His Labyrinth Eyes

Chapter 8 | Shot or Dare

Aritzia Huxley

"Smoking's bad for you, you know?" I whisper to River as he blows out smoke, casually.

"Wow, really? Please do enlighten me on the dangers of smoking pot!" River says with sarcastic excitement.

Rolling my eyes, I respond, "You could die, basically."

"Take the risk or stay bored." He shrugs off, putting the joint up to his lips.

I don't enjoy the smell of weed. Never have, never will. Ever since the other traumatic incident in my life, no thought of smoking weed has ever came across my mind. I get it, people need it to be happy. But sometimes, I wish there was a less life risking way to cope. Not everyone will give up the habit of smoking weed, but it's worth the thought of trying. Doesn't seem like I'll convince River to stop, though.

The group went to get food at a near restaurant, leaving me and River at the court. The sun was slowly setting so there was still a decent amount of light left. Students were slowly making their way to the dining hall to get dinner.

"But is the risk really worth your life?" I rest my chin on the palm of my hand, watching leaves blow by on the concrete.

"We don't live forever. Besides, Nathan smokes too. Maybe you should bug your little pretty boy about the risks of smoking and not me." He blows out another puff, not taking into consideration any of my words.

My eyes widen at the words, "your little pretty boy" and "Nathan" together in one sentence. There's no way Nathan and I would ever be a "thing." But the more concerning thing about what River previously is mentioning Nathan smoking. I just hope it isn't a daily habit he does.

I stay quiet since he doesn't seem like much of a talker. The sound of birds chirping and leaves rustling killed the silence. Thankfully, a few minutes later, the group came back with Chinese take-out boxes in their hands.

"You guys ready to head up to the dorm?" Delayna smiles, nodding her head towards the dormitories.

River simply nods, killing the little fire at the end of his joint and walks towards Layna to help with the food. Nobody questioned him smoking weed, which I'm unsure why I was surprised about. They're probably already used to it.

Helping carry the food, I follow behind them as we walk back towards the courtyard. I wonder what food they ordered considering all of the boxes that we all held, it must be a lot. Can't wait to indulge into a Chinese buffet.

We follow the concrete pathway and find ourselves back at the entrance of the main building. Zeke holds the door open for all of us to go through and my skin is met with the cold air as I walk in. The navy blue carpet lining a small path to the elevator silenced our footsteps.

"Curfew is at 9:00 pm, but we have a way to sneak the boys back into their side without anyone noticing." Jackson winks at me as he presses the elevator button.

I watch as the numbers slowly drop, reaching down to "G" — ground floor.

"It's 8:46, we have a couple minutes before security does floor checks to make sure no students are roaming the hallways. Fat fucks don't get paid enough to outrun students, though." Hunter types away on his phone as we all squish into the elevator.