Skinny Jeans

Smoking In The Library With A Tiger

C H A P T E R T W E L V E

*Unedited*

December 13, 2014

Emily

"Oh, hey Emily." Hanna says when she opens Alison's front door. Why is Hanna always here? Do they live together or something?

"Hey, Hanna is Alison here?" I ask, trying to peek into the house.

Hanna jerks the door closed a little bit so that I can't see inside. She looks a bit nervous.

"Uh, no. I think she's at the library. You can check there." She gives me a small smile.

"What're you hiding?" I ask. She looks inside the house then back at me and shakes her head.

"Nothing. Ali's at the library. Go get her." And with that Hanna closed the door in my face.

Why the hell is Alison at the library? Does she even like reading? I guess you learn something new everyday, on most days.

~

I walk through the isles of the Ravenswood High School library, there's so many books. I thought Hanna meant the towns library but she meant the school's library.

I heard faint giggling and look behind one of the shelves. There she was, there was Alison giggling at a book she was reading. I walk around and admire her for a moment, she looks so happy. So relaxed.

"What's so funny?" I ask. She looks at me with a smile.

Instead of saying hi she said, "Their names, Pip, Mr Wopsle, Uncle Pumblechook, they sound like stuffed animals." She giggles. "You should really let me braid your hair sometime." She says, playing with a few strands of my hair.

She looked back down at the book for a moment then back up at me. She patted the ground next to her, telling me to sit down next to her.

"Great Expectations." I read the tittle aloud. "My English teacher is making us read it." I tell her.

"Charles Dickens is big on happy endings. Pip gets Estella in the end." She says, admiring the book.

"You've already finished it?" She nods her head lightly.

"Hundreds of times," She says. "Want me to tell you what happens? I can make you a cheat-sheet." I give her a small smile. "Can I read you something?" I nod my head lightly.

"I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be." She reads from the book, occasionally looking up at me. "Did you get to that part yet?"

I lean in and place a small kiss on her lips, taking her mouth in mine. I pull away from her. She smells like tobacco. Has she been smoking? I can't be too sure, maybe it's something else. I lean in to smell her, I know, weird but I need to know.

"Do I smell bad?" She asks slightly confused, with a small laugh.

"You smell like you've been smoking." I tell her. She looks back down at the book, slightly ashamed.

"Do you like the book so far? It's one of my favorites." She says, trying to change the subject.

"Don't change the subject." I take the book out of her hands and put it back on the shelf. "Have you been smoking?"

"It's a great book, I've read it more times than I can count." She picks the book back up from the shelf.

"Alison,"

"Emily,"

"Alison, have you been smoking?" I ask again.

"I may have smoked a few joints. It's not that big a deal." She shrugs.

Not a big deal. She must be pretty dumb if she thinks smoking won't do anything to her. Maybe she should spend some more time in this library, get educated.

"Ali, smoking isn't-" I start but quickly get cut off by Alison.

"I know, I'm not addicted to it though. And it helps me feel better, like, I don't like to be alone, so when I feel alone or I am alone I smoke. Not all the time but..." She trails off.

"Ali, you're never alone. You have me and Hanna and-" She cuts me off again.

"Yeah, but you and Hanna aren't always here." She says sadly. "You're always in Rosewood, and Hanna's always grounded or her dad is making her spend time with Kate."

"I'm always here for you, Ali. And can't you hang out with Hanna and Kate? I'm sure Kate wouldn't mind." I explain.

I still have no idea who the hell this Kate person is. She seems to be coming up a lot, but by now she seems completely irrelevant to my life. I shouldn't be worried about her, I mean she just seems unimportant.
I feel kinda bad that Alison feels so alone. Maybe I could get her like, a cat or something. Are we aloud to keep tigers as pets? I could get her a tiger. Regular cats are boring, they don't do anything. But tigers, they do stuff, and they're cats.
But maybe Alison would like cuddling with a regular cat. I think she'd like cuddling with a tiger more, though.

"Emily," Alison says, waving her hand in my face, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Sorry, what?" I ask.

"I was talking, then you started saying something about a tiger." She says.

"Are you afraid of tigers?" I ask. I can't just show up at her house one day with a tiger. She could get scared.

"I've never seen one in real life before so, I guess not." She says. "Why?"

"Just curious..."

Okay, so maybe getting her a tiger wouldn't be the best idea. Still and option though, I think she'd like a tiger. And if that doesn't work out, maybe I'll get her like, a fish or something. Is her house big enough to be a home for a tiger? Maybe a baby tiger would be best.

"Will you please stop smoking?" I pleaded. Alison let out a long sigh.

"But-"

"I know, you feel alone. But that feeling won't last forever. I graduate high school this year, and then I can move in with you while you finish your senior year." I take her hands in mine. "Please, quit smoking. For me." I add.

She looks up at me with puppy eyes. Hey, a puppy. Maybe she'd like a puppy. If this whole tiger thing doesn't work out, maybe I'll get her a dog.

"Okay, I'll try. For you." She says, giving in. She stood up, putting the book in her bag. "Can you give me a ride home?" She asks.

"Yeah, didn't you bring your car though?" I stand up and entwine our fingers together.

"No, Hanna dropped me off." She says. We walk out to my car, hand-in-hand.

*Did you guys see the Emison spoilers about prom? 🙈🙊*