teach me to be innocent, l.hemmings

#8: weed never killed nobody

"Oh my god," my eyes widened at the sight of the bonfire. Luke and I were standing on the edge of the boardwalk, glancing down at everyone surrounding the fire. There had to be at least half of our school mates here.

"Pretty sick, yeah?" Luke nodded, scanning the crowd for his friends.

"You could say that..." I trailed off, thinking about how I'd probably be more comfortable at home watching Teen Wolf or something.

"You only look mildly horrified." Luke commented with amusement. "I'm pretty impressed."

"I have a good poker face." I replied instantly. There weren't many people here that I generally talked to at school, asides from Ashton and my other two friends, Lucy and Mac.

"Let's head down." Luke nodded his head towards the edge of the sand. I reluctantly followed him.

I kicked the sand for a few minutes as everyone surrounded Luke the second he stepped into the light of the fire. I had briefly forgotten how popular Luke was, but this seemed to be my harsh reminder that we really were from polar opposite sides of school.

It seemed like everyone wanted to talk to him, or even about him, so I decided to get a drink and go find my own friends. I could catch up with Luke in a little bit, I thought coolly. I didn't want to latch onto his arm and have him thinking I was incapable of fending for myself.

I wandered over to the left side of the bonfire. A giant bucket of ice, filled with all sorts of drinks captured my interest but then I remembered all the food in my hand. I sort of wished I hadn't ordered this coke now because I could've wasted at least 5 minutes pretending to look for a drink.

"Arizona?" Someone called out in a hesitant tone. That was understandable. Anyone who actually knew me would probably be unsure as to why I was even here.

I turned around slowly, only to sigh in relief when I saw Mac and Lucy strolling towards me. I stepped forward and greeted them both with a hug.

"Hey guys, I thought you might be here." I smiled, running my hands through my hair.

"I can't say the same." Mac laughed, before shooting me a curious look. "Why are you here?"

"So harsh." I covered my heart dramatically. "Why can't I be here? Is there a ban on people with weird names?"

"If there was than Mac wouldn't be here." Lucy smirked, elbowing her best friend before shaking her head lightly. "We're just surprised that you'd show up to something like this. Not really your scene, is it?"

"Nah," I admitted with a dismissing wave so they knew I wasn't offended. "I'm here with a friend."

"Who?" Lucy asked, tilting her head as her eyes grazed the crowd behind me. "Katherine?"

"No—" I was about to explain how drunk Katherine was before someone wrapped their arm around my waist.