Abet

150 mg

September 6th, 2020

"I don't know if I wanna go anymore." I mumbled, looking up at my dad. Today dad said that I was gonna go to the big kids school, and start my first day of kitten garden was it? I couldn't remember, but I was scared.

"You'll be fine, kiddo. You're gonna have a ton of fun and make friends."

"What if I don't want friends?"

"Oh trust me, you'll love friends." my dad reassured me as we kept waiting for the school bus. A boy soon started coming in my direction, and I gripped my dads leg.

"Daddy, who is that?"

"They're our new neighbors, that boy is going to school with you." He waved to the boys dad, who waved back.

"Daddy, the other boy looks scary." dad didn't answer me, probably because it was true, he wore a stiff expression showing no emotion, and had his eyes narrowed slightly, like he wanted to punch me. He was also a lot bigger than me, so he probably could punch me if he wanted too. I pulled at the collar of my t-shirt as the boy and his dad reached the bus stop.

"Hey Hunter." the other dad said, my dad said hello back, and crouched down beside me.

"What's your son's name? I think Luke could use a friend."

"This is Jack, Jack say hello to Luke."

"Hi." he said plainly, I waved a little, burying my face into my dads arm.

"Daddy, he sounds so serious."

"I know kiddo, but it's ok. He's just tough." dad tried to comfort me, and I looked back at Jack.

"Did you like kitten garden?" I asked him, his face hardened.

"No, and kindergarten didn't like me either."

December 14th, 2030

When I got home, my parents weren't there, they were out celebrating their anniversary. I knew Amelia was probably at grandma's house since she couldn't stay home alone at the age of three, so I had the house to myself for a couple hours. I carried my bag up the stairs to my room, thinking about the girl I met today, Night. She was so... different. Most would keep moving past if they ran into me, but she took the time to try to explain and apologize, even though I didn't like explanations. I smiled as I remembered how tough she looked with her black eye, that she didn't even seem to want to cover up with anything, she was just set on the parking lot, probably going home so she wouldn't have to deal with people asking about her eye. I nonchalantly put the thought of her to the side as my phone buzzed with a text.

<Jack>
I got something for you, meet me outside my house?

Jack was my childhood friend, who introduced me to smoking, which my parents never found out about. They probably would soon though, and when they did they would most likely point a finger to Jack. My parents never did like him, he was two years older than me, had even older brothers that constantly got kicked out of school and was only being raised by their mother who sometimes had a hard time holding herself up. But Jack was the only person I could actually call a true friend, so I stayed with him. Jack lived just two doors down, so it was a quick walk to find him sitting in his front porch, doing something in his phone.

"Hey." I said, bringing his attention towards me.

"Oh hey." he smiled, standing up. "I think I got another way for you-us - to make some more money."

"I'm interested." I nodded, and he snuck a plastic sandwich bag into my hand. I gave him a weird look before taking a look at it myself. After seeing the contents, I tried to give it back to him, but he resisted. "Jack, you know I can't do this stuff."

"That's what you think, but people go crazy for it. You have no idea!"

"Yeah, and I'm not selling this. No way."

"What? It's just crystal, are you scared of a bunch of rocks?"

"It's crystal meth." I hissed under my breath. "This stuff could get me out of the school faster than a military jet!"

"Sell it off school property, get customers on school property. It's easy. Why are you so freaked out about it?"

"You and I both know that this is gonna destroy my parents reputation more than it already has been." I glared back up at him, and he scoffed.

"Then your dad should've been more careful!"

"And I'm not making the same mistake he did." I dropped the bag on the ground. "I'm not selling this."

"Fine." he growled. "You won't be seeing many of these for a while then." Jack took out a pack of Marblio cigarettes, and I raised my eyebrows in disbelief.

"You're cutting off my cigarette supply? I'm your best seller! You know I'll go insane without them."

"I'm not doing this willingly." he said, annoyance coating his voice. "If you want to keep it steady, sell the crystal too."

"You can't be-"

"Serious? I think I am being awful serious right now." he pulled out a joint for himself, crossing his arms as it hung in his mouth, unlit. "If you're smart, you'll pick up that bag right now." I looked at him with defiance for a moment, before bending down and snatching up the bag to shove it in my pocket.

"If I get caught, you're getting i
n trouble too." I spat.

"That's what you think." Jack smirked, and just as I was about to come up with something snarky back, the door behind him opened, making my heart jump. A woman stood on the other side of the threshold, looking in her thirties or late twenties. Her hair was up carelessly and looked at us with sad eyes. Who was this girl?

"Jack? Is there a problem? You're talking awfully loud with this boy." she said, sounding like she had just gotten up from a unsatisfying nap.

"We're fine Phoenix, could you please give us some privacy?" Jack muttered, barley even looking in her direction. Phoenix nodded, and closed the door quietly.

"Who was that?" I asked him.

Jack sighed in annoyance. "Some friend of my mom's. They met at support group and my mom's been helping her get over her past, which was full of some hard core partying and even a suspect for someone's death." he shrugged like nothing that he said was a big deal, and I went with it, even though my mind was screaming with questions.

"Oh." I said simply.

"Come back to me with the money as soon as you sell it, and I'll give you your cigarettes." Jack finally spoke after a moment of awkwardness. Without waiting for my answer, he slipped back inside his house, shutting the door as if he was sneaking out (which he kind of was). I blew a raspberry as my head tilted back, exasperated. I probably should've listened to my parents when they told me they thought he was a bad person.

✌☠

Hallo :) a update finally! Short but important... Recognize anyone? ;)

So happy new year! Did you guys make any resolutions? I'm gonna be more active this year!

Lia