Condom [cake//5sos]

[twenty]

[luke]

ever since i was a kid i loved the smell of smoke. i had a fairly normal childhood, compared to michael and calum. my parents worked several jobs to keep us above water, so i didn't see them much.

one thing i do remember from my childhood was some crazy ass arsonist that was lighting old houses in my town on fire. we lived in a fairly run down neighborhood, so eventually some of the houses just got so gross that people couldn't stand to live there any more.

i remember one night when i was in about the 4th grade (i think. calum has been trying to teach me the american schooling system and i think i've gotten it down. i'm practicing a lot though) my parents both had to work late, so i sat on my living room sofa and did my homework, eating ice cream for dinner. this smell filled my house, and i had never smelled it before. it was...calming. i'm not sure what it was about it, but i couldn't stop sucking in deep breaths and holding it in, then slowly exhaling and starting the process over again.

i saw a flicker of yellow light come from my window, so i got to my feet and walked over, still filling my nose with the sweet smell. my eyes were met with flames coming from a house about 5 away from mine.

i could hear yelling and sirens getting closer to my street. i wasn't worried though, the woman that had lived there moved out months ago due to the leaky windows and roof.

my feet involuntary carried me outside, where a wall of burning wood hit my nose. again, i felt...calm. i sat on my front porch for hours, just deeply inhaling the smell. eventually, my parents rushed home and scorned me.

"you could have gotten hurt!" they yelled.

i had no response. maybe i could have been injured, but i didn't care. ever since then when my father would light a cigar with his friends or our neighbors had a campfire, i deeply inhaled the smell of that beautiful burning. something about it just...made me want to go into a deep, peaceful sleep.

now, i can create my own smoke to feel calm. that's mostly i reason i smoke cigarettes, the smell of them calms me when i'm in a bad situation.

it was about 2am when calum woke up, and i've been walking the streets alone ever since. they were dead, not a person in sight. it was a regular tuesday night, so i wasn't surprised to be the only one out. a breeze hit my arms and they erupted with goosebumps, but i didn't mind. i quite liked the cold.

my body felt tired, but i just had to keep waking. all i had with me was a pack of cigarettes and a small bag of weed, i must have forgotten it was in my jeans pocket. i grabbed the pack and my lighter and quickly snapped it so a small yellow and red flame appeared. my cigarette and the flame connected, making a small trail of smoke go up into the air.

i inhaled deeply, taking in the sent, and then put the stick to my lips. i sucked in until i could feel like warm smoke hit the back of my throat, and then slowly exhaled.

i continued to puff in the smoke as i walked down the street. i must have been walking for a while, because the the urbanized streets turned into run down, small houses. a convenience store was illuminating a street corner a couple hundred yards away, so i crosses the street quickly and made my way towards it.

i always felt bad for the people who had to work night shifts, they always looked so tired. there was a man who seemed to be about 35 sitting behind the counter, resting his chin on his hand. i walked up to him and eyed the blunts behind him.

"can i get a pack," i asked, motioning towards the white owls sitting in a case behind the man.

"ID," he responded, perking his head up but still seeming uninterested in the conversation. i shifted uncomfortably, realizing i didn't have it with me.