Falling

40

"I don't want anyone you'd find for me."

I laughed at that. Part of me wanted to go find Vinny, but then I suddenly felt guilty. I had just been thinking about how I rarely spend any time with my friends and then immediately after, I thought about leaving them.

"Hey," I said, everyone's attention turning to me. "Do you guys want to ditch the rest of the day?"

"Who are you and what have you done with Carson?" Hadley asked, though she looked excited at the idea.

"Don't question it, Hads, let's go," Archie said, happily springing from his seat.

The five of us left the cafeteria and scurried out to the parking lot to get into my car. Isaac sat up front with me while Hadley sat between Archie and Darren in the back.

"Hey, Carson, stop by my house real quick," Archie called out from the back seat.

I looked at him briefly through the rearview mirror.

"Why?"

"So I can get my weed," he replied as if he was stating the obvious.

"Where the hell did you get weed?" Hadley asked, leaning against Darren as she spun her head toward Archie.

"Crystal's brother," he said. "Which reminds me I'm probably going to have to get it somewhere else now."

When I pulled up to Archie's house, he sprinted out of the back seat and was back out to the car in what seemed like a split second. He held the bag with the weed in his hand like he didn't care who saw.

"Arch, put it away," I said. "If I get pulled over and they see that, it's gonna be bad."

Archie rolled his eyes, stuffing the bag into his pocket. "Okay, Dad."

He directed me to a spot in the park that was toward the woods, hidden from the road and the more populous areas of the park. Archie had said this was where Crystal's brother did most of his dealings and they came here to smoke because no one was ever around.

"He gives it to you pre-rolled?" Hadley asked as Archie pulled the bag out of his pocket. We settled on some boulders a little ways from where I parked the car. I was already paranoid about being caught, looking over my shoulder every few seconds.

"No, I rolled them," Archie said, handing her a joint.

"That's why it looks like shit," she said before placing it in her mouth. Archie lit the end for her and she breathed in, taking a second hit before trying to hand it to Darren.

He shook his head with a light smile. "Can't. We get random drug tests in season."

"Lame!" Archie exclaimed, holding his hand out to Hadley. "Hand it over."

When Archie was done with the joint, he handed it over to Isaac who took a few hits then moved to pass it to me.

"Do you want it?" he asked. "You don't have to."

I hesitated for a moment.

"I can drive us back if you're worried about that," Darren offered, leaning back on his hands as Hadley pressed her back against him.