breath of smoke into the early morning air as my friend yelled out to me.
"That shit's going to kill you some day."
"Don't care, what's up with grouch?"
"You mean lyric? They don't like alot of people so they tend to act a bit aggressive."
"They?"
"Yeah, lyric is gender neutral."
I felt my face burn to bright pink when my mistake caught up with me. I misgendered then, I felt so awkward about it. After my face returned to it's normal milk bottle complexion my friend sat next to me on the mist covered grass. She lit her version of a cigarette, the chilled breeze brought the foul smell of skunk piss to my nose.
" that does not smell good at all, it makes me want to puke."
"It gets you high, it's not supposed to smell nice. You think when you go to the the doctor they give a shot in the arm its suppose to tickle ?"
"I suppose not but still."
She passed it to me and I held it between teeth, letting the thick smoke replace the oxygen in my lungs. I suppressed the urge to cough by talking more and letting my eyes water to the point it looked like I was crying.
"You can't handle your high man."
"Want to go throw rocks in the lake ?"
"Sure."
I had my feet in the cold water of the lake and closed my eyes to drift into a high sleep or leaf cloud as ross calls it. Ross is the best friend anyone could have, her sibling anon is cool too. Although I've only ever met them once or twice, they're usually at their friend's house or in their treehouse wrecking people on some game I can't pronounce because of my accent. Ross was like a sister to me, she let me crash on her couch when I got kicked out after getting arrested for...several odd high reasons..but she's chill and knows what to do when you get hungry.
"Pizza or tacos."
"Again, we just ate?"
"I asked if you wanted pizza or tacos."
"Uh, pizza?"
"You're still high as balls."
She started laughing, she wheezed and almost feel off of the rock she was perched on. Her real name was marigold labyrinth, she's been on the run from cops for years. She was runaway teenager and a mother, everyonethinks she's dead. She lives in an abandoned cabin, it's not abandoned anymore and I helped fix it up with a well and solar panels. She's off the grid completely.
"How's you're son doing ?"
"He's doing great, he's got his first tooth already."
"You still in contact with his dad?"
"Yeah, but it's hard talk because he's trying to stay under the radar."
She picked up a blade of grass and placed it in the gap between her front teeth, she chewed on it while thinking to herself. Finally she broke the silence.
"Do you ever wonder what's going to happen to him ?"
"To who?"
She started talking but got pushed into the lake by one of the bullies of the campus, everyone knows ross as a boy so they treat her like one, never knowing her actual gender. She swam back to the shallows while pulling algae out of her hair.
"Asshole, dammit lance. This pond stinks to high hell, I'm going to smell like it for weeks!"
"That was the point."
I could see the visible anger on Ross's face. She was pissed off and I started to back up slowly. I blinked and heard her fist connect with his nose, the sight of crimson pouring from his nose made me feel nauseous .
"Let's get out of here leaf."
