gone. - DISCONTINUED.

{9}

Just like that, three days had passed.

Ferg usually came and went without Laylani's knowledge, but this morning when I woke up I heard him and Lani's voices outside of the door, speaking quietly. "You know it's the first and last time..." I heard her sigh at that. "I just...please don't let me down again, okay?" She spoke in a hushed tone. It went quiet for a while as I saw the door handle turn and Lani walk in. "Hey, you're up early." She said with a smile on the face. "Yeah, because some people were talking me out of my sleep." I laughed, shaking my head as she hit me with a pillow. "Well get up! You're finally legal and you get to celebrate later tonight!" She hit me over and over as I blocked with my arms. "Come out to the kitchen, me and the girls whipped up a little something for you." She dragged me out of bed without waiting for an answer, leading me to the kitchen.

I saw on the counter a dozen cupcakes, with my name and '18' written on them. "Awww, you didn't!" I squealed, running over to them and licking some of the frosting off. "I've been up since 8 frosting these babies. You like em?" She asked, plucking one from the bunch and I smiled and nodded, giving her a huge hug. "Thank you so much!" I grinned. "I didn't expect anyone to care about my birthday here." I ran a hand through my hair as Lay shook her head. "Girl, never. We pay attention." I smiled, grabbing a cupcake and tapping it against hers. "You might wanna take the rest of these in your room or something, cause they'll be gone by midday once the boys wake up." She licked her cupcake and I rolled my eyes. "Are you and he who won't be named okay now?" I asked her and she tapped my forehead lightly. "Mind your business."

I packed up all my cupcakes, waiting around for some sort of announcement to get ready for tonight. I sighed at the thought. I had gone my entire stay here without picking up any sort of habit of using drugs, and tonight was gonna be the night to ruin it all. I overthought until around 7, when Laylani came into my room without warning and dragged me into her room. I saw a glimpse of the guys setting up the main rooms and tried mentally preparing myself. Brittany and Yazmin were already in her room when she pushed me in, and she sat me down on her bed while throwing tons of dresses at me, all short and revealing. "Try on these." She pointed towards the closet and I gulped, grabbing a few. I tried on at least 5 dresses before picking one that hugged me comfortably, showing off curves I didn't even know I had. Then Brittany sat me down at the vanity to work magics on my hair. I coughed as she sprayed my hair numerous times, putting it into big, thick curls that bounced against my shoulders. Yazmin then started on my make up, picking the right shades to go with my skin tone.

When they were finally finished, I opened my eyes, widening as I didn't know who was staring back at me. It was similar to my first night of work, but...way different. I looked desirable. I blinked a few times, adjusting. "Damn." Laylani said finally, grinning. "We did a good job." Yazmin chimed in her thick accent. "Stand up." Britt motioned and I stood slowly, doing a slight twirl as they all clapped. "You look very beautiful." Yazmin bowed some and I smiled, feeling weird because she's not usually nice to me like this. "Can't even tell she's 18." Brittany pinched my cheeks and I made a face. "Alright, they're gonna call us out soon to escort them, you sure you're ready for this?" Laylani asked and I sighed, biting my lip. "Don't have a choice, do I?" She gave a small smile as we all waited by the door. A knock came from the hallway and we stepped out one by one, Lay first, then Britt, Yazmin, and me last. I heard whistles and mumbled curses as we all stepped out. It was awkward for me, as they wrapped around their men, you could say. A lot of them had females already and I cringed, wrapping an arm around Rakim silently.

I didn't look at him as we walked out to the extremely crowded front room. People were already using, drinking, and honestly it scared me some. It was like nothing else mattered as the party raged on. I had a few drinks with the girls, mingled with some people, even had a few not so innocent dances. I was having a good time, surprisingly. And some people I didn't even know wished me a happy birthday. All that fun flew by as the time came to go in the backroom. I swallowed the last of what was in my cup, cringing as it burned my throat before going in before Rakim and the rest. Smiles and smirks appeared on their faces as I took a seat on the couch. The usual girls were there, as well as the unfamiliar faces from earlier. "Well if it isn't the birthday girl herself." He grinned and I became uncomfortable once again. I looked around, seeing drugs all on the table. Lines of cocaine were all across the time, already lined, even snorted, there were pillows all over the table, tablets, weed, whatever you could think of. He handed me an already smoked off blunt and I gingerly took it, inhaling slowly attempting to puff but failing, coughing up a storm. I heard laughs and I suddenly felt embarrassed, looking at it in my hands. "Don't go so slow. Just breathe, ma."

I tried again, following his instructions and letting out a stream of smoke, coughing only slightly towards the end. I handed it back to him as he laughed, sticking it in the corner of his mouth before handing me something else. "Try this." I took it, staring at it. It was a small tab thing, and I looked up at him in confusion. "Just unwrap the back, place it on your tongue." He answered for me, watching as a girl snorted the rest of the coke. I breathed, unwrapping and placing it on my tongue nervously, waiting for a while. He slipped an arm around my waist as I took shallow breaths, feeling strong effects. "Just relax..." He murmured in my ear as I felt my senses and my will slip away from me, looking up at him.

Shit.