When We Collide

Untitled Part 1

⇴⇌⇴Alex  inhaled and exhaled, watching the smoke waver for a second in the air before vanishing. Feeling slighly giddy, he did it again. The flavor was awkward, and not at all what Jemma had promised it would be, but it was good enough for now.

"You know that's really bad for your health, right?" a dry voice asked from next to him.

He looked up, blinking at the figure. The afternoon sun shone like a halo, making his best friend appear like a shadow. He grinned as Emily sank down next to him against the brick wall. She plucked the vape pen from his hand and put it to her lipstick covered lips, before drawing back. "Oh, that's nasty," she said, small nose crinkling.

Alex took the pen back with a roll of his eyes. "What are you doing out here? Don't you have class?" he asked.

"Don't you?" she retorted, flipping aside a strand of black hair. The purple tips were fading out.

"I'm sick," Alex replied, resting his head back against the brick. The overhang above was littered with bird shit and wasps nests, as though the school couldn't be bothered to clean it. That was ironic, being as the tuition was so crazy high.

"Me too," she said. "Tired of your bullshit."

Feeling invaded, Alex scooted away from her. "Screw off. I'm busy."

"Doing what?"

Alex puffed out another breath, and Emily coughed. The vapor was bad. He really needed to stop relying on Jemma, and he knew that. He heard himself sigh.

Emily's heavily darkened eyes squinted at him. "What now?" she asked, although her tone was a little bit more gentle. "I thought things were getting better, Al, come on."

"Don't give me that look," he said, shaking his head. He hated it when she did that. When her almond eyes widened instead of squinted, making her look more innocent, and caring. More like a person, and less like the badass she liked to pretend she was.

"What look? Alex, I'm not-" But he cut her off with an odd laugh.

"Look, I'm fine, Emily. You worry too much," he said, stretching a little bit, trying to get rid of the stress in his arms. The vape pen was warm and still giving off an odor. He looked across to the trash can on the gum-stained sidewalk, took aim, and released. The pen sailed into its mark. He smirked. "See? Fine."

But her eyes had locked on something else, and they had narrowed again. Because of all of the makeup Emily wore, her eyes looked like slits. Before he could withdraw his arm, she grabbed it and tugged back his sleeve.

"Jesus, Alex," she breathed.

Alex looked away, feeling his jaw lock. He didn't want to look at all of the red marks criss-crossing his pale skin. Emily's slender fingers traced the scars, and he felt the strangest need to justify himself. He tugged his arm away. "It's not a big deal," he said, getting to his feet. He pulled his backpack with him, and the scraping sound caused a slight echo.

"Not a big deal? Alex, your entire damn arm is covered in scars-"

"I don't want to hear it, Em," he replied. Standing up, he was about five or six inches taller than Emily, but that didn't stop her from trying to grab his arm again. It had never stopped her from doing anything. Not from taking woodshop in seventh grade with all of the boys, or wearing a two piece swimming suit to P.E. their freshman year.

"Alex, I really thought things were getting better," she said, attempting to skitter in front of him. Because she was so small, she was very good at this. Alex veered sideways as she danced around him, heading across the quad. The bell was supposed to ring soon, and since Muir High was built like a prison with only one entrance, he wanted to get a head start.