AMERICAN TEENAGERS (girl x girl)

ONE

AUGUST 20TH 1995

ONE

DAWN

I could remember when it started, very vividly; with static bursts of colours dancing into life, blooms of sad trees, wet grass and grey skies dotted with white fluffy clouds blurring together in front of the glassy, rainy surface of the window while Miguel passed me his poorly constructed bong- a fixture of Sprite bottles and a cheap pharmacy inhaler.

It's strange that I could remember this day, considering I was higher than five-year-olds after three bottles of coke, and I remember that it was raining. And it wasn't the heavy, dense storm crashing onto Earth, a spectacle of God's wrath; it's the light sort, tolerable and mild. The sort that matched my mood. It's raining softly, pattering on the metal roof of the train, hammering on windows and allowing teardrops of water to run freely on the glass. I didn't pay much attention to the rain. I was too busy trying to get high.

Now I know what you're thinking. Weed is bad, weed is a gateway drug, weed will make you lose your hair and die, or whatever crappy PSA programs have been spewing out lately. I used to be like you, my friend. I had all these preconceived notions about a drug I vaguely had an idea into- I didn't do proper research. Whatever the government is trying to tell you about weed, rest assured it's all goddamn propaganda. The government is just a bunch of phonies, who don't understand how weed can save mankind. They don't see how it's God's gift to the world and that it brings peace when used wisely.

I'm pretty passionate about weed. Mostly because I write poems on it and mostly because it put me in a state of mind where great things can happen, like eating three SuperHero Mcdonald burgers without feeling sick. It's great.

"Don't hog, you filthy animal," Miguel grumble. I take one more deep gulp of the burning hash and let the smoke filter in my lungs, staining it with that godly substance. I remove the pipe from my mouth and it billows out; pure white mist in the darkness of Miguel's basement. I pass it to him.

We're currently in Miguel's basement- his so-called 'man cave' even though I told him to never call it that. It's me, Miguel and Zelda, the Trinity, the trio. Zelda's telling us about how bad Kaden is in bed, her newest and longest boyfriend yet. I'm surprised she hasn't cheated on him.

"He's just thinking of himself," she's ranting, "He just sticks it into me, humps for like three seconds and it's like 'goodbye'."

Whatever her issue is with him, I bet she's gonna cheat on him real soon, but Miguel and I are trying our hardest not to laugh.

"Hey, maybe he thinks you were seriously into it. You never gave him direct feedback," Miguel shrug, smirking at her, "I don't know how jocks think."

"But they don't." I point out with a snort.

Zelda gives out a coughy laugh, even though she's technically supposed to be defending her boyfriend since he's a jock and all. But since she's friends with us I think she knows that no matter what, we're gonna always think that her boyfriend is a goddamn phony. All jocks are. I think she's only dating him because she wants in on all their parties. They have the best weed there and hell yeah, I'm always in the mood to freeload from some phonies.

"Whatever, " Zelda huff, indicating for me to pass her the lighter. I rummage from the pockets of my JNCO jeans and toss it to her. She attempts to catch it. Instead, it falls short of a few centimetres and she ends up scooping it off the floor of Miguel's arguably clean basement- he must have chucked his laundry somewhere. She lights the tip of the bong where the grams of weed are gathered and takes a deep inhale before removing her mouth from the tip to exhale out the pot breath. "You know what's the funniest part of the story though?"

"Yes," I say, resting my head in my hand.

"When he finished, and like, rolled off of me, he looks at me and goes, 'that was amazing, wasn't it?' and as he's kissing my cheek I go, 'I don't know.'"

We all start laughing really hard at that. Maybe it's the weed or something but it's the funniest thing I heard in ages.

"Fuck, that's gotta hurt," Miguel gasps, trying to find air in between his bouts of laughter.

Zelda is snickering as well. "I know, fucking brutal but whatever. Kaden can suck a dick."

"True," I nod with her, then I glance at the swatch watch. "What time is McKuller's party again?"

Zelda scrunches her eyes together, like she's thinking really hard. Weed has the tendency to turn your brain into sludge-poop so it's almost a full minute before she remembers. "9?" She says, but it's more of a question rather than a statement. "I think?"

Kaden had only invited Zelda to join the back-to-school party and Miguel and I are technically crashing but Kaden should've expected Zelda to show up with the both of us in tow since we're a kind of a package deal. Besides, we bring our own weed to share and we aren't stingy so that will make them act a little more welcoming to us. Kaden kind of dislikes me because I told him straight to his face that he reminds me of Doug Funnie- you know, the cartoon?- but I feel as if we should start things off in an honest setting.

I hate liars and I hate lying so I aim to stay true to that. Even if it rubs people the wrong way.

"Should we leave now?" I ask her, "It'll take twenty minutes to get there if we're taking the late bus."

Zelda yawn, her dark eyes clouded and rimmed with red. You need some eye drops, Zelda. "Yeah, alright. Let's go, kiddos."

"Don't call us that," Miguel protests from the side.

"Fine, then. Let's hit the road, hoes."

I cackle at Zelda once again. For the millionth time in my life, I feel incredibly grateful for the existence of Zelda Lee and Miguel Hernandez. 

-

dawn's character is so unlike anything i've ever written but i'm so excited man.

dedicated to grlwax.