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Chapter 14: Drugs and Boos

     The rest of my fall break had been spent alone. My parents had returned that Sunday night from their trip to the mountains. All of my friends began preparing for a week of school. Their fall breaks wouldn't be for another month. I made a promise to my mom before I left to go back to Wagner that Monday that I would spend more time on campus than I had in previous years. "I just want you to enjoy your senior year before you leave and all of your friends there go their separate ways," she had said. I understood where she was coming from and I knew that my time with my close friends at school was dwindling. I promised her that I would only come home for special occasions and jumped in my car to make the two-hour drive back to school.

I kept my promise to Charli. I didn't like it, but I kept it. Katherine came and visited me a few weekends between breaks and always kept me updated on everything going on at home. Mia and Adrian had begun talking and were getting "gross" as Katherine put it. I wondered if she realized how many times we had all said the same thing about her and Jordan when they couldn't stop making out with each other wherever they were. Greyson wasn't coming around as often, but she and Jordan still hung out with him on the weekends. Katherine told me about all of the things they had tried and about the times they had gotten too drunk in Jordan's parents' basement. Greyson had drunk too much and passed out beside a trashcan in the garage that he was using for a puke bucket. Jordan's dad had found him there the next morning and had gotten mad at Jordan for having friends "like that". If they only knew... I had thought when she told me that story. Katherine told me about another time they had tried DSM and watched a movie that was too scary for her to sit through. The drug they took was promised to give hallucinations, but Katherine had experienced a bad trip.

Halloween was on a Saturday that year. I decided that since Halloween was my favorite "holiday", it warranted a trip home and a party.

"Hey, Charli. I have a question," I said from across our room to her the Wednesday before.

"Okay, shoot."

"So, you know Halloween is this Saturday, right?"

"Yeah?" she sounded concerned knowing that my tone meant that I had something secretly planned.

"You wanna go home with me and party?"

It didn't take her time at all to think of an answer. She had been home with me several times over our three and a half years as roommates and loved my friends as much as I did.

"YES!" she yelled before grabbing her duffle bag from the top shelf of our closet to get it ready to pack.

We spent that Friday night with my parents. They asked Charli and me both about school and our grades. We were both making A's in all of our classes, but Charli was doing slightly better than me. My mom was excited for us to be done with the semester, but my dad was just ready for me to stay in one place. When we were done with dinner that night, there was a knock on the door before it opened.

"Oh," my dad said from his easy chair as

Miles walked through the front door, "your boy asked if he could come over when you got home this weekend so I invited everyone over for you."

"What?" I laughed

"Hey guys! CHARLI!!!" Miles yelled before running to hug her. "Hey Miles," we both laughed. "Yeah, everyone else is supposed to be here too, right?" Miles looked to my dad for confirmation.

"Yep," he said matter-of-factly.

In no less than fifteen seconds, the door opened again. This time it was Mia and Adrian. Charli and I hugged them both as we all began to pile on the couch. In another five minutes, the door opened and Greyson walked in. My breath caught and butterflies formed in my stomach. "GREYSON!" I yelled from the couch. He couldn't even reply from laughing. I jumped up and raced to hug him. I slowed myself before I got to him Right. Only side hugs. It didn't matter how many times we shared a bed and cuddled; he would never hug me with both of his arms. Greyson threw one arm around me and laughed, "hi, Ind."