this chapter has been revised
"C'mon, Brooke! We don't have all day!" James yelled out his car window, as he honked his horn.
I was standing on my porch, struggling to lace my boots up. I flipped him off and I heard his faint laugh from afar.
"If you're not in this car in five minutes, that means I get to bang!" Ryan, our mutual friend, hollered out from the back seat window.
"HA!" I cackled as I locked the front door to my home. "In your dreams, Ry."
I twisted the door knob to make sure it was locked and secure, and then headed my way to the car. I sat in the front seat, because three other guys were in the back, and I'd be damned if I had to be squished against their sweaty, musky, male bodies throughout out the whole ride.
"Did you grab your lighter?" James asked.
I giggled, and reached down into my bag for it, so I could hand it to him. "What stoner doesn't have their own lighter?"
"Listen," He chuckled. "I have one, it's just out of fluid now."
"Yeah right, James. You always have some kind of excuse." Collin, another friend said.
The third guy who was also tagging along with us was Jedy, but he was really quiet. He never really spoke much, and kept to himself.
I looked over my shoulder and eyed all of them. "And what's your guys' excuse? Left it at home? Someone stole it? Don't have the money for it?" I teased.
They looked at eachother quietly, not knowing what to use as a comeback.
"That's what I thought." I smirked, as I turned back around.
James looked at me and smiled. He secretly enjoyed when I made fun of the other guys. I think it had something to do with him feeling better about himself.
I've never been to James' house, but I knew he lived a lot nicer than the rest of us. But then again, James was twenty-four years old, still living with his parents. I didn't criticize him still living with them though. If I grew up in a nice neighborhood and a fancy-shmancy home,rent free, I wouldn't want to leave either.
"Alright assholes, let's go smoke spark up." James said, as he parked into his driveway. He took his keys out of the ignition, and stepped out of the car.
Before I could open the passenger door myself, James had jogged around the car to open it for me.
"Wow, what a gentlemen." I smiled, stepping out of the car.
He shrugged and smirked. "What can I say? Parents taught me well."
As we all entered the his home, I immediately was in awe with the interior. The foyer itself was decorated so nicely, with a coat hanger and a zen fountain. As we made our way into the living room, the first thing I noticed was a tall ceiling with a golden chandelier hanging from the center of it. It was complimented with cream-colored walls that went well with the light, beige furniture they had. The accent chairs and pillows gave the room a pop of color. They even had a vintage, ornate fireplace, which a huge flat TV screen hanging above it, giving it a modern touch.
I whistled, as I looked around. "This is beautiful, James. It's like straight out of a magazine."
"It's alright, I guess." James shrugged, as he threw his car keys onto the living room's coffee table. "Guys, go ahead and go down into the basement. Brooke, come upstairs with me real quick."
The guys started to wriggle their eyebrows and made dirty jokes like a couple of teenagers.
I scoffed and rolled my eyes, ignoring them. "What do you need?" I asked James.
"I have a glass bong and some bowls that I want to bring down, and I know if one of these idiots help me, they'll drop them and it'll shatter everywhere." James explained.
I laughed, looked at the guys and nodded. "He has a point."
"That's rude." Collin crossed his arms.
"Yeah, and we're not that incompetent." Ryan added.
"Whatever you say to help you sleep at night." I say to him. Ryan laughs and flips me off as I followed James up the stair case.
"Make sure to be careful with the bong, some it's a bit heavy." James warned.
Up the stairs lead to a hallway with two bedrooms and a guest bathroom. One of the bedroom doors was slightly cracked open, and being the nosy person that I am, I took a glance inside of it.
Assuming it'd be nicely made up like the rest of the home, I was caught by surprise to that it was completely wrecked. It looked as if someone had broken into it.
"James?" I called out.
James looks over his shoulder to me. "Yeah?"
I pushed the door open all the way to get a better view of the destruction. The bed was unmade, and the dresser drawers were left open with clothes all over the floor. The mirror above the dresser had been cracked, as if something had been thrown at it. Papers that had most likely been lying on the desk, placed in the corner of the room, were scattered everywhere on the floor along with books that had been thrown off the bookshelf.
James stepped in front of me and closed the door shut. "Sorry, that's Dave's room."
"Dave?" I questioned.
We continued to walk down the hallway towards his room, which was located at the end. "Dave's my brother. He's not here today though, he's barely home. Even when he is though, we don't talk much."
I had no idea James had a brother. "Why not?" I asked.
James opened the door to his room, and it was the complete opposite from his brother's. It was clean and organized, and even had the scent of vanilla that lingered around, making it pleasant to be in.
"I don't know, he's not right in the head or something. He's very short tempered, and I can barely hold a decent conversation with him." He explained.
"Anger issues, I'm guessing?"
"Yeah, I guess so. He's just an asshole. A complete little shit, if you ask me." He chuckled. He opened his walk-in, closet door and handed me the fragile, glass bong. "Hold this, please."
"So his name is Dave? Dave Franco? Why does that sound so familiar to me?"
James shrugged. "You two most likely went to school together. You went to Palo Alto High School, right?"
I nodded. "I graduated two years ago."
"Dave graduated three. That's probably why, but he was sort of a quiet kid." James walked out of the closet, and lead me out of his bedroom.
An hour went by, and we were all gathered in James' basement stoned off our asses. His basement was the perfect smoke spot, as it was lit with neon, LED bar signs that hung along the walls. There was a couch and a couple of chairs that we could all lounge on, and even a pool table and a retro jukebox that I assumed his parents kept from the seventies.
"Sheesh, James," I said, taking one last hit from a bowl that we had going in rotation. "Why haven't you invited me over sooner?"
"Uh, because he's twenty-four years old and still lives with mommy and daddy. Duuuuuh." Ryan joked.
James chuckled and playfully punched him on his arm. "Shut up, man."
"I only come here for the weed." Jedy spoke up, as he took the bowl away from me so he could take another hit as well. It was the first we've heard from Jedy all day.
"Wow. Fuck you too, Jed." James laughed.
"You know, Brooke, right when we first met you at Nola, we knew you were something special." Collin spoke slowly. He was slumped in a chair, and his eyes were blood-shot red. Collin was probably the highest out of all of us.
Ryan and James nodded in agreement.
"You're definitely one of us." Ryan said.
I twisted my face, pretending to be disgusted. "Oh, no."
Our laughter was all of a sudden interrupted when we heard the basement door abruptly swing open with force.
A young man, around my age, came stomping down the stairs. It was clear that he was upset from his facial expression, which resembled to James. I assumed this was Dave.
"Dave," James quickly stood up from the couch, but lost his balance a little from being so high. "Hey, man. I didn't think you were going to be home today."
"The fuck are you doing?" Dave frowned, slowly making his way towards us.
All of us sat up straight, and began to grow tense.
"We're just, uh," James scratched the back of his head. "hanging out, ya know? Having a little get together."
"And by hanging out, you mean smoking my stash?" He said, now standing in front of James.
"Shit." Ryan mumbled under his breath.
Dave snatched the bowl James had been holding in his hand, and threw it against the wall, causing it to shatter to pieces.
I flinched as the sound of glass breaking echoed off the walls, and shards of glass flew everywhere.
"Fuck, this is second fucking time you've done this!" Dave started to raise his voice.
"Hey man, chill! It sat in your room for like a week while you were gone, I assumed you'd forgotten all about it!" James tone of voice now matched Dave's.
"Don't fucking tell me to chill." Dave gritted through his teeth. "And stay the fuck out of my room."
We all sat in silence, and the tension in the air was so thick, you could cut it with a knife.
Dave eyed the rest of us, then shook his head. His fists we're balled out of frustration. "Low life, sons of bitches. That's exactly what you all look like right now. I've had the most god damn stressful week, and I can't even come home and smoke my own weed because a bunch of idiots got their grimy fucking hands on it."
The way he belittled all of us was frightening.
He eyed me, and the eye contact itself was so intense. I looked away quickly to avoid it.
"You all owe me." Dave demanded.
"Alright man, whatever." James subsides. I could tell he was embarrassed being chewed out by his younger brother in front of his friends.
"Cool. Make sure to clean that shit up before you leave." Dave pointed to the shattered glass on the floor, before making his way back up the stairs.
We all exhaled with relief once we heard the basement door slam close, as if we had all been holding our breath the whole time.
"I said I came here for the weed, not Dave's weed." Jedy said.
"Yeah, no kidding. That shit was scary." Ryan sighed.
James took a deep breath, and sat back down next to me. He ran his fingers through his curls, and rubbed his temples on the side of his head.
He then looked at me and shook his head. "See what I mean?"