Mean Girls Missing

23

June 7

4:39 am

Samantha

Sleep fought me with over the night. Falling in and out of nightmares, my brain couldn't stay focused enough to keep me asleep for the whole evening. If we had windows, the sky still would've been black and starry by the time I gave up on sleep and sat up in my bed.

The most recent nightmare had shaken me awake. The thoughts flew through me at a thousand miles a minute, hitting me and leaving before I could even really know what was on my mind.

Nicki grabbed me by the hand and pulled me into the bathroom. It reeked of farts and lavender hand soap. She poked her head to make sure there were no feet under the stall doors. Once she decided we were in the clear, she reached into her jeans and removed a tiny black device. It looked like a Sharpie.

"What is that?" I asked.

Nicki inhaled for a few seconds. I watched a cloud exhale from her lips as she breathed out. "Dab pen. You wanna try?"

I shrugged. "Sure."

"Just hold that button down, inhale, and let the button go when you're ready to exhale."

"Okay."

I followed her directions. The ring around the circular button glowed a dim white as I pressed it down. Holding the thin white top in my mouth, I breathed it in. It hissed until I lowered it from my lips.

It tasted like an acidic booger. I coughed as a huge puff of smoke escaped from my mouth.

Nicki flapped her hands through the smoke trying to disperse it. "Jesus. We're at school, remember? People can hear you." She snatched her pen back and slid it into her pocket again. "Okay, so you're not good with dab pens. Maybe..."

She trailed off, a vindictive smile crawling onto her face. She nodded at me.

"Let's go," She took my hand again and led me out of the bathroom.

"Where are we going? I have to get back to bio..."

Nicki clapped her hand over my mouth. "Shh. Don't worry about it. Let's just skip."

I stared at her. "Uh, I can't. All of my stuff is still in biology, including my phone. I have to go get it."

"How are you going to waltz in there, grab your stuff, and walk back out?" Nicki questioned.

"Umm..." She had a point. But I was still smart enough to figure something out. "You know what, I have an idea."

Nicki rolled her eyes. "Okay, whatever that means. I'm going to be in my car. You have ten minutes to join me or I'm leaving with you. 'Kay?"

"'Kay."

After convincing my middle aged teacher that I had a serious case of PMS and needed to see the nurse, he reluctantly wrote me a pass and let me leave class. I swung my backpack over my shoulder, slid my phone into my jean shorts, and headed towards the west student parking lot. I rushed down the stairs to meet Nicki at her car before she pulled off.

There she was. Behind the leather steering wheel of her tiffany blue BMW, her fingers drumming against the dashboard. We locked eyes and Nicki grinned at me.

"Nice to see you again, eight minutes later." She greeted as I hopped in the passenger seat.

I tossed my backpack into the backseat. "Period problems, don't you know?"