Brittle

Chapter 16

Liam was sitting at his computer browsing his favorite social media site when he came across a friends post about a vape store. "Hey check this out. Freddy works at this vape company here in town." Liam had gone to high school with Freddy. They didn't talk to each other much since Freddy was on the lacrosse team and they shared different interests. Plus Liam always thought Freddy was kind of a jerk then but maybe since they were older things had changed.

"I think I'll go by there, maybe he can help me stop smoking." Liam said shutting his computer down. Mindy smiled happy that Liam was going to give vaping another chance. "Have fun and be careful. I'll see you when you get back." Liam slipped his shoes on and laughed. "I don't know how much fun this will be but it's worth a shot I guess." He said as he picked up his keys. "I don't know how long I'll be gone so don't wait up."

Liam walked through the mall trying to find the stores sign that he had seen on the web page earlier. Finally he found a small directions map with the locations of all the shops in the mall. He scanned the map for a moment. "Howw Vape, there it is." As Liam walked down the corridor he heard a familiar voice. It was Freddy who sounded just as loud and obnoxious as he did in high school. "Well some things don't change." He said walking into the shop.

Freddy looked up from behind the counter. "Holy shit what's up Liam?" Liam sat down on one of the bar stools. "Not much man just trying to quit smoking and the last shop I went to wasn't any help." Freddy picked up a weird box looking device and took a hit from it. "I got you my man, how much are you smoking?" Liam looked down a bit ashamed. "Like three packs a day." Freddy coughed. "Damn dawg you needa quit that shit."

Liam laughed and pointed to the box Freddy was holding. "That's why I need to get one of those things." Freddy shook his head. "Nah buddy these are high end devices. You gotta start small and work your way up." Liam nodded. "So what do you recommend?" Freddy thought for a moment before finally reaching into one of the display cases and pulling out a device that looked like an over sized ink pen. "Nah I've got one of those." Liam said pulling the same device from his pocket. Freddy laughed putting the device back in the display. "Well shit man coulda told me that to start. You looking to move up"

"I don't know. I kind of one something that gives more vapor and is easier to hit I guess?" He said unsure of what he was actually looking for. Freddy grabbed a small box shaped device. "This here is a sixty watt device that you can change to do what ever you want." Freddy said sitting it down. "It's called variable wattage which means you can make the output more or less and it comes with a warranty." Liam picked the device up and played with it for a moment. "This is pretty cool. What do I need with it? like batteries or something?" Freddy ran his fingers through his beard.

"Nah man its internal battery so all you need is juice when you run out and coils when they burn up. I'll even show you how to change them out and get you all set up so you can do this on your own without help." Liam was impressed. The service he was getting was much more useful than the other store and it was coming from someone he knew which seemed to take some of the tension away. "Alright, how much does this cost?" Liam asked as he sat the device down and reached for his wallet.

Freddy thought for a moment. "Normally they go for a hundred and ten but since I know you and you'll have to get juice I'll hook you up with a discount." Liam smiled. "Thanks man but you don't have to." Freddy waved his comment off and pointed to the shelves lined with e-juice. "Let's talk flavors, what kind do you like? I have fruits, desserts, even some that taste like a cigarette." "Is the cigarette one good?" Liam asked.

Freddy shrugged. "Tell you what. I have these tanks here. They each have a flavor in them. Just screw one on this battery and tell me when you find one you like." He said as he pointed to the tanks. Liam studied the names of the flavors on the tanks picking one occasionally and trying it. After a few tries he found one and handed it to Freddy. "I like this one." He said. Freddy Nodded. "Alright, Let's do that in a twelve milligram." He said reaching for a bottle on the shelf.

"Are you sure? I think I'm using the twenty four milligram now. He said putting the bottle he had on the counter." Freddy laughed. "You are buddy but in this new device since it hits a lot harder this twelve will feel like a twenty four." Liam had no reason to doubt Freddy so he decided to let him make the call. "So now how do I do this?" Liam asked looking at the device. Freddy held out his hand to ask for the device. Liam handed it to him and watched closely as Freddy explained every single part of the device and the inner workings of it.

Liam smiled as he picked up the device. "It's comfortable to hold." Freddy picked up his own device at took another hit off it. "Go ahead bud try it out." Liam shrugged and took a hit. As soon as he pulled the device away from his face he began coughing. "Holy shit that's strong." Freddy laughed again pointing to the buttons on it. "Turn it down if it's too much man. Right now it's at forty five watts so try like thirty." Liam turned the device down and tried again.

It was much smoother this time and tasted amazing. "Much better." He said exhaling the vapor. Freddy smiled nodding his head in self satisfaction. "Now you're one of the big boys." He said jokingly. Liam took another hit and this time blew a ring as he exhaled. "Looks like you were doing something else before vaping." Freddy said with a grin. Liam shook his head "I don't know what you're talking about."