You're the Cherry I'm a Cigarette

Alex

I stepped into my new home with my grandparents behind me. It was a very beautiful house, but it was going to take some time to get used to.

"Alex come on, we'll show you to your room." My Grandpa told me.

I followed him and my Grandma upstairs to my new room. It was plain with just a bed, two nightstands, a desk, and a dresser with a flat screen TV on top of it. The room was nicer than my one back home.

"We can take you to buy decorations for your room tomorrow, Sweetie." Nana told me.

"Okay. Thank you." I told her.

"You're welcome. We'll let you rest now. You must be really tired after the night you've had."

"Yes ma'am." I told her.

She kissed me on the cheek and her and Grandpa left me alone in my room. I sighed and kicked off my shoes. I laid in my new bed and turned the TV on, so I could have some background noise. I was still trying to register everything that happened in the past day.

Up until last night, I've lived with my mom and my step-father in Maine. They weren't the nicest people but that was mostly due to the alcohol and drugs. The night before last was the worse it has ever been with them. My stepdad, James, had lost another job due to the fact that he kept showing up drunk. When my mom found out she screamed and shouted at him. James decided he had finally had enough and threatened to put a "bullet through all of our brains" if she didn't stop. I didn't know if he was actually serious or if he even had a gun or not, but I was so afraid that he would actually do it. I called my grandma like I normally did when things got bad. She told me to have an overnight bag ready to go for the next day. She bought me a plane ticket online and I called a cab to take me to the airport. That's how I ended up here with my grandparents early this morning.

Tears hit my pillow at the thought of my mom being confused by my empty bed. She probably wouldn't care as much as I would like her to, but she was still my mom. The only thing I left, besides most of my clothes and belongings, was a note that said 'I'm okay' on my pillow. Despite everything she put me through I really did love her, I just needed to get away before anything bad happened.

Hopefully living with my grandparents would be a better life for me. I didn't have the option to live with my dad because he left before I was born. I never even got the chance to meet him. My grandparents were my mom's parents and they were only in their late fifties. My Grandma worked an auditor and my Grandpa was a supervisor for an engineering company. They proved to care more for me in another state than my own mom did living in the same house as me.

I closed my eyes and fell asleep for a few hours. I woke up later to my grandpa shaking me.

"Alex, we made dinner if you're hungry." He told me.

"Yeah, that sounds great." I agreed.

I looked at my clock and saw that it was only six pm. This was way too early for me to eat dinner. I was just going to be hungry again at midnight. Maybe that's because I was still going to be up at midnight while they were going to be asleep.

I got out of bed and followed my grandpa to the kitchen where Nana was. She had sat down a plate with roasted chicken and vegetables and a glass of water for me. Then she tapped a seat telling me to sit. I think this was the healthiest thing I've ever ate.

"Thanks Nana." I told her.

"You're welcome, Sweetie." She smiled at me. I took a few bites of my green beans before she started talking again. "I'm going to go get you signed up for the high school down the street tomorrow. They've already started but it's not too late. I'll just let you rest until Monday. I was also thinking we could go clothes and school supply shopping for you this weekend." She told me.

"Thank you so much." I said. Her and my grandpa did so much for me and I wished I could show her how much I appreciated it.

"You're welcome! I wish I had two more weeks to get you settled in before school, but I'm sure we'll be fine. I'm going to take off of work tomorrow to make sure I get you all settled in." She assured me.

"Thanks again, Nana." All I could do was thank her.

"Mhmm of course." She said and ran her finger through my hair. "Did your mom call you or anything?"

"No, she honestly probably hasn't noticed I'm not there yet. Maybe she'll notice in a few days when the house is a mess and I'm not there to nag and clean it up." I lightly chuckled.

"I'm sure once she sobers up, she'll miss you." She said, and I shrugged. She barely ever sobered up.

"I wish they would let us force grown people into rehab. There's no use in just letting them do drugs until they ultimately kill themselves." Grandpa complained.

"Tom, the doctor said there's nothing we can do about that. Julia has to want to get help and as soon as she does we'll be here to help her." Nana told him.

"I know." He grumbled.

"Maybe she'll come around one day." I said hopefully and they both nodded.

"Have you texted your friends from school and told them that you've moved?" Nana asked, to change the subject.

"Yeah I texted a few while I was at the airport. They were pretty upset, but we can always keep in contact with each other." I only had a few friends at my other school, but we went to school together since kindergarten. It sucked having to leave them, but they knew things weren't so great for me at home and they understood why I needed to go.

"What grade are you in again?" Grandpa asked.

"I'm in the tenth grade, Grandpa." I chuckled. I told him this a few times when we talked over the summer, but he never remembered.

"I'm sure you'll like Dulaney, the students there seem so nice." Nana told me.

"I don't know. I'm kind of nervous to have to start all over." I mumbled. I've never been the new kid at school, I didn't even know how to make friends any more. It was going to be especially hard to do it now that it's my senior year.

"Don't be, I'm sure you have nothing to worry about. You'll make plenty of friends as long as you be yourself." She said.

That was probably far from the truth. I was a quiet and shy guy who spent most of his time at home binge watching shows on Netflix.

I finished eating and went to sit in the living room. Grandpa went to his office to get ready for work tomorrow and Nana came to sit next to me on the couch. I turned on the TV for us and we watched some competitive cooking show for a few minutes. This is basically what I would have been doing if I still stayed at my mom’s house. I just would have eaten McDonald's or cereal instead of an actual home cooked meal. I also probably would have been trying to drown at the sound of my mom and James yelling at each other in the background. Thinking about that gave me flashbacks of James yelling that he would kill all of us.

"How are you holding up?" Nana tapped me on the arm making me jump. I took a deep breath and looked away from the TV.

"Um okay I guess. I was just thinking about my mom and worrying about if she's okay." I said, and she began to rub my arm.

"I'm sure she's fine. It seems like she and James always threaten each other, but neither one of them actually go through with it." She said, and I nodded. My mom and James would argue a lot, and Nana was trying to keep me from worrying. She wouldn't have made me come here with her and Grandpa if she wasn't a little scared that James might do something.

"Yeah. Thank you for letting me stay here, Nana. I really do appreciate everything you and Grandpa are doing for me." I said, and she shushed me.

"You don't have to thank us for this. It's our job to look after you especially if your mother can't. I just want you to have a better life than she did. I don't know what made her feel like she couldn't talk to me and had to use drugs to escape, but I don't want you to ever feel the same way. You can talk to me about anything, okay Alex?" She told me, and I nodded again. "And I know moving to a new state and having to go to a new school is a little overwhelming but I'm sure it'll get better for you. Just give it a few weeks so you can settle in."

"Yeah you're probably right." I was feeling a little stressed out being away from my normal home.

"Mhm just tell me if we can do anything to make you more comfortable." She said, and I chuckled.

"Well I'm kinda not used to eating dinner this early." I said, and she looked at me confused.

"This is early for you? It's almost seven now and that'll give your food three hours to digest before you got to bed."

"Nana, ten pm is too early to go to bed." I said and we both laughed.

"Oh excuse me I forgot we're dealing with a teenager. I guess I'll keep your dinner warm in the oven until you're ready to eat. I should probably go buy some snacks too since Tom and I don't keep junk food in the house."

"I will probably die if I don't have something sugary once a day." I joked.

"Oh my goodness. Bear with us, it's been a long time since we've had to take care of a teenager. Things have changed a lot."

"I promise I'm not as difficult as my mom was. I know she gave you guys a lot of trouble." I said as Grandpa came in and he joined our conversation.

"Yeah you're a good kid, Alex. I'm sure we won't have any trouble with you." He said, and Nana agreed.

********

Monday Morning

Today was my first day of school and stomach would not stop flipping. It began flipping when I first got out of bed and went to take a shower. It continued as I put on my new clothes Nana and grandpa bought me. I thought eating breakfast would help but it didn't. Now I was being dropped off by my grandparents at school and I still felt sick.

"Alex, make sure you try to make friends. It'll really help make your time here better." Nana told me.

"Okay. I'll try." I told her.

"Have a nice day, Kiddo." Grandpa said.

I told them both bye and jumped out of Grandpa's Range Rover. They both took off from work today to see me off on my first day, it was actually pretty sweet of them.

I was twenty minutes early to school which gave me enough time to walk around the school and find some of my classes. I found three of them before the bell rang signaling it was time for us to go to class.

My first class was Heath and I was one of the first people to walk in. I sat towards the back of the room, so I wouldn't call too much attention to myself. The teacher walked in and told us hello before walking to the front of the classroom. He looked like a coach because he was in great shape with nice muscles.

"Hey, is anyone sitting here?" A guy asked me. He was pointing to a desk next to me.

"No." I answered and he nodded. He sat his binder down on the desk. Then he sat his backpack down in seat of the chair in front of me and another backpack in the seat of the desk next to that one. He walked out of the classroom once he finished. I guess he was saving seats for him and his friends.

Five minutes later the classroom was almost full and the bell rang for class to begin. The guy who was saving three seats wasn't back yet.

"Hi Class, for some of you who don't know me my na-" He was cut off by the door opening and two guys walking in. "Dawson, Merrick, why are you guys late to my class?"

"We um had to use the bathroom." The guy, who had asked about the desk next to me, said.

"You guys used the bathroom together?" He asked, and the classroom was filled with quiet laughter.

"Friends who pee together stay together." The buffer of the guys said.

"Friends who are late together also do push-ups together." He said and the class "oooed" at them.

"Yes Coach Perry." They mumbled and got down.

"Now where was I? Right! For those of you who don't know me my name is Coach Perry. I am the assistant football coach here at Dulaney. Those two knuckleheads are on the team which is why they are doing push-ups. The rest of you will be able to choose between detention or push-ups if you're late. Now let's go over what you'll need for the semester."

Once Coach Perry finished speaking he allowed us to do whatever we wanted. I took out my phone because he didn't say anything to the other students who had theirs out. I got on Tumblr to make the rest of class go by faster. Everyone had friends to talk about their summer break with. I had no one.

"Rian where's Jack? He's supposed to be in this class." Coach Perry asked the two football players next to me.

"I'm not sure, he probably felt too sick to come today." Rian told him.

"Yeah right. He's probably skipping." Coach chuckled and went back to his desk.

"Where is he really?" The guys whose last name was Merrick asked Rian when coach walked away.

"He's selling to the freshman here." Rian chuckled.

"He never gives up the chance to sell to the new kids." They both laughed.

I just shrugged and focused back on my phone. I had no idea who or what they were talking about. The bell rung a few minutes later and I got up and grabbed my backpack.

AP Chemistry was my second class of the day. When I walked into the room I noticed that each desk sat two people. I was early to class again so I sat at an empty desk. I just hoped I didn't get someone weird or lazy to sit next to me.

Over time the classroom began to fill. Three friends walked in and tried to figure out where to sit. There was an open table next to me and an empty chair next to me too.

"Here you two sit there and I can sit here." A guy said as he pointed to the empty chair next to me.

"Is anyone sitting here?" He asked politely.

"No, you can sit there." I said nicely.

He smiled and sat his backpack down. "I'm Kellin." He introduced himself.

"I'm Alex." I told him.

"It's nice to meet you Alex. Those are my friends Cass and Lynn." He said and we all waved to each other.

We stopped talking once the teacher came in. She began explaining what we would need for class and how this year would go.

An hour and a half later class ended, and it was time for lunch. I probably should have taken Nana up on her advice and asked Kellin and his friends if I could sit with them at lunch. They all seemed nice enough to say yes, but I was too shy to ask.

Now I was walking into the cafeteria by myself. It was large and crowded with so many students. I didn't want to sit by myself and eat so I walked outside to the patio. I had a few granola bars that I packed for a snack between classes. I pulled one out and ate it while I sat outside on my phone. Lunch was only forty-five minutes, so I wouldn't be outside for that long every day. I decided to call Nana towards the end of my lunch break to make my time go by faster.

"Hi Sweetie!" She answered.

"Hi Nana."

"How is school going? Is it your lunch time now?" She asked.

"Yeah, it's my lunch time." I said. I really didn't have anything to talk about, I just didn't want to sit like alone.

"Are you by yourself?" She asked and I nodded.

I realized she couldn't see me, "Yeah I'm sitting outside trying to pass the time." I told her.

"You were supposed to try and make friends remember?"

"I tried, but making friends is hard in high school. Especially your senior year." I chuckled.

"It's simple! You just go up to someone and see if they have any common interests with you." She said.

"Yeah maybe in kindergarten, but It's not that simple any more, Nana." I laughed. "Plus, it's just my first day. Maybe I'll talk to more people by the end of the week."

"I'm sure you will. You're a very nice boy, many people would be lucky to have you as a friend."

"Thank you. I guess I can try to talk to more people in my classes."

"That's the spirit." She chuckled.

"Well I have to go now, lunch is almost over."

"Okay I'll see you at three." She said and we both hung up.

I gathered my trash from my granola bars and went to throw it away. There was a group of guys blocking the trash can by the front doors and I didn't want to walk up to them. I saw a trash can that was down a little further from the front doors. I walked over to that one and threw all my trash away. When I turned back around I saw a huge bag flying past me and a guy running. There was a school security guard further back behind the guy, but he finally stopped him. He pushed him against the gates and began to frisk him body.

"I told you I ain't got shit." The guy said angrily to the security guard.

"Then why were you running?" The guard asked him.

"Because you began running behind me. What the fuck was I supposed to do?" The guy said as the officer searched his bag.

"Watch it, Barakat. You better hope I don't find anything or I'm taking you down."

I looked down and saw the red bag on the ground. I looked at the guy and saw the look of fear on his face as he was being frisked. He obviously didn't want the officer to find the bag. I quickly, without thinking, picked it up and pushed it into my backpack.

The guard pushed the boy against the gates again. "Stay right here." He began walking in the direction the ran from. The school bell rang so I began walking back to school making sure not to make eye contact with the guard as we walked past each other. There were other students starting to walk from the parking lot so I blended in with them. I looked at the guy whose bag I was holding, but he was facing the gate with his head down. He probably thought the guard was going to find the bag.

I walked back into school and went to my next class anxious to open up my backpack to see what I was carrying. I went into the U.S history classroom and saw Kellin sitting in the middle of the room. He smiled at me and I took it as an invitation to sit next to him.

"You know I've never seen you here at school before and now I have two classes with you." He told me as I sat down.

"It's my first day here at this school." I said.

"Oh that makes more sense. If I had known I would have invited you to sit with me and my friends. I know going to a new school is tough."

"It's okay, maybe I can tomorrow?" I asked while looking down at my backpack.

"Yeah of course, I'll save you a seat!" He exclaimed.

"Thanks." I told him, and he nodded.

I finally bent down to my backpack and unzipped it. I pulled out a notebook and a pen and I reached back down inside of it. I felt the top of the bag and turned it to the side. It was a red bag so I couldn't see the inside of it. I unzipped it to look inside and I'm pretty sure I either started turning pale or bright red. The bag was completely filled with smaller bags of weed. I was holding a humongous amount of weed in my backpack for a complete stranger.

"Oh my god." I mumbled to myself.

"Hmm?" Kellin hummed, and I woke up from my state of shock.

"Oh uh nothing." I said quickly.

I hurried and zipped my backpack back and I sat up straight in my seat. My heart was racing and I was tapping my foot. I was going to get in so much trouble for this. Not only would I be expelled, but this amount of weed would definitely get me arrested. Oh god my poor grandparents would think I was a drug addict like my mom.

What if I just throw it away? Well no someone might see me do that. I could take it to the office and say I found it, but they probably wouldn't believe me.

I placed my head in my hands just thinking until the bell rang and class started. I couldn't even focus on the teacher introducing herself. I listened to the guys behind me talk once I noticed they were talking about what happened outside.

"Bro did you just see one of the guards frisking Jack outside?" The guy behind me asked his friend.

"Bro yes, but he didn't find anything. Barakat must have a guardian angel or some shit because the guy definitely had a huge bag of green this morning." The other guy said and they laughed.

I began to sweat harder.

***

Okay I only had one more class to go and then I could get out of here and lesson my chance of getting caught. As I walked to my last class I past two other security guards. I was pretty sure it was God sending me a few warnings.

I went to my math class and eased into my seat. Kellin's friend Cass walked in and she took a seat next to me.

"Hey it's Alex, right?" She asked as she sat.

"Y-yeah." I stammered. I needed to take a few deep breaths before I accidentally gave myself away.

"Oh well I'm Cass just in case you forgot." She introduced himself again and I nodded. "Do you understand anything about Pre-Cal because I'm pretty sure I'm gonna fail this class so hard." She joked, and I forced myself to laugh.

"Um I'm in the same boat as you." I told her.

"Well we'll go down together." She sighed.

The next hour and a half felt like two weeks. I couldn't wait to get out of that classroom. I quickly told Cass bye and walked back into the hallway. The hall was crowded but I still somehow saw Jack sitting on the floor with his head in his hands. Those two guys from my health class were sitting next to him talking to him. I didn't know what they were saying but he kept shaking his head and running his hands through his hair.

I could have easily just made a run for Grandpa's car and just threw the drugs away when the trash was taken out at home. My feet wouldn't let me go in the direction of the door though. Instead I began walking over to Jack. I slowed down as I approached him and his friends. They all three looked at me and I kind of regretted going over to them. I couldn't even speak to them. Not only was I scared out of my mind, but Jack was also really good looking now that I could actually see him close up and it was making me more nervous.

"Look kid I don't have anything to sell right now so go away." Jack sighed and laid his head back against the lockers.

"I um don't w-wanna buy anything." I stammered.

"Then what the hell do you want?" He asked.

"I was outside when um the security guard stopped you and I um saw you throw that bag into the bushes." I told him, and he looked at me trying to figure out where I was going with this.

I took a seat next to him and sat my backpack between us. I unzipped it and let him look inside. He gasped as he saw the bag and looked back up at me.

"You took it?? Oh thank God you took it! Oh my God do you know you literally saved my life?!" He finally took a deep breath.

"I just didn't want to see you get in trouble." I shrugged.

"Oh my god." He said still in a state of shock.

"Dude he literally saved your ass. Anyone else would have kept that bag for themselves." Zack told him.

"Fuck I know. What's your name?" He asked me.

"A-Alex." I told him.

"Well Alex you're a lifesaver. How about a free bag on me?” He took the bag from my back pack and quickly moved it to his backpack.

"Um no thank you." I said politely, and he raised an eyebrow at me. "I don't smoke." I added.

"Have you ever tried it?" He asked, but it seemed like he already knew the answer.

"No." I said, and he chuckled.

"Well there's no better time to try it for the first time than with a drug dealer. What are you doing now?" Was he inviting me to come smoke weed with him?

"I'm actually supposed to be outside waiting on my grandparents." I told him.

"What grade are you in?" He frowned.

"I'm a senior."

"I've never seen you around here before."

"I'm new." I mumbled.

"Oh that makes more sense. Well hopefully I'll see you around."

"Yeah of course." I smiled at him and he stood up with me.

He told me 'thank you' one last time before I walked off. I was finally able to breath knowing I wasn't carrying all those drugs with me. It started to become hard to breathe again when I thought about Jack's brown eyes. Ugh why did I always fall for guys I couldn't have.

I walked outside and saw Grandpa's car outside. I walked to it and got in with them.

"Hey Kiddo! How was school?" Grandpa asked.

"Um scary but also kind of great." I said honestly.

"I think that's the best way to describe high school now-a-days." He joked.

"Did you try talking to more people?" Nana asked.

"Yeah I actually did."

"And did it work?"

"Mhmm I think I made a few new friends today." I said optimistically, thinking of Kellin, Cass, and Lynn. I don't think Jack considered me a friend. He was just happy I brought him back his bag of drugs.

"See I told you all you had to do was be yourself." She said. I nodded without saying anything. I don't think I was normally the type of person to go through the whole school day with a bag of weed in my backpack.

Notes

Hey guys I'm back, but Idk how I feel about this story yet. I was going to wait a little while before posting, but I want to see how you all feel about it first before I continue writing it.