Country Mile

STICK AROUND

"Please, Genna?"

The sassy tone was gone and a genuine plea was thick in Rory's voice.

Genna knew she shouldn't. She knew whatever it was that Rory needed, it was bound to land her in incredibly deep, broiling hot waters if her father ever found out. But as she stared at the girl nervously fiddling with her eyebrow piercing, she sighed and rolled her eyes.

"What is it?"

Rory knew that question was as good as a 'yes' and she quickly pulled Genna into a hug.

"Thank you," she whispered before stepping back. "I gotta make two drops after school, but they're both at the same exact time and as much as I'm a fucking superhero, I'm not capable of being in two places at once. Could you cover for me?"

"What am I dropping?"

Rory pulled out two different plastic bags. One held round, peach colored tablets, and the other had small, blue ones.

"Addys or Percs."

Genna sighed and grabbed the peach colored tabs. "Who's getting these?"

"Hailey Thompson."

Her brown eyes doubled in size. "As in, all honors, leading mathlete, probably already has fifteen colleges lined up, Hailey Thompson??"

Rory blinked slowly. "I just moved here, how the hell should I know her academic achievements?"

Genna blew out a breath as she looked down at the pills. "Just when you think you know somebody..."

"If she's got all that going on, she probably needs the Adderall just to keep her going. Poor thing."

"Yeah.... how much?"

"$450"

Genna's eyes shot up. "Are you shitting me?!"

"$15 a pop is a discount, babe."

With almost $500 sitting in her hand, the urge to pick up the lucrative business of doing 'favors' for Genna's friend felt overwhelming.

But then Adam's phrase of 'a dollar a day' ran through her mind and she knew she'd be grounded until their junior year if she were ever caught selling these.

"Just this once," Genna finally said as she stuffed the small baggy into her backpack. "As a favor."

A look of utter relief flooded Rory's face. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

The bell rang, indicating they were indeed late for homeroom, so the pair quickly parted ways.

And as the day went on, Genna felt the weight of that small bag grow heavier and heavier....

***

Genna leaned against the lockers as Rory gathered her things at the end of the day. "I called my dad, he said we can walk to Dairy Queen for some ice cream. He'll pick us up at 4 and you can hang out at the house till 6. That cool with you?"

Rory's eyes snapped to her's as she slammed her locker shut. "Till 6? Can.. can I eat dinner?"

Genna quirked an eyebrow at her. "Um.. yes, Rory... that's typically what people do at that time of day."

She smiled brightly and bounced on her toes. "Your dad's the shit, Genna. For real."

Genna giggled and rolled her eyes. "It's just food, Rory.. chill."

The girl quickly shook her head and her face grew more serious. "Right.. yeah I know. It's just nice of him is all..."

A certain blonde caught Genna's eye. She waved goodbye to Delilah who gave her a small smile before disappearing down the hall.