I heard the music blaring from three houses away. Well, I suppose they couldn't even be called houses...more like shelters for those who had nowhere else to go. That's where I was going, and that's where I didn't want to be.
When I reached the source of the horrendous music, I walked in without even knocking. The smell of smoke along with other substances made me stop in my tracks. I couldn't help but feel bad for everyone here. They smoked tobacco in hopes that their problems would burn away with it, and they drink away the world just to be crushed under it four hours later. The only one in this whole house who wasn't taken under by the dark waves of life stood straight across the way from me, holding a bottle of pain killers in his hand. He didn't even look up when I approached.
"They all say that it will make me feel better," he whispered. I heard the pills in the bottle move, and I sighed of relief knowing that I wasn't too late.
"Drew," I replied,"they won't." He looked me in the eye for several seconds before leaning forward.
"You want to bet?" He whispered. The next thing I remembered was being pulled out of the house towards the empty road. We sat in the very center, and the cold asphalt sent chills all the way up my spine. Drew dumped the contents into the street, then stared at me for several moments. When he realized that I wasn't going to speak, he did.
"One pill for every awful thing that has been said to us. It'll make the pain go away Natalie," he said. I watched a lonely tear roll down his cheek, but I fought the urge to wipe it away. He got himself into this mess. I didn't want to agree, but I did.
"Alright," I said. "I'll play your little game.
"Ugly." One...
"Stupid." Two...
"Fat." Three...
I wasn't really taking the pills. I took the first because I had a headache, but the rest were gathered in my hand while I pretended to swallow.
"Worthless." Eleven...
"Freak." Twelve...
Drew had tears running down his cheeks at this point, and he was screaming at the top of his lungs,"Dirtbag! Hoodrat! RifRat! Dumb! Idiot! Trash!" He grabbed a whole handful and tried to reach his mouth, but I tackled him to the ground. The pills were scattered in the street, and I had his hands pinned on both sides. I had to sit on his stomach to keep him from getting up, for I was half his size.
"Please stop," I whispered, letting one of my tears land on his cheek. All of my earlier thoughts left my mind with the wind that was blowing through my hair. "You're not stupid, you're not worthless, you're not ugly, but I cannot believe that you let me get you into this mess."
I slid off of him and laid my hands at my side, then Drew sat up behind me.
"Natalie, if I can promise you anything on this planet, it is that I did not let you drag me into this. I chose to be drug into this." He sighed. I laid on my back and observed the cloud clusters in the sky. Everyone says Nebraska is the best place to go star-gazing. I really missed that place.
I closed my eyes and decided to voice my thoughts,"How did we even end up here?"
