I stretched to the golden rays tickling my face. I got up, quickly showering and putting on some comfortable clothes for school. I plopped back on my bed so I could twist up. I twisted up a nice blunt before sparking it up. I turned Spotify on my TV and scrolled through social media until I was baked. I flipped between the blunt and the mod every few hits.
I made a reminder on my phone to take Silver and Clover home today so I could hang there for a bit. I grew excited, doubling my euphoria just thinking about riding on a four-wheeler for the first time. I turned the TV off, and picked up my phone again to leaf through messages. I had one from Rick, and I began to text him back and forth.
I put out my blunt, setting the roach on my nightstand and packing some gym clothes in my old bag; a plain black one.
I packed as I talked to Rick on FaceTime, ending up with a light blue Nike shirt, some black Nike running shoes, Nike socks, and Nike shorts. I grinned in satisfaction, loving to have the means to match brands.
A separate ding shot through the room and it was a notification from Dante. My heart sank, and I let it bounce around my stomach as I opened the message.
"Hey lil dude!,"
"Hey Dante! What's up?" I responded. I silently thanked myself for smoking right as I woke up. I would have been an awkward mess.
"You wanna do something late tonight?" He asked.
I thought for a minute before typing. "Can you pick me up?" My breath caught in my throat as the read receipt appeared and he began to type.
He instantly read my message before typing. "Yeah, but it'll be a little later tho. 🥲 You cool with that?"
"Sure, Dante!" I said, not seeing an issue. He hearted my message.
"Can't wait to see you 😁," he texted.
"Same, waiting to see what you have planned," I said.
He hearted my message again, not replying. I put my phone in my pocket and grabbed my book bag. I walked into my mirror in the bathroom, glancing over my outfit.
A white un-zippered hoodie that hung off of one of my shoulders, a black tank top, some black sweatpants, and some white converse with the heart on the side.
I grabbed my lanyard and left the room. I walked down to the kitchen, bag slung over my shoulder. I took some Lucky Charms, pouring myself a bowl of cereal.
"Hey, Wendy," I greeted her as she walked into the kitchen. I sat at the barstool, beginning to munch hungrily on my cereal.
"Hey, T. Can you look at these and tell me if they're postable?" She asked. I shrugged, "Sure,"
She leaned over and began to scroll through incredible photos of her with a bouquet in her Ferrari. She had on matching clothes, only designer brands lacing her body. I chewed on my cereal as I briefly glossed over each picture. Couldn't lie, she was incredibly stunning.
"Hell yeah those are postables!" I said, grinning. My bloodshot eyes shone as we made eye contact. "Yeah.. I'll just ask Vicky," she said, walking back upstairs.
"Yeah, well no one posts at 6am anyway!" I called after her.
"Cocksucker!"
Eh, couldn't say she wasn't lying.
I finished my cereal, putting my bowl and spoon in the dishwasher before moving outside to my 300. I put my bags in the trunk and went over to my Chiron, taking the tin box of gas out and setting it in the backseat of the Chrysler instead. I hopped inside, pressing the start button and stuffing my lanyard, now donning various supercar keys and key fobs back into my pocket.
I made my way to the dispensary to grab some cones, craving a joint. I cruised calmly through traffic, not really feeling the need to rush so early before my day actually started. Messages from the Stars played softly out of my speakers.
Link pointed at me with his Vuse over the counter as I walked in. Grinning. I pointed back with my Novo.
"Heyyy! My man, whatcha getting?" He asked.
"Just a few packs of cones-," I paused. Would you wanna hotbox with me real quick?" I asked, seeing the lounge pretty much deserted. "Shit, why not?" He said. He grabbed like 3 packs of cones, and walked out of the shop.
"Don't tell my dad I took these," he shrugged as we stepped into the car.
"I don't really have a reason to," I said.
"Oooh shit man, nice new ride!" He said. "Chrysler 300 Tourig," he recited fondly. I reached into the backseat, producing the tin box. I pulled out the black bag inside, getting the half ounce I had stashed in a baggie.
"I love how fucking nice and simple this thing is," I said.
"Simple?" He asked, guffawing.
"I drive an 09 Malibu," he scoffed. "I mean, it's not stock by any means," he gestured to a car in the parking lot. It was a blacked out Malibu with BBS rims. You could tell some money, time, and some serious patience went into modding the car.
"I mean, this is the simplest car I got," I started, opening a box of cones. "I tried that modest shit with my dad and that just wasn't working for him. So I had to try and go on with an air around me. This is probably the simplest, most inexpensive car I own," I said, setting the rest of the cones in the box and beginning to grind the bud.
"Yeah, I feel you Prince Charming,"
"Prince Charming?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Prince Charming,"
"You're not already high, are you?"
"Maybe,"
"Get out of my car,"
"But so are you!" He whined.
"Fair point. The Link stays!" I cried triumphantly, pushing him playfully with my free hand.
"Oh, so you can get away with referring to me in the third person, but I can't call you Prince Charming?"
He took a long drag of his vape. "Hell, if anything I'm right; you look just like Prince Charming!"
I laughed heartily. "And what exactly do you look like?"
"Every other koopa to walk this earth,"
"Fair point there too," I grumbled, twisting the camel tip on the joint.
I took out my lighter, putting the flame to the twisted tip. I cut my AC on low and put on Good Times by Styles.
We smoked and when the song ended, Link put on Pass the Dutchie. I couldn't help but fling myself over the center console into Link's arms. He laughed so hard, his body shook violently, the ash falling onto the floor with each shake of his hand as he held the joint.
"This song puts everyone in the mood," he cried over the music. I sat back up, trying not to laugh myself. As if the lyrics cued him to, he passed the joint to me.
'Pass the Dutchie pon de left hand side!'
We puffed the joint until it was about gone. I put it in my ashtray. Link's eyes widened as he watched a customer park the car and get out.
"C'mon, let's hurry I want you to sell me something!" I cried. I rolled the windows down and shut off the car. We scurried our high asses into the shop and Link headed behind the counter. I slipped, falling but quickly scrambled up as our bodies shook with silent, wheezy laughter.
"I need a new pen battery, this red one just isn't cutting it anymore," I said as we calmed down, flashing my red pen.
"Nah man, I can see that," He said. I scanned the batteries for any I might like. "Let me get that Rick and Morty one. Oh! And the fuzzy baby blue one. It's soo cute!" I said. He chuckled, and handed me them. I slid him the money and some extra.
"You got a cart on you?" He asked. I nodded. "Have a seat real quick on one of the couches and see if they work," he gestured to one of the couches in the lounge.
I opened up both the boxes while he served the next guy in line. Once he left, he came and sat by me. I hit each of the different batteries, deciding to stick with the Rick and Morty one for now. I let him hit my pen. I stood up.
"I'ma be heading to school dude," I said.
"Yeah man, I still got about thirty before my pops comes on with my co-worker so they can take over from here," he said.
"I'll catch you later," he caught me in a hug, and I hugged him back tightly.
"See ya, Prince Charming!" He said, waving.
I rolled my eyes. "The Link has earned a bidding farewell!"
I took out my vape, hitting it as I pulled out of the dispensary parking lot, driving to school.
Not even a few seconds into the building, I was swept off of my feet by Adam. He spun me around, much to my faded enjoyment. He put me down and I gazed at him.
"Here's to day one of making up for being a complete asshole," he said.
"Hey, don't worry about it," I waved a hand in dismissal.
"Nope nope!" He put his finger on my lip. "Don't wanna hear it," he said, releasing my lips.
"Suddenly I was bombarded with people crowding around me as I walked to the cafeteria for breakfast. Tony and his brothers, Rick, Ron, Adam, Chuck and the cheerleaders, Sam and the rest of the dodgeball team along with any of my other immediate friends.
I was curious on if the schools here actually made handmade food, since I never actually got to have a bite of anything to eat from here.
It would be hella awesome if the food here was homemade.
Much to my surprise, and pleasure, it was. I sat down at a large table with all of my friends. Today we got waffles with syrup and butter cups. I ate hungrily, chatting with all my friends, some of us hitting our devices in our sleeves and zero-ing out smoke. We put two tables together, forming a large table that we all sat at.
My device of choice was my pen, and I obviously used it to get as lit as possible.
Classes went by as usual, the routine beginning to build of taking notes and trying to focus in class. I kept my head down, an AirPod in throughout the day, only talking to my friends but easily replying to others when they talked to me.
It was at gym where things got a little different.
The principal waved me over, and I pointed to myself, raising an eyebrow. I jogged over to the gym door and he opened it wider for me. I slid past him and he let go of the door. I hoped to god he couldn't tell I was still a bit lit.
"Hey, I was just personally confirming the class switch for you, the attendance counselor was supposed to come get you, but I told her I'd do it myself and give the go ahead to print out your new schedule."
"Uh, yeah, that's right. I did want to switch classes," I said.
The principal nodded, shuffling his feet. "Cool, do you mind coming by the office before first period tomorrow to grab the schedule?" He asked.
I nodded. "Yes sir, I can do that,"
He gripped my hand in a tight handshake, patting me on the shoulder. I shook back firmly with a smile.
"Do you wanna wait and go to the new class tomorrow? It's the period after gym. You can honestly go today but if you want to, you can wait,"
"No no, I'll go today if that's fine," I said.
"That's alright, I can put in for today, just head over to room 201 in building 6 next period," he said. I nodded, smiling.
"Thanks again,"
"Anything you need," he saluted before walking off.
I ran back to my place in the front row as we began to do jumping jacks.
Next period rolled around as we did laps. I surprised myself by joining a couple of the boys in taking our shirts off, and my friends encouraged me greatly. Adam joined Rick in staying near me and made sure no one eyed my slender frame negatively.
Being skinny wasn't exactly common on the Islands. I noticed it fairly quickly. Out of every friend I've made so far, Kaylem was the only skinny one out of all of them.
I walked to my next period, instantly developing the dynamic in the room. There were a small amount of students in the room. So much so, that it didn't look like a complete class. It had to be everyone since I ended up being a bit late.
There wasn't a single girl in the classroom except the two sitting on Tony's dad's L-desk. They were obviously skipping their period to be here. I grinned. Tony's dad was a cooler teacher than I thought.
He got up, face brightening once his eyes landed on me, and I'm not sure I want to say what I saw in the girls eyes. Gross.
"My man!" He cried, slapping my hand in a handshake, pulling me in. "Mr. Peters!" I greeted him, patting his back roughly.
"Sit anywhere dude, it doesn't matter," I looked around into the small puddle of students, my face instantly breaking into a grin as I locked on to the bloodshot eyes of Tony and a good bit of our friends.
He stood up, along with Silver, Clover, along with three guys I didn't know. A koopa sat on the edge of the table, not even bothering to hide his vape. It was one of the VooPoo mods. Hadley sat on the other side of the table, looking fried out of his mind.
The classroom was disheveled, not necessarily messy, but the desk and chairs were slightly out of place and crooked from kids shifting them when they sat. I grinned, bloodshot eyes sweeping over everyone in the room. I dapped Tony up. As I was letting go of the handshake I felt myself be yanked up from behind.
I laughed hard as Hadley playfully swung me around, laughing even harder when he lost his footing, accidentally slamming us onto the classroom floor.
I got up, still laughing silently, but dapping everyone up around the table. I dropped into one of the empty chairs in between the twins. The dim classroom was loud with white noise as children talked freely.
"Yo how's it going? I'm Reese," one of the boys I didn't recognize said.
"Nice to meet you," I said, shaking his hand again. "Call me Jace,"
Reese was the only one at this table that didn't look like he was having trouble functioning. He was pretty baked, but not so much as the others. I could see in his hand under the table he had a Hyde in his hand.
"I'm Darion," the dude next to him said, shaking my hand again. He was slouched back in his chair, looking fried beyond function. I could see the mouthpiece of a LichtBar from the sleeve of his Nirvana hoodie.
"I'm Terrance," the Koopa that was sitting on the edge of the table said. The whites of his eyes bright green eyes were bloodshot, matching the rest of the group. A grin stretched across my face. I knew how this table got down.
"Jace," I shook his hand, he shook back firmly with a strong smirk.
"Dude, where are they?" Tony said.
"You know they're probably lighting up a joint in the office wing bathroom like they always do," Terrance pointed out.
"The office wing? They must be begging to get caught," I said.
"Pfft, like they're ever gonna get in trouble for anything,"Tony said.
"Dude' s mom is the Vice Prinicpal, and we all know Igor won't get in trouble for anything knowing his dad can just bump a few grand in the principals pocket," Reese said.
"They do it in the staff bathroom next door to his mom's office so they wouldn't go sniffing students," Darion said.
"And if they did get caught, they wouldn't be punished cause Mrs. Smith could easily cover for them, and it's not even that big of a deal considering it's never been illegal here, and they're both old enough to not need a parent around," Terrance added. He hit his mod.
"Whatever they're doing, they're taking too long," Hadley said.
Just then, two guys walked into class, nodding at Mr. Peters. They shared a knowing look, but Mr. Peters didn't do anything. They both led their snicker fit to the table, calming down and plopping into the seat with matching grins.
"I still don't know why you two just don't hit the pen," Darion said. I turned to get a closer look at them.
I found myself locking eyes with the most captivating boy I've ever seen. This guy takes the cake immediately when it comes to looks. Holy shit.
"Well you know those things just don't hit the same," he said, still making eye contact. "I don't think we've met. Who's this fella?" He shook my hand. "Call me Jace," I met him with a smile, shaking his hand firmly.
Silver looked up from his phone, "Oh, you guys actually came back this time?"
"Oh come on, you know you just missed us," his blonde friend said. He was pretty good looking too. He turned to me. "What's up man? I'm Nick, but you can call me Goblin, all my friends do," he said. He paused, cocking his head to the side in confusion. "Or whatever nickname you can make outta that," he said. He reached over the table to shake my hand.
"Guys, look at him," Clover said, putting an arm around me. Everyone seemed to stare, and they looked into my eyes. Had they really not noticed? I was barely keeping myself together.
"Holy shit! You smoke?" Darion asked in surprise. The table all let out surprised sounds. I was met with more daps as everyone met me with a sly grin.
"We could've told you guys that," Tony said, gesturing to himself and the twins.
"We didn't say anything because we expected them to notice," Silver said.
"So I'm good to take my pen out?" I said, reaching for my pocket.
"Hell yeah!" Reese said.
"Mr. P won't snitch," Nick said. "Just pretend to be discreet, unlike this asshole," he pointed at Terrance.
"I do what I want," he shrugged simply. "Fuck you,"
"Ram it, bitchface,"
"Shut up, before I ram you!"
"You didn't say pause, you fucking flamer!" We all burst into laughter as we struggled to calm down.
We all got up, migrating to the board, and drawing obscene things. I made sure to chief my vape, following directions but being discreet about it. Much to my delight, I was met with no trouble.
The bell rang soon after we had sat down and borrowed a game of trouble. We were laughing, getting baked, joking with each-other as if we grew up together.
I got up, gracing each one of them with my signature squeeze. They all lightheartedly returned the hug. After band and practices were up, an after-school assembly took place where we all received baby blue and gold letterman jackets, and sports jerseys for each respective sport.
Me and my siblings also received a band uniform, and I thought back to the lesson today. We had begun learning our first song, and I had adored it. It was a simple, cute version of the North Islands anthem jingle. I caught on quickly, but even though Silas was a trumpet, he'd always be willing to help if I was struggling. My siblings took band oddly seriously, and were beyond gifted at the instruments they played.
When the director gave me my uniform at the ceremony after class, I stacked it on top of my jerseys. I kept my lettermen jacket on for the rest of the day. I felt a sense of pride I had never felt. I went from a dirty, broken teen to a clean shaven royal prodigy. With my new sense of confidence, I held my head high.
I felt as if I were in a movie as I ranked up from the new blurry-face, to one of the most prized students in the entire school. After we were dismissed I met up with the twins and we all walked to my car in our matching letterman's.
"Dude, you got another new car?" Clover asked, sitting up front. I put my stack of clothes in the back seat, grabbing my small tin box.
"Well, I actually have quite a lot now," I said. I had went from not having a car at all to multiple super cars within a week.
"Damn, bo!" Silver cried. He seemed to be loosening up to me. "You've gotta show us sometime,"
"Damn straight I will," I said. I started the car, reaching to connect my phone to the radio. I started my Spotify on shuffle, and Messages from the Stars sent us a message through the radio.
I grabbed my cones, beginning to grind some bud.
"You guys up for a smoke?"
"Our moms gonna know we're high," Clover widened his eyes in shock.
Silver rolled his eyes. "Clo, mama saw my big ass bong in my room, she already knows,"
"Why haven't I heard about it?" Clover frowned.
"She wouldn't bother telling your dumbass," Silver snickered.
"I'm not dumb!" Clover whined. "Just creatively special,"
"The number of letters in your sentence equal more than the number of words you know,"
"Shut the fuck up asshole, I'll kick your sorry ass later,"
Silver grinned. "You may be bigger than me but I'm strong too," These two were giants, but Clover was slightly bigger than Silver. Clover was the younger twin. Other than that, they looked exactly the same. It took me a few days to mentally tell them apart.
"Whatever, twerp," Clover frowned. Ignoring that, Silver turned to me.
"Of course we in bo, we've been smoking for two years,"
"Has it been two years already?"
"Bo, I could tell you we'd only been smoking since yesterday and you'd believe me,"
My eyes flashed in amusement at their mini argument. I finished stuffing the joint and lit the camel tip. I added to my high as I took my hits, ghosting every hit. I passed it, and we rotated the joint until it was gone.
I tossed it in my ashtray and grabbed my Charizard Pipe. I crowned a bowl, smoking the whole bowl and offering them a bowl each. Clover smoked it but Silver passed, high enough.
I put the car in reverse and began driving in the direction of their house. We blasted music, talking and laughing as I got to know them more.
We pulled into their driveway and we got up, starting for the front door. We kicked our shoes on one of the porch columns, shaking off any loose dirt.
"Is Dad here?" Clover asked. Silver shrugged, "I don't see his truck, but it's probably in the garage,"
Clover unlocked the front door with his key. We walked into the amazing foyer coated in freshly painted walls. The twins lived in a really nice house. We walked through the halls until we ended up in a kitchen. Silver reached into one of the cupboards and produced a party sized bag of Salt and Vinegar lays.
"Oh, hey boys!" Their mom said cheerfully, strolling into the kitchen. "Hey mama!" Clover said. "Yo," Silver greeted, looking down at his phone. She began tying on an apron. "I see you boys are hungry, I'll get started on some lunch," she smiled.
"Thank you, ma'am for making us lunch," I said politely. "D'oh it's no problem! And you can call me Mary," she said sweetly. We harbored the chips upstairs and saw their dad at a double monitor home office setup.
He turned around, pausing a game of COD Zombies. Oh, I saw how it was. I grinned as he walked over with a welcoming smile. "Hey boys!" He ruffled their hair.
I had to do a double take because their dad looked eerily similar to them. He honestly looked like an older version of them, with a matching, slightly more aged face and the same trademark dirty blonde curly hair.
Their mom and I were the only one with non curly hair, but even then, we both had blonde making up most of our hair.
"Woah," he gasped as he turned to look at me. "I saw this boy on the news, nice to meet you,"
"Please don't bow," I started, before saying anything else.
"Oh, sure thing!" He shook my hand. "I'm Mr. Frazier, but you can just call me Terrance. I don't mind Terry either. "I like Terry," I said. "I don't go by my first name anymore, I go by Jace, my middle name," I said. "Nice to meet you, Jace!" He turned to the twins.
"So the first person you guys bring home is the prince, huh? Who knew my boys'd have it in em?"
I blushed furiously. "I'm just like any other kid!" I protested.
He laughed. "You boys have fun," he straightened his yellow polo shirt. "I'll be in the basement if you boys need anything," he said.
We all went into a clean bedroom which I recognized as Silvers. He had a running blue theme throughout the room.
I sat on his bed and he sat next to me.
"Let's smoke before we go outside," Silver said, pulling out his bong from a shelf. I shrugged off my jacket, setting it behind me.
"Let's use my gas, I got my hands on some Purp," Clover said excitedly. "Go get it," Silver said impatiently.
Clover saluted him. "Yessir!" He cried, heading out to a bedroom.
"So what we got planned?" I ask. I made a mental note to head to Tony's for dinner. I grinned. I just knew his mom cooked hella good food.
"We can get high as fuck, go outside, and do a bunch of stupid shit. We can come back inside, get higher and watch a movie or some shit," he said. I nodded, secretly growing excited.
"I'm back!" Clover announced, plopping on the bed next to us and throwing a purple packet into Silver's lap.
"Let's get it," he said, beginning to grind and crown a bowl. Clover turned the speakers on and began to blast 'i don't want that many friends in the first place' by osquinn.
Silver lit it up for a rip, and took a massive toke. "I'm feeling two Afro tops each," he nodded, taking another rip. Oh, so he was tryna get fucked up fucked up.
"Shit, I'm down," I shrugged. Clover nodded, lost in queuing music on his phone.
"Oh shit, kick off your shoes bud," Silver said. I hadn't even noticed them take theirs off.
"My fault dude," I said, moving to take off my shoes.
"It's okay man," Silver said as I picked them both up by the connected sides.
"Set em' on my shoe rack," Silver said. I nodded, setting them down amongst Silver's shoes. I sat back down as he filled up another bowl. He smoked it and we blasted music, smoking until we each had two bowls. I was already high from my pen so I was colossally baked. We slid our shoes on and headed outside after a while of simmering on Silver's bed.
"What the fuck!" I cried excitedly, tangling my hands in my hair. These ATV's in the carport looked hella mean. "You wanna ride with me?" Clover offered.
"Let him ride with me after," Silver frowned. Clover stuck his tongue out, and Silver playfully punched him. I got on the back of Clover's red ATV as Silver hopped onto a blue one. As he started the ATV up, I nervously secured my arms around him, holding onto him tightly. He shot me a reassuring smile before turning around and following Silver out of the back of the carport.
As they hit the backyard they began to accelerate heavily. Clover full gassed behind Silver in a beeline for the woods.
"Hold on to me tight alright?" He yelled over the roaring engine. Without question, I clutched onto him tighter. I got my answer as he entered the woods, flying over bumps, sticks and rocks effortlessly. They weaved through the trees skillfully.
The wooded air flooded my nose, the evergreen scent mixing with Clover's caramel scent. The wind tousled it's breezy hands through my hair carelessly.
We reached a massive clearing and soared through it, a makeshift dirt ramp on our path through the trail. Adrenaline surged through me and I squeezed my eyes shut as we went airborne before crashing back to the ground, back to speeding through the trees.
"That was awesome!" I cried excitedly. "Just wait, there's more!" Clover called back. We kept going until we arrived at a large portion of land with no trees. There was mud everywhere, but the dirt seems to have been formed into a track. Elevated curves, ramps, ridges and everything else you could imagine.
"Woah," I breathed wordlessly. I was speechless. This looked fun as hell.
"Let me teach you how to drive," Silver said. I nodded excitedly. "Hell yeah dude!"
"So you weren't kidding when you said you've never been on one?" Clover guessed.
I shook my head, "No, that was my first time just now," I confessed.
"You're about to be in for it," Silver laughed. "Take the trip here and multiply the adrenaline by a hundred," he said.
I sighed. I was ready for whatever was coming. I got back on Clover's ATV and we began to speed through the course. We threw our shirts, socks and shoes off and went in the mud. We did donuts, trying to splash each other with dirt and mud.
We laughed, yelling and taunting each other. Clover splashed Silver with mud and sped off. Silver became hot on his trail, nearly bumping us a few times as we sped into the woods, laughing and yelling at one another.
"Watch out! Turn!" I just barely heard it over the engine. If I hadn't been listening for an insult from Silver to yell something back, we probably wouldn't have heard it. Silver had stopped and was screaming at us more, but I couldn't make it out.
Clover's body tensed in my arms and I nearly felt the goosebumps all over his exposed skin. He tried to turn the ATV sharply, but it kept sliding forward diagonally.
"Jump!" He cried, jumping off soon after. My stomach fell, and I couldn't bring myself to move. I let out a choked noise as the ATV went airborne, nothing but an incredibly steep hill below us. As the ATV began to roll, I was thrown from the vehicle, and tumbled down the wooded hill painfully.
I heard the twins screaming my name, but all I could focus on was how easy it was for me to die here. I tumbled for what seemed like hours until I heard a boom and a flash. The ATV was in a rollover down the hill a small ways next to me, pieces and debris flying with every tumble. I prayed to whoever none of the flaming debris hit me. I managed to yank out my arm and catch a baby tree. I gripped it tightly, keeping myself from tumbling down the steep hill further.
From where I had caught myself, the vehicle kept going down the hill and had burst into a small fiery explosion. A tree had caught the wrecked vehicle, leaving the fire to claim the vehicle for a few seconds before being dimmed out by the pale breeze.
"Guys!" I called up the hill. "I'm okay!"
"Holy shit dude, I'm so sorry!" Clover cried, hands tangled in his curly hair.
I began to crawl up the hill on my hands and knees. Once I had gotten close to the top, the boys reached down and grabbed me, pulling me up by my arms. Clover hugged me tightly once I got up. Silver wrapped his arms around us from behind me.
"Are you okay?" Silver's eyes flashed in concern.
"Yeah," I breathed out. "I'm fine, just scraped up from the sticks,"
"I'm sorry man, I'm so sorry," Clover apologized sadly, pulling me in for another hug.
"Dude, it isn't your fault. You told me to jump, and I should've listened,"
"Nah that was on me, it was your first time!" He said, letting me go. I shook my head stubbornly, not wanting him to feel guilty. I smiled brightly at him.
"I'm fine!" I said, extending my arms, showing him that the fall had barely done anything to me. I was scraped up pretty good, but I've been through worse. I wasn't suddenly a sissy because I had been adopted into a posh environment.
"You sure you're okay?" Silver asked.
"I'm fine! There's barely any pain," I repeated. We started back toward the direction of Silver's ATV. I sat behind Silver, holding onto him while Clover sat behind me. Silver sped back toward the house. We stopped to get our shirts and shoes.
I frowned, picking my shirt out of a mud puddle. The wind must've blown it in. I grabbed my socks and shoes which were thankfully unharmed. Silver walked up next to me, taking my shirt. He dropped an arm around me.
"Don't worry, I'll give you clothes," he said. "Thanks," I smiled, to which he returned. We got back to the massive house and went in through a back door. We made our way through the house into a room with a pool table.
"Hey, Dad, can you get me a new ATV?" Clover asked. His Dad stood his stick on the table, coming over to us.
"Yeah, sure man. What happened?" His eyes landed on me, the scratches littering my body probably alarmed him. "You okay?" He asked, concerned.
I nodded. "It was on me, everything's fine," I said. He reluctantly nodded, and turned to Clover, who explained everything to his dad.
"I'm awful sorry, boys, why don't you boys go upstairs and spark up a little? I'll take you boys out to get your mind off of things," He said.
"That sounds good," Silver said. Clover nodded dejectedly, trying not to let his head drop. His dad tilted his head so that they made eye contact. His dad was even taller than both of them. I looked like a little kid compared to the trio.
"Hey. Shit happens. Boys will be boys and get hurt. He forgives you, so just make sure it doesn't happen again," he said, making Clover smile. "Everyone has accidents," he ruffled his hair.
"And you," he turned to me. "Thanks so much for being a good sport about all this. If you need something like a doctor, or anything at all, don't be a stranger. I'll let my wife know what happened so she can patch you up a bit," he said, moving to leave the room. He turned around and glanced back at us.
"Oh, and try to get showered after you guys smoke. Make sure it's nice and steamy so you guys don't sober up right away. Jace, come down to the kitchen when you're cleaned up, okay?"
I nodded, and he left. We headed upstairs to the room.
"Oh! I forgot, I've got some extra clothes in my car, I was wearing my gym clothes," I said.
"Still," Silver started, reaching in his closet for a sweatshirt. He threw it at me. "Keep that," he said. It was the white Fortnite Balenziaga hoodie. He was giving me designer?!
"Dude, are you sure?" I asked. He smiled. He ignored Clover's knowing look. Well, what the hell did he know?
"Here," he said, spritzing it with some of his cologne. I felt my heart drop. Silver..
"Thanks, uh, I didn't realize you played," I said lamely. So smooth, just as always.
"Hell yeah I play," He pointed to his PC. He had an Xbox scuf controller with KontrolFreeks on his desk pad in between his keyboard and mouse.
"We both play," he gestured to his brother. "We play 2k more though," Clover said. Silver nodded. "We do,"
"I've always wanted to play that game, you guys should teach me," I said. "Dude, do you have it? I'll buy it for you when we go out," Clover said.
"No, you don't have to. I'll b-"
"Nu-uh," he interrupted. "I'll buy it. It's my treat," he smiled. Well, I wasn't going to reject a free game.
"Okay, thank you," I said. My shorts weren't dirty, so I was gonna reuse them. However, I was in dire need of a wash. I was covered in dirt and muck. My legs, body and face spotted a layer of dried mud. I had even gotten some in my hair.
"Here, you can use my shower and I'll use the hall shower," I nodded, following Clover to his room. It wasn't dirty, but clothes were strewn about and his gaming setup was cluttered. On his TV stand lay tons of funko pops, neatly disorganized.
He lead me to his shower. I showered, getting out so he could shower. I got dressed as Clover stepped out. He winked at me as he dropped his towel carelessly. I was fairly desensitized to stuff like that because of the fact that we always hung out in the shower room after school, and there weren't any stalls anyway.
I turned my head, hitting my pen and getting fried until he was dressed. I followed him out of the room and we smoked another bowl each before heading downstairs into the kitchen. I remembered what their dad said and took off my hoodie.
"Come on boys," their dad said, ushering them into the living room. Mary smiled at me, wiping her hands and taking out a first aid kit.
"I heard about the accident," Mary said, wiping at my cuts with alcohol. As she let it sizzle, she removed her apron. "They were playing with those things in woods which they didn't fully know," she said.
"I'd assume Clover wouldn't go top speed towards a hill if he knew it was there," I waved a hand in dismissal. I held none of this to either of them. "Besides, he told me to jump,"
"You're so humble," she complimented, wrapping a bandage around a deeper cut on my arm. She fixed her supplies, closing the first aid kit. "It's impossible for me not to be," I shrugged on my hoodie. "Besides, I'm sure they just wanted me to have fun,"
"Just be careful around them, okay? I know how they can be. They're just like their father. Believe me, I've been with him since we were both five. I used to kiss his cheek as a child because he had such a brilliant blush and I loved to be the one to make it light up," she said. "And now, here we are 35 years later with twin boys,"
"Awe, that's so sweet," I said happily at the thought of childhood love. I let my thoughts wander for a bit. I knew for sure I was crushing on a couple of my friends. But hell, I didn't even know which way they swung. I'd take my time with it though. A boyfriend wasn't the first thing on my mind. At least I told myself that.
"That's besides the point, just be careful," she shot me a sweet smile before going back to making food.
I went back out to the twins and their dad. He swung keys around his finger. "Ready to go?" He asked. We walked out, going into his truck. I sat in the back beside Clover as Silver sat in front.
"Dad, can you stop at GameStop? I need to pick something up real quick," Clover asked
"Sure thing, twerp," he said, finding the nearest one. He pulled in and parked. Clover jumped out and went inside. He came back, throwing 2k into my open window.
"You're such a fucking legend," I clutched the game in my hands.
"My treat dude," Clover smiled as his dad reached back and ruffled his hair supportively. We left the small strip mall, taking off onto a highway.
We pulled up to a large warehouse style building on the rural side of the island. We walked inside, heading over to the four wheelers. Clover's dad eyed a replica of the one that crashed. He turned to me. "You want one bud?" He asked. I shook my head. I barely knew how to ride one, and I couldn't have him spend thousands on me like that. "I'm fine, thank you though," I said politely. "If you change your mind, let me know," he said. They paid for it and set up a delivery plan before leaving.
"So, what do you like to do?" Terry asked after driving around aimlessly for a while. "Whatever you three like to do, I'll do it," I said. "Aw, don't be like that," he said. "I'm honestly not picky," I shrugged, giving him a weak smile. He shrugged and continued to drive. We ended up at an oceanfront amusement park.
"I hope you like the fair, we can go somewhere else," Terry said. I smiled excitedly. "No, this is awesome, thank you," I said. We got out, walking across the parking lot where Terry bought us tickets. We all thanked him gratefully. "You guys wanna go to the lounge, loosen your bones a bit?"
"Hell yeah dad!" Clover said. "I wouldn't say no to that!" I said, laughing. "If it involves getting lit, you wouldn't ever say no," Silver punched my shoulder playfully.
"Would you?" I countered.
"No,"
"Thought so,"
"Well that settles it! Follow me, guys," Terry announced. We followed him across the park to the lounge. It was a dim, atmospheric place with a massive bar and couches in funky shapes. The place smelled deeply of caramel, with that familiar earthy scent lurking below it. I grinned, already loving this place. It was scattered with a few people at the bar, and a few people on the couches and table sets around the place. It was massive, and the fact that it wasn't busy today made it even better.
I took out my vape as we headed through the dense fog of the lounge, adding to it as I hit the device repeatedly. The couches were all U shaped, ottomans in each of the bends.
"You guys go and grab us a couch, I'm gonna get us some stuff," Terry said, beaching off towards the bar/mini dispensary.
"Dudes, this place is fucking sick!" I said over the jazz music playing out of the speakers. "We come here a few times a week," Silver said.
"Dad always comes here. It's one of his social spots," Clover said, glancing around the place.
I took my pen out of my pocket, hitting a few blinkers before passing it to the twins. We began to rotate the pen until Terry came back with a waiter trailing close behind with a large 4 tube hookah set. He set it on the center of the ottoman, setting it up so we could start hitting it and putting down a pack of mouthpieces next to it.
"On the house," he grinned at Terry, giving him a dap. "You're the best man," Terry said, sitting next to me. He opened his arm, setting it on the backrest of the couch.
"Dude. Terry!" He cried, gesturing to me. He met me with an excited smile. "Can I have a pic?" He asked. "Hell yeah!" I got up, going around the ottoman to take a pic. He slung an arm around me, pulling me into himself as he snapped the photo. He let me go, holding his hand out. I slapped his hand in a firm dap, pulling the excited waiter in. "Thanks man!" He cried, going back over to the counter, serving some other customers.
I sat back down as Silver tore open the clear packet of mouthpieces. He tossed each of us one. "The order should be on its way soon," Terry said. "What did you order?" Clover asked curiously. "You'll see," Terry smirked as we began to choose a tube and fit our mouthpieces on.
"Let's all take a rip at the same time," Silver said. We all nodded, getting ready to rip. I had never done hookah before.
"3, 2, 1," We all began to inhale, and I made sure to take a nice, fat rip. I bit back a cough, letting out a large cloud of smoke that danced with the other clouds. Terry pat me on the back goodnaturedly. "First time?" He asked. I nodded. "Yeah. It's not bad either. I've never done this before,"
"Go on," he said, sticking the mouthpiece into the side of his mouth. "Get used to it," he smiled. I did so, taking smaller rips and getting comfortable with the airflow. We all fell into casual conversation until a thick bag was dropped off at the table.
"There we go!" Terry cried, pulling out a large bottle. "Don Julio 1942," he admired the bottle. "My dad has that drink, he loves it," I said. "Ever had some?" Terry asked. I nodded, chuckling. "Yeah, it's good,"
"Can't argue with that," he said, slightly raising the bottle in the air. He pulled out a shot distributor and set four glass cups into it. He then set the bottle down and poured out the rest of the contents of the bag.
I don't know how many prerolls fell out of there, but my eyes widened at all of them. "Holy shit!" I cried.
"I bought 12, I'd give each of us 2, and we'd smoke four of these bitches right now,"
"Hell yeah!" Clover cried.
"That's so fucking dope of you," I said gratefully. "What can I say? It's a special occasion," Terry put his arm on my shoulder, shaking me playfully. I laughed happily.
Terry cracked open the bottle, pouring some into the distributor. We each grabbed a glass. "Let's toast," Silver said.
"To what?" I asked.
"To new friends," Clover smiled.
"To the sickest person I know," Silver said.
"To an awesome evening with my boys, including you too," Terry ruffled my hair. "And more to come,"
"To a new life; A fresh, beautiful start!" I raised my glass, clinking with all theirs. We cheered shortly before downing the first shot. I gulped the drink down quickly, loving the burn as it made its way down my throat.
We poured another, and we slowly sipped this one. Terry reached into the pile of prerolls and tossed each of us two, sticking two in his own pocket. He unpackaged one of the joints, lighting it. We passed the joints around, slowly sipping our drinks and talking casually.
"So, how was your adjustment from the US?" Terry asked. "Well, I was pretty young. From the start it was always better. Cleaner, friendlier, but that didn't mean I didn't have my enemies every once in a while. The harshest bully I'd had was another kid from an adoption home who actually ended up as my cousin. It's a long story," I explained.
By the time I was done speaking, the joint was in my hand. I hit a ghost before speaking again. "I'd never particularly been poverish until my parents passed. But when my old house burned up there wasn't exactly anything to take with me. I was too young to work and barely had anything. I just looked at it as a lighter weight on my back," I shrugged.
"So all of a sudden becoming a prince and gaining everything must've been a shock," Silver guessed.
"Damn straight," I nodded.
"If you don't mind me asking.. what exactly happened?" Terry asked. "To my parents?" He nodded.
"Well, I had just had a really good day at school, parents packed my favorite lunch, and I had made some new friends on the playground that day. I get on the school bus only to see smoke as we rounded into my neighborhood. I prayed and prayed it wasn't my house. It just couldn't be. Just my luck, it was. I got off the bus only to find my house up in flames. My parents never made it out either. I watched them burn through the window, and I saw the moment they died," I shrugged.
It wasn't exactly hard for me to talk about it anymore. I had been over this with dozens of counselors in the past. It just didn't faze me to talk about anymore. It still hurt, but it wasn't difficult to say anymore. The twins had horrified looks on their faces, but Terry looked sympathetic. He had a look in his eyes I couldn't quite read. I was surprised when he hugged me tightly, followed by the twins.
"Their grandparents died in an accident like that," he said. "My parents," he sucked in a deep breath. I took a sip of my drink. "My dad was never a good cook, but we didn't expect him to set the kitchen on fire one day. He ended up doing just that, and he got out of the house just fine. But he realized that my mother was still sleeping upstairs," he began. "He ran back into the flaming house for her, but my mother was so frantic and sleepy, she fell down the stairs and drug my father with her. My father was knocked unconscious, and he fell on top of her. Even adrenaline couldn't give her strength to lift that man off, because she ended up passing of smoke inhalation. My father went the same way, but he was sleeping. I could remember my mother's screams too. I could even more clearly remember the house going silent. My wife, who was only a friend at the time, was right there comforting me. She lived next door," he said.
"Wow, I had no clue we went through something so similar," I said honestly. A sudden wave of angst hit me, underlying suffering attempting to claw into my happiness. I downed the rest of my shot.
"Dude, I'm so fucking sorry, I can't imagine watching my parents burn like that," Silver looked pained, trying not to wince as he spoke.
Clover looked as if he just watched someone shoot a puppy. His mouth was opened like he was gonna say something, but I looked closer and saw tear marks.
"Guys, it really isn't that bad, we were having a good night, let's not sour up the mood," I smiled weakly. We all set our cups up for another shot. We downed them.
"Well I'll drink to that," Terry said. He lit up the second joint. That entire conversation took my mind off of how fucked I was getting. I was already feeling the effects of the crossfade.
We continued to get to know each other, getting more lit as time went on. Half the bottle was gone and we were on our last joint. We finished it, and Terry put the leftover 1942 in a bag, handing it to me.
"Consider it a present," he smirked. I could barely keep my head up. "Sure as hell won't say no," I slurred, taking the black bag. By the time we had left, I was stumbling everywhere.
Clover and Silver got on either side of me and we put our arms around each other's shoulders, laughing uncontrollably as we tried to steady ourselves, a big mess.
"You guys still up for rides?" Terry smirked devilishly, a knowing look in his eyes. "Fuck that!" Clover cried, earning a laugh from all of us. "No, let's do at least one!" I cried, not wanting to miss the opportunity.
"Fine, but which one?" He slurred. I grinned, pointing to the drop tower. The three of us got on it, Terry backing out. My heart raced as the ride started and we began to ascend dozens of feet in the air. We stopped at the very top.
I looked from Silver to Clover, grinning. I look forward, excitement lacing my bones. "Don't barf," I smirked from the middle of them.
And we fell.
None of the three of us screamed, but other riders let out screams. Some excited, some terrified. I wasn't sure I'd do something like this sober, but nonetheless I had such a good time on that ride. Once it was done, we were escorted off the ride, others in the queue waiting taking the previous spots for their turn.
Once we were outside the gate Terry walked over to us. "That was so fun!" I slurred excitedly.
"That's good! You guys didn't even barf," he smirked. "Don't," Silver said, looking a bit pale. We began walking back to the truck when Silver clattered to his knees, emptying his guts in a nearby trash can.
Oh shit, I didn't think he'd actually barf. What did I expect though? The four of us were drunk and high. I ran as fast as I could to grab some napkins from a nearby stand, tripping on the way back, unable to contain my crippling laughter. Clover and Terry were leaning on each other, laughing their asses off at how I splattered on the concrete and bounced right back up. I pat Silvers back, slightly leaning on him for support as he continued to spill his guts. I managed to contain my laughter and handed Silver the napkins to wipe his face.
He wiped his face and spontaneously tackled me to the ground. Another round of uncontrollable laughter rocked my bones as Silver and I wrestled on the concrete. He started laughing as well. It felt really good to have close friends.
"I'm gonna call you boys a black home because I'm in no shape to drive," Terry said.
"Well what about you and the truck?" Clover slurred.
"You boys know I'll find my way," he waved a hand in dismissal, struggling to keep his balance.
"Okay, we'll go," Silver said.
"Good boys," he said happily, struggling to keep his head from swinging around. He began to laugh, and due to him laughing at virtually nothing, we laughed at him too.
"Wait, what do you mean by a black?"
"An Uber Black," he said. "I don't trust an UberX," he said. I nodded. A while later, a black SUV pulled up in the parking lot. Clover and Silver hugged their dad and I held my hand out for a handshake, but he pulled me in too. I laughed as he pat my back roughly. "Thank you for today, seriously," I slurred. "Anytime!" He chuckled, bloodshot eyes meeting mine. He let me go as we piled into the SUV.
I put in my AirPods as we headed back to the twins house. I paled, realizing that I had to make it back to Tony's house for dinner. I promised their mother I would. Shit. I would just have to drive, but make sure to be careful. No reckless speeding.
I hugged the twins goodbye, said bye to Mary, and made sure I had everything before hopping in the Chrysler, pressing the start button. I sighed, taking a minute to focus. I made sure that my bottle was tucked securely in the stack of clothes before putting the car in drive.
I pulled off, cruising slowly. As usual I had my phone connected to the speakers, playing music to keep me on my toes. I made it safely to the Peters house and knocked on the door. Mr. Peters opened the door to the beautiful home.
"Hey! We've been expecting you!" He smiled at me. He lead me to the dining room, where Mrs. Peters was setting the table. He called the boys down for dinner and I greeted all of them. I sat down, with them, getting to know them better until Mrs. Peters brought out large bowls of food. We ate hungrily, and I made sure to stay polite. After dinner, I thanked them. They said I could come back anytime.
Tony grabbed my arm, dragging me behind him upstairs into his bedroom before any of the boys could say anything. We sat on his bed together. "Run some COD wimme before you leave," he said. I shrugged. "Sure, why not,"
He turned on his TV, getting out a rolling tray as his Xbox turned on. "Let's smoke and game, just us," he smiled at me. I smiled back, but a dumbfounded look crossed my face as I faced him again.
"Dude," I said. He paused, the backwood midway out of the packet. "What?" He asked. "I'm already fucked up. Can't you tell?" I said.
"Well let's add to it," he grinned, unrolling the wood. "Besides, I'm sober. I ain't smoke in a bit. Plus I wanna smoke with you one on one,"
"Oh, okay then," I said lamely. Those damn butterflies again. Couldn't they just fucking leave? I watched him roll the backwood, packing a good amount of gas in it, and setting up a split screen COD game. He tossed me a controller. I set it next to me and watched Tony set the rules.
"Ooh, you're about to get your ass kicked," he said.
"I haven't played BO4 much!" I whined. "And I'll be high too? Yeah I'm gonna fuck you up man, sorry,"
"Hey hey, I'm not all bad at COD. You probably won't beat me by 10," I challenged. "If you do, I'll give you a preroll," I said.
"Deal, and if I beat you by more than 10, I'll give you uh.. a hoodie and 50 bucks," he held out his hand. "Deal," I said. Hoodie collecting!
He lit up the fat backwood, hitting it. He passed it to me as he put on his speaker. "This is closer to the bedroom you deserve," I said, looking around, never having seen his room before.
He had grey walls, black curtains, a blue velvet tufted headboard with a blue velvet bed frame. His bedspread was black and he had a few dark blue paintings. He had a guitar set on a stand next to his closet door. He had a black rug on the floor. His TV was mounted on the wall with a plant in the same corner. His floating TV stand housed his Xbox One S and mini bonsai tree. He had LEDs behind his TV.
A Gangsta's Pain began to play softly as we smoked, and we began the round of COD once we were nice and fried. As promised, he gave me one of his hoodies and fifty bucks when we stopped. He beat me by nine one game and that was the closest he's gotten. He beat me every round, nonetheless.
"I'ma jump outta here dude," I said, standing up. "I gotta get back and take a nap I'm so fucked up,"
He hugged me tightly, and I squeezed him back. "Drive safe, even though it's just up the hill," he saluted me, jumping back on his bed and pulling out his phone.
"I will," I said. I left the room, heading out the front door quickly to avoid everyone. I jumped in my car, even more faded from before. I couldn't wait to get home and relax, maybe game a little.
I drove myself up the hill to the back gate. The security let me in and I hurried to park at the motor court. A few of my brothers were out, their cars missing. I opened the app connected to the garage and opened the door, making my way through the basement. I went upstairs into my dad's office.
"Hey, trooper!" He looked up from the computer. He opened an arm and I sat on his leg. I looked at the screen, a file explorer with hundreds of folders.
"What you up to?" I asked him. "These are government files, son. I'm glad it peaks your interest," he nodded.
"So this is pretty much the White House of the islands, huh?"
"Yeah! Except the shitty employees, on-site cleaning staff, and guards marching the premises 24/7," he started, grumbling out the last part. "I don't even want gate security as it is," he said.
"It's the perfect middle ground between king, and the life of an average wealthy family," I pointed out.
"Yeah. I more look at myself as a exclusive, brassy country club guy. Not the president, superhero of the islands. I love control, hell, really love it. But I love my family life more," he said.
"Were you always this way, so family oriented?"
"I wasn't always this way, but having a wife sure does slow you down, son," he chuckled fondly. He stood up, still carrying me with one arm, yawning and stretching. He set me down gently.
"I'm gonna get my stuff out the car," I said. I completely forgot everything in my car.
"Alright son," he yawned again. It was nearing nighttime, around 8:40ish when I left Tony's house. I nearly facepalmed. I left my phone in the car too, even though I'd used the damn thing to open the door.
"I'm gonna fuck with your siblings now," he said as we parted hallways. "Get one of them good for me!" I cried, heading down the den basement steps.
I pressed the garage button on the wall, and walked out to the car, I gathered any bags and leftover items, leaving my usual items in there. I carried them up to my room, sorting them out. I put uniforms or anything like that in my drawer below the wardrobe in my closet. I set one of the pre-rolls on the velvet bench in there. I set the bottle on the large opening in the nightstand below the drawer.
I set the other preroll in the drawer with the rest of my gas. I turned my attention to the empty desk and the bags under it. I sat on my bed, pulling out my phone and dialing Iggy's number. I added Larry to the call.
"Can you guys come to the room real quick?" I asked once they picked up. "Yeah I'll be there!" Iggy said. "I'm on my way," Larry said. I said bye to them and hung up. I began to unbox the purple wave deskpad. I laid it out on the desk, lucky I had a decently large desk. I heard my room door open, and Larry slung an arm around my neck, leaning on me.
"What's up, man" Iggy greeted. I waved at them, shooting them a grin.
"You guys wanna help me build my setup back? We can play right after," I said. "Hell yeah, I just got done upgrading mine earlier," Iggy said.
"I'm down!" Larry said. While Iggy and Larry installed the monitor stand, I unboxed the Apex pro, working on switching the key caps.
I finished, grabbing the mice and unboxing them. I set up the Capetown, putting the grips on it. I set it on the deskpad. I put the other mice in a drawer under my desk. Iggy and Larry grabbed my monitors to attach them to the arms, and I moved past them to get the BenQ mousepad. I set it in the empty desk drawer.
"Oh shit, I've got some extra things in my closet," Iggy said. "I can help you upgrade this right now," Iggy promised, hurrying out the door.
Once Larry finished the monitors, we made conversation about games while he set up my PC. I helped out, learning what to do so I can do it on my own next time. He turned it on, us letting out a matching cry of success. We connected the keyboard and mouse, testing both the monitors.
Iggy came in, carrying LED strips, a TV with a mount, and some other things in a large book bag.
"I really fucking appreciate you hooking me up here," I said. He pat my back, grinning widely. "It's no problem!"
He stood on his tiptoes, mounting the TV above the monitors. I replaced the key caps on the white keyboard with a yellow and white set with slightly rounded corners and large letters, and the other one with white pudding key caps. I took that keyboard and the three other keyboards and put them in the second drawer. I put my Apex Pro on the table and switched its key caps to pink and blue puddings.
Iggy angled the TV down and put LED strips behind it. He put a set behind each of the monitors as Larry went to set up the microphone and the arm for it. Once Iggy was done, he took out a humidifier.
"I saw you didn't have one in here and it's a lifesaver to have, really. You can use my old one until you decide to get a new one," he said.
He put a charging stand on the desk. "This has a spot for your AirPods on the bottom," he said.
"Hell yeah, that's dope," I said, setting the AirPods on it. "I've got a big blue bottle you might want, it's bright pale blue," Larry said. "If you don't want it, I'll take it," I said. He went and grabbed it, setting it on the desk. "Thank you Larry," I smiled. He saluted me before finishing the mic. They set up the webcam, but I left the Elgato Key lights in the box because Iggy put a ring light on the webcam. He'd said all the RGB will light up my face with the ring light.
"Make a Discord and send me your username," Larry said, leaving to go to his setup. Iggy took one more thing out of his bag, handing it to me.
"I wore this the Christmas on the year I turned 13. I used to game in this every day," he said. He pushed it into my hands. A pastel pink hoodie with bunny ears. "Really?," I asked I didn't figure this was something he'd ever wear.
However, I loved it, and would most definitely put this on when I game. It was so plush and cozy. "Thanks," Iggy. I hugged him, and he pat my back gently and rapidly.
"No problem! I love to help out!" He beamed energetically.
"I'll have Larry add you into our Discord, we've got some pretty big streamers in there," he smiled. "Fortnite?" I proposed. "You know it," He said. He left and I built the gaming chair I had bought by myself. I wanted at least some challenge.
Once I was done, I picked the hoodie up and threw it on my bed. I got some pajama pants and threw them on my bed as well as some underwear. I hopped in the shower, loving the many soap options I had.
I hopped out of the warm, heated shower and dried myself off. I headed out of my bathroom and pulled my pajamas on. I knew I'd catch a nap later. I sat down putting discord on my second monitor. I heard noise behind me and turned around, but was met with a beautiful view as Larry set us some insane light panels on my wall. They emanated purples and blues.
"I'm surprised I lasted this long without you noticing. I'm almost done buddy!"
"Hell yeah dude, those look great!" I cried. He flashed a thumbs up before hurrying out of the room. I had made a discord and texted Larry my username. A while later I got a request from him.
I accepted it, and was given the server link. I joined it, and got in a voice call with them. I booted up Fortnite on the other monitor.
We all met up in a lobby before beginning to talk. I set my graphics to all low so I could clear stable 240fps.
"You guys can hear each-other straight?" Larry asked. We all confirmed we could hear eachother before starting up an arena trios game.
"You any good in arena?" Iggy asked. I was indeed above average, as I had been practicing off-page whenever I got a free chance ever since Larry showed me how to play. "I'm pretty good for my skill level," I said.
The game started and we landed in Tilted, hoping for a high kill game. I watched Larry get a few builds, pick up a striker and edit down, box, and one pump someone casually.
"Larry!" I cried. "I fucking saw that!"
"Hell yeah, I smell a 30 bomb," he said. I picked up a stinger, farming as much as I could around the building. I saw someone run behind a corner, and hip-fire tagged him a little before chasing him. I hip fire sprayed a bit more before building up. He had a shotgun. If I wasn't careful, I'd certainly go down here.
I did a stretch wall, coning it off and side jumping through a upper dorito edit. I caught him on my pyramid, and built a wall, editing through it to box him, spraying him easily for a simple kill.
"Was that you by the motel?" Iggy said, surprised.
"Yep, yours truly," I said, sifting through the guys loot quickly. "That was clean, you are pretty good after all,"
"I definitely smell a 30 bomb now," Larry said. Iggy had 4, Larry had 5, and I had 3 kills as we left tilted to rotate. We came across a house with a full trio on it. We crept into the bush together. "Take the one on the roof, Larry. Jace, take the one next to the garage. I'll take the one on the right farming the tree. Go," Iggy said, and in perfect symphony, we all began attacking our enemies.
I built up, tagging my guy 45 with a shotgun. I jumped on the roof from the stair and put a cone and floor over the door, and editing down and editing a cone smoothly. I was going for a clip. I ran into the building, editing another cone flashily before building a wall, and in one swift move, did a mongraal classic, walling off the back section, and one pumping the rest of his health. I let out a strangled cry of surprise, standing up in shock.
"Whatever you did, clip it!" Larry cried. Iggy repeatedly blurt out the keyboard controls and I smashed them rapidly. I let out a relieved sigh as the clip went through. I went back to the game.
"I clipped it," I said as we began to rotate to the next zone. We found as many people as we could, killing then quickly. Some of the trios had lost teammates, but there was a rare chance that someone would give us genuine trouble. I had even went down once.
We were at the final zone, and we each had a decent amount of kills. I had 10, Larry had fucking 21, and Iggy had 17. There was one more full trio, and we hadn't pushed because they were extremely good. I'm sure they were pros. Larry had clean over 200k arena points.
I'm sure Iggy had at least 16k. I, on the other hand, only just brushed champions league. Iggy extended our tarp, and we traveled within the brick boxes. I heard the wall break behind me, and was met with the guy who downed me.
I placed a wall, editing out the side. "In our tarp, In our tarp!" I cried furiously.
I edited through the wall he was in, and hit him for 100. "Cracked, cracked!"
"Nice!" Larry cried. "On the top!" He yelled as another enemy pickaxed through the floor closer to them.
I got into a small build-fight, but managed to catch the guy in one of my edits, quickly boxing him in one swoop. I took the 50/50, jumping in the box and pump sprayed, hitting most of my shots. I downed him, not before he took down the rest of my shields.
"Focus skin dead!" I cried as I finished him and began to drink his minis that I picked off his body. I threw splashes and went over to help fight the remaining two. They gave us trouble, but we had a numeral advantage, and that was all we needed to carry us to a dub.
"Fuck yeah!" Larry cried. I heard his keybord clicking aggressively as he freebuilt after the victory. We grinded arena for a few more games until I decided to catch some sleep. I turned my setup off, heading out of the room to Bowser's massive room. I burst in, jumping on his bed. The thick covers stirred next to me and a deep groan escaped the sheets. Smoke from his nostrils billowed from under the blankets.
"Hey dad!" I cried joyfully. I'd never get tired of calling him that. He brought himself out of the sheets, and he sat up next to me. He rubbed his eyes, checking the time on his phone.
"Hey son," he let out a yawn, stretching his arms.
"Sorry for waking you up, I was just seeing if it was okay for me to go out with Dante later tonight," I asked. He waved a hand in dismissal.
"You don't have to ask me to go out trooper," he said.
"You're a teen. All I really 'expect of you' is to go to school," he shrugged. "I don't ask shit else,"
"So next time I get a chance to go out, I can just leave?"
"Yeah, I don't even need to know where you're going, my other brats just up and leave so why shouldn't you? Just stay safe and call me if you have problems," he stood up from the massive bed, leaving me sitting on it looking as he grabbed the remote off his ottoman.
"Oh, okay. Thanks dad. I'll probably still update you when I go out anyways, I just think it's right,"
"Hey. At least you care to let me know where the fuck you are, Wendy once took all of her friends out on a flight to Wuhu Island, just them, without letting me know," he started, cutting on his extravagantly large TV.
"What? You weren't mad?" I asked in disbelief.
"Hell nah. She's 15, you're 17, it doesn't matter to me,"
"How far away is Wuhu Island?" I asked. I had never heard of it outside of the games I had played. It stilled boggled my mind that I had been to some of these locations, let alone all of them even fucking existing.
"It's our family vacation town. We have a castle out there. Real leisurely. It's about a few hours on a jet to get there," he said, plopping back on his bed next to me.
"I'm gonna take a nap before Dante comes to pick me up," I said. "He's coming real late," He reached into his bedside table and produced a key. He tossed it to me. "I got this made while you were at school. It's the key to the front door, in case you go out without your phone to open the garage from the outside," he said.
"Thank you, dad, I'm gonna head back to my room now though," he wrapped an arm around me and squeezed.
"Have a good rest son, I'll let the gates know he's coming," he said, ruffling my hair. I smiled at him, going back into my room and crashing on my bed. I texted Dante to call me and wake me up when he was coming.
Almost immediately I passed out, allowing the apple ringtone to wake me out of my slumber an hour later. It was around midnight.
"Hey bubba, you nearby?" I asked.
"Yeah, little man I'm in the neighborhood. I just wanted to let you know I'm about to be here. Wear something comfortable," he said.
"Okay, sure will," I said.
"Can't wait to see you," he said. My heart swelled a bit.
"Me neither," I smiled, even though he couldn't see it. I hung up, and pulled on some red pajama pants, red dunks, and a black tank top with a loose red, black and white plaid flannel. I stuffed my pocket with my pre-roll, a can of gas, a lighter, and my mod. I stuffed my other pocket with my phone, AirPods and lanyard.
I headed out to my balcony, leaning on the stone rail as I hit my vape. I pulled out my phone and scrolled through it. I heard the gates opening in the distance, and shortly after saw a car driving up the rocks.
A RS3 parked in front of the door, and I texted Dante, telling him I'd be out. I headed downstairs and out the front door. I walked over to the car. I hopped in the front.
"Hey, little man!" Dante cried, leaning over to hug me. I hugged him back tightly. He had on a black graphic tee, black and grey pajama pants and black dunks.
"Hey, Dante," I smiled. He put the car in reverse and turned around, heading out the front gates. Security let us out, and Dante drove toward his house.
"How was your day?" He asked, glancing at me.
"I had a pretty fun day, what about you?" I asked.
"I streamed for a couple hours, and sat around the house pretty much," he said.
"I got my setup going back home, we should start playing games," I said.
"No fucking doubt," he said.
"I'll make a Warzone pro out of you, I swear I will," he grinned.
"Ive heard a lot about Warzone but haven't played much of it," I admitted.
"That's okay, I remember my come up, it'll only take you a few days to get used to it, and it's just straight improvement from there,"
"Hell yeah," I said, nodding happily. "You good enough to smoke and drive?" I said, pulling out my preroll as he took an on-ramp to the highway.
"Am I good eno-" he shook his head, cutting himself off. He slammed his foot on the gas, memorizing the car pattern in front of him. He closed his eyes and took one of his hands off the wheel. I noticed he'd drives with one hand, but naturally rested another hand on the wheel. He sped through the traffic, cutting up in his Audi as he squeezed his eyes shut, only using his memory to speed through the cars. Adrenaline coursed through me as he blew 120 doing this.
He slowed down once he was past the cluster of cars, opening his eyes.
"Okay, I guess you are," I said, pulling the lighter out of my pocket.
"You guess?" He laughed heartily. He shook a mini bottle of bourbon.
"I guess," I smirked, teasing him. He rolled his eyes and took a swig. He passed it to me and I drank, loving the burn.
I lit the joint, smoking it for a little before passing it to him. He turned off his a/c so we could ghost. We got lit and joked with each other until we neared the house.
We pulled into his driveway, and I was glad I had brought my keys, because if I needed a car to drive, I had some options here. We walked into the oceanfront mansion, catching Miz and Emi in a playful argument in the kitchen. Emi sat on one of the barstools, a glass of wine in her hand. She laughed loudly at whatever Miz had playfully screamed at her. Music was playing out of the sitting room TV.
"Hell yeah, Jace is here!" Miz cried, running over to me and swooping an arm around my shoulders.
"Tell this stupid little girl that crabs legs are better than shrimp," he crossed his arms.
"Are you kidding me? Crab legs are way better!" I raised an eyebrow.
"What the fuck do you mean? Crabs are literally the ocean's cockroach," Emi scrunched her face, sipping her wine slowly.
"Shrimps are just fucking ants of the sea then!"
"I'd rather eat an ant than a cockroach," she made a face.
"How about it get some from the pier tomorrow and make you taste it, huh?"
"You won't do shit!" She cried. "Oh! What? I won't?!" He yelled back at her.
"I'm not eating any dam sea roach!"
"It's crab, you bitch!" Miz yelled. "Same thing!" Emi raised an eyebrow.
Dante pulled me away from them and into his room as they began to argue some more. He turned on his TV and went to Netflix. He opened up his nightstand and brought out a baggie of bud.
"I scored some killer bud yesterday,"
"Killer bud? What, are you 15?" He turned and smacked me in the face with the bag. I let out a strangled cry of surprised as the bag hit me.
"Well that sure shut you up," he smirked.
"Screw you," I grumbled. "What do you wanna watch?" He said, throwing the bag on the bed and picking the remote back up.
"Uhm, you pick," I shrugged. I had probably watched Netflix a total of 5 times my entire life, so I didn't know anything particularly good, I just watched things that peaked my interest. Half the time I was playing music anyways.
"Are you sure?" He asked, glancing down at me. I shrugged again. I was interested to see what he wanted to watch.
"Put me on to something," I said. "Alright I gotchu," he smiled.
He put on one of his favorite shows, and he reached down and grabbed a pack of banana backwoods. "You wanna roll?"
I shook my head, pressing my lips together. "Go ahead and roll for us. If you're doing more than one I'll roll after you,"
"Oh, we're definitely doing at least two or three woods,"
"Bet!" I said. He began to roll and I watched him and the TV simultaneously. I wanted to see how good he was. Sure enough, he ended up pearling the blunt. It was impossibly fat. I wasn't even sure how he got it that big.
"Damn, that bitch is fat," I made a satisfied face. He smiled wide. "Thank you!" He cheesed dramatically.
He grabbed his lighter and opened up his arms. I smiled softly, scooting over and letting him hold me. Why not?
I allowed my head to rest on his chest, and I must say, we curved together perfectly. He lit the wood, puffing it.
"So, how're you adjusting to your new life?"
"Hell, I love it," I said. "I went from having nobody to a huge family to a loyal crowd in less than a week. From not having any clothes or belongings beyond my bag to having more than anyone my age could imagine. And the best part is that we act like a normal family. Like doing sports practice, going out to eat together, and grabbing fast food," I smiled. He passed me the blunt.
"I swear, your dad is such a different man in front of you than he is on the news. Have you ever seen it? He's stoned cold and always has a powerful, condescending look on his face, but that same guy is the one that bought this place and let us live here. When he told me he bought this massive mansion just to use as a parking garage I freaked. Said it was one of his first purchases," he said.
"I've seen him switch modes before. We were at some sort of office when I was getting his last name. He was really cold to the man behind the desk, but when I woke up he went all father mode. It was so damn sweet," I said, remembering what had happened.
"Yeah, I know it was nice seeing that,"
"It was," The room was swaddled in a layer of calm silence side for the TV and the ocean waves coming in through the open terrace doors. The starry night peeked in at us, the moonlight greeting us through its cold, buoyant rays.
We smoked, watching Netflix in the solace of each other's arms. My stomach began to flutter, the butterflies zooming through, dancing erratically. That confusing feeling again. This time it was stronger than ever this time. I let my high mask it and focused my attention on the large screen stop the fireplace. He got up, pulling our bodies apart.
"One second, I'm gonna light the fireplace," he said. He pressed a button on the fireplace. He walked over and closed the doors, but left the curtains drawn so the moonlight could still shine through the glass.
He crawled back in next to me, scooping me back into his arms. I put my head back on his chest as we continued to watch Netflix on cloud 9.
A few minutes later he looked down at me. He yawned, and I copied him. "Sleepy?"
I nodded slowly. "Yeah," I croaked out. "Here, there's a mini fridge over there. Grab some water.
I walked over to his gaming setup and bent down to the mini fridge on the ground. I pulled out a water bottle and drunk thirstily. I cleared the bottle and crawled back to Dante.
"Wanna spend the night?" He asked sleepily. "Yes please," I said, muffled, my face buried in his chest. He chuckled, a calm vibration. "Of course you can stay little man," he said softly. He turned off the TV, leaving just the moonlight and electric fire to simply illuminate us.
"Goodnight bubba," I mumbled sleepily. "Nighty night, little dude," he smiled gently, even though I couldn't see it. By the time he was finishing that sentence, I could already feel my consciousness slipping away.
He put his hand on the back of my head, the other on my back. I held his lower back, as he took an arm and threw the thick covers over us. I couldn't hold it anymore, as I fell under the spell of his large hand rubbing my back.
As I slept, the parting thought still danced carelessly through my brain long after consciousness. So many of my friends had made me feel this way before. But never had I felt it this strongly. Ever.
I let the taunting thoughts win, as it kicked and kicked at my pathetically defenseless brain all throughout the night.