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XXII

STOP TRYING TO BE GOD -Travis Scott

SYMERE

Northern Marietta, Georgia

Marietta was the quintessential suburban town. It's boundaries sat just to the north of Mableton's, and it was the seat of government in Cobb County. It held a population of around 55,000 within its city limits, and over 200,000 in its greater area.

In certain aspects, it was really similar to the areas around Lithia Springs, and in other aspects, it couldn't be any more different. On the south side was essentially Mableton, but without the name. Uncut lawns littered neighborhoods, and broken-down cars from the 1980's and 90's filled the decrepit driveways, looking unused and dying. Windows were broken out in certain buildings, and gangs hung out in Chick-Fil-A parking lots.

The further north you moved, the nicer it got. Past Windy Hill Road, you got closer to the main city. Abandoned strip malls began to be replaced with somewhat busy movie theaters, and more and more places began to appear maintained.

After passing the Confederate National Cemetery, a disgusting memorial that reminded everyone of the south's disturbing past, the landscape changed to one of wealth and the middle class. The broken down Chevrolets in driveways that were seen no more than ten minutes ago were replaced by BMWs and Cadillacs. Businesses were busy and functioning, with people still going out to eat this late at night, not having to worry about if it would be safe or not. Police patrolled almost every street.

This place looked so much nicer than my own home. It looked like the place where you could ride a bike to Waffle House and not have to worry about anything. It looked like a place where you could go for a walk at night and not have to worry about getting jumped or robbed.

This is what I thought, looking out the window of Nayvadius' Grand Cherokee, staring at the rapidly passing development and infrastructure. As I stated earlier, Marietta was both insanely different but also shockingly similar to Mableton at the same time, if that makes any sort of sense.

I didn't even know who the hell was even hosting this party, but I was just excited because I would be there with Monty, and there would be alcohol and weed. I had been questioning if our relationship could go on at the game. Monty kept wanting to have sex, and even though I knew I wanted to also, I just never found the time for it. I was just hoping that there would be an excuse tonight for something to happen.

Most of my questioning of my relationship with Montero was due to the fact that I still liked Jordan. Even if my mind and body physically tried to suppress it, I couldn't hide the fact that I was still in love with that pencil-built cutie. It was easier to hide when he wasn't around, but once Jordan become my supposed friends again, it was incredibly difficult to hide it. I even scooted close to him at the homecoming football game, but stopped myself before I got too close, seemingly gravitating back towards Montero without even thinking about it.

Jordan was adorable, sexy, and sorta made me horny, but I wasn't about to hurt Montero; I'd known him for too long, and even if I liked Jordan a little more, I wasn't about to become a cheating son-of-a-bitch. Breaking hearts was the last thing I wanted to do or even be remotely associated with.

We finally arrived in some really nice neighborhood. Like, REALLY nice neighborhood. People had BMWs and Lexuses parked in their driveways and proudly displayed their multi-thousand dollar security systems in the front yards. Their houses looked like pieces of art that were unique only to their owners, and their yards were as green as the sky is blue on a summer day.