You're the Cherry I'm a Cigarette

Alex

I woke up in bed, but I didn't remember getting there. I remember eating chipotle with Jack and meeting his brother. I also remember smoking weed for the first time. I kind of liked the way it made me feel from what I remember. It was weird thinking everything was funny plus I felt relaxed. I couldn't believe I actually did drugs. I was out-of-my mind scared but also curious. Plus the peer pressure bit from Jack didn't help much either. I immediately felt really guilty about it. I promised my grandparents I would be nothing like my mother and that I wouldn't cause them any problems. Maybe smoking one time wasn't so bad. The high had already worn off like Jack said it would. My grandparents would never know I did it.

I attempted to sit up but something was holding me down. I looked down and behind me to see Jack's arms were wrapped around me. I gasped and quickly looked at the time. Jack's alarm clock said it was seven thirty-four. I took a deep breath and relaxed. I didn't oversleep and miss my curfew. We didn't even miss the party.

"Jack?" I shook him. It took a few tries, but I finally got him to answer.

"Hmm?"

"Wake up, we fell asleep." I told him.

"I'll do it in a minute." He mumbled.

"Jack wake up." I groaned and shook him again.

"Whaaat? I'm up." He answered. He stretched and pulled his arm away from me.

"I don't remember falling asleep." I told him and he lightly chuckled.

"You fell asleep in the middle of us making out." He said and I my eyes grew wide.

"Making out?? We made out?!" I asked.

"Yeah, you don't remember?"

"No, not really. I just remember smoking and that's about it."

"Oh well yeah we made out. We didn't do anything else with you being a virgin and all."

"How do you- did I tell you that?" I asked with my heads covering my face. I was completely mortified.

"Yeah. We were kissing, and I tried to take it a step further but then you told me you were a virgin or something like that." He said. I was so ashamed I couldn't find my voice to say anything to him. "It's cool, don't stress it." He shrugged, once he noticed how embarrassed I was.

"I just can't get over the fact that I actually told you that and the whole making out thing." I was more angry that I didn't remember making out with him. That would have been the highlight of my life.

"We can do it again if you need wanna refresh your memory."

"Ummmmm..." I didn't want to seem too eager to kiss him, but then again, I really wanted to kiss him. The door was opened, and we were interrupted before I could answer.

"Why the hell haven't you answ- oh shit sorry!" Zack said as he burst the Jack's door with Ryan right behind him. "Hey Alex." He said, and I nervously waved.

"What the hell are you two doing here?" Jack asked them.

"We told you we'd meet you here a little before the party started. We figured we could smoke until it was time to go." Rian told him.

"Yeah that's right. Um just give us a second." Jack said and they both left his room and closed the door.

"I guess we can start getting ready. Here you can use my shower if you want and I'll go use Joe's" He told me.

"Okay. Thanks." I said, and he sat up and kissed me on the cheek, making me blush. He got out of bed and showed me where the towels were and left me.

I started the shower and waited for the water to get hot. I looked myself over in the mirror and saw bruises on my left shoulder blade. Those were hickeys Jack had placed all over me. I guess we really did make out. Thank god there were none on my neck. That would make it harder to cover and hide from my grandparents. I liked the idea of being covered in marks made by Jack even if I don't remember getting them.

I was dried off and out of the shower fifteen minutes later. Jack was back in his room sitting on his bed in his towel. I tried my best not to let my mind wonder and walked over to sit next to him.

"Look at what you did to me." I playfully whined and showed him the hickeys.

"Aw I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself." He said and kissed my shoulder.

"I don't mind it. I kinda like them." I said honestly.

"Really? Cause I can add more if you want." He said making me chuckle.

"Yeah I want one right here." I jokingly pointed to a random spot on my right shoulder. He moved over to the spot and bit down on my skin making me gasp. He pulled away and laughed at me in shock before kissing me. The kiss caught me off guard even more, but I loved every second of it. Jack's lips were soft against mine and the kiss was short and sweet.

"I really like you." He mumbled against my lips making me smile.

"I like you too."

He kissed me one last time and then pulled me up so he could get dressed. He went into his closet to change into his clothes while I fixed my hair in his bathroom. Jack didn't bother doing his hair he just teased it with his fingers and threw a black beanie on.

I followed him out of his room and to the living room where Rian and Zack were sitting. They both mumbled about us taking too long, but quickly stopped when Jack threatened to not smoke them out for free. He pulled out a bag of weed and a few papers and gave it to Zack. I watched as Zack made joints out of the materials.

"Do you wanna smoke again?" Jack asked, and I hesitated. I just finished telling myself that I let my grandparents down and how I would never do it again. Now I was debating on whether I should or not. Jack sensed that I was conflicted. "You can just do one hit this time. It won't be as bad as last time. Plus, it'll help you loosen up at the party." He said.

"Um I guess once more won't hurt." I shrugged, and he smiled.

"Cool, here I'll light it for you." He said, and I nodded.

Jack handed me the joint and I put it to my mouth. He lit it and told me when to inhale and exhale. It wasn't long before I felt the effects of it. I no longer felt any guilt while like this.

"You're like a professional stoner now." Zack joked, and I giggled.

"I like this feeling." I said, and they all laughed at me. Jack sat next to me and smoked from the joint he had just lit for me. He held it out and offered me more which I gladly took. I followed what Jack told me to do the first two times and I handed it back to him.

"I'm such a horrible influence on you." He laughed, making me chuckle.

"You really are! You offered me drugs and you made me lie to my grandparents." I told him.

"I wouldn't call it lying. We're just like not being fully honest." He said.

"That's what the fuck a lie is." Rian said, and I fell into Jack's lap, laughing. Literally anything right now would be hilarious to me.

"I wish I could get as high as him in two hits." Zack said, and Jack and Rian agreed.

It was twenty minutes later when we were finished and on our way to the party. Jack got Joe to drop us off with the promise that we would take Lyft back home. We were only an hour late to the party, but Jack said we would be.

Brendon's house was as big as my grandparents’ house since it was in the same neighborhood. His house was maybe only four to five minutes away from my grandparents’. When we got close to his house I saw it was completely packed with people. There was a line outside the door of people trying to get in. I saw two guys at the door trying to keep a good guy to girl ratio going on.

We caught up with Kellin, Cass, Lynn, and some guy with Kellin standing outside on the side of the house. They were waiting on us so we could all go in together. I walked over to tell them all hi.

"Hey!" I giggled.

"Don't tell me he got you to actually try that shit." Kellin scolded me.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, trying to play dumb. How did he know? Was it obvious that I was high?

"You're high! Your eyes are bloodshot, and I can smell it on your clothes." He deadpanned.

"Okay maybe I tried it once, but Jack didn't force me. It was my decision." I told him.

"I think it's cool, I've tried it before and I'm definitely doing it tonight since it's free." Lynn said, making me feel better. Kellin didn't look to happy, but he dropped it.

"Are you guys ready?" Jack walked over and asked.

"Yeah we're ready." I told him.

We followed behind him to the front of the line with Rian and Zack. They let us all in since we were all with Jack. I was relieved we could all get in without a problem.

There were so many people in the house and usually that would make me nervous but being high helped a lot. I turned around to thank Jack again for letting me smoke with him, but he wasn't beside me anymore. He and his friends had walked away but he returned a few seconds with a red plastic cup for me.

"Here, it's jungle juice." He said as he handed it to me.

"Jungle juice? What's that?" I asked.

"It's like a huge container filled with a fuck ton of different juices, fruits, and alcohols. It's really good."

"That doesn't sound good." I said, and he laughed.

"Just try it." He pushed the cup closer to my mouth. I took a quick sip of it and it wasn't so bad. This wasn't my first-time drinking, but it was my first time drinking hard alcohol. James, my stepdad, made me drink a beer once because he said I "wasn't manly enough."

"This is actually pretty good." I told Jack. Once I got past the alcohol taste, it wasn't that bad. Anything tasted better than that beer did.

"I told you." He gloated.

I finished at least three cups of the juice before the party ended.

******

"I am in so much fucking trouble." I laughed as Jack pulled me to our Lyft. We were leaving the party now so I could go home. The only problem was it was two in the morning and I was supposed to be home by midnight. Also, to make matters worse, my phone had died and I didn't have my grandparents number or the ability to let them know I was okay. I just hoped they were asleep by now.

"Shhh we're almost to the car." Jack said. I was being really loud in the quiet side of the neighborhood.

He walked me over to my side of the car and opened the door for me. He let me in first and got in after me. We both said hi to the driver and Jack gave him my address. Being away from the loud music, gave me a chance to actually think about the amount of trouble I was in. I felt like I was quickly sobering up. I also felt like I had to throw up.

"Oh my god, I'm in so much fucking trouble." I repeated, less amused by it.

"Why?" Jack asked as if he didn't remember I actually had a curfew.

"It's two hours after my curfew and my phone is dead. They're gonna kill me." I sighed.

"Alex it's your grandparents, they spoil you. The most they'll probably do is give you a stern talking to."

"You really think so?"

"Yes, now stop worrying. Come here." He pulled my face closer to his and kissed me. Feeling his lips against mine relaxed me. I pulled away once I remembered the driver. It was probably awkward to have two drunk people making out in the back of his car. Jack playfully rolled his eyes at me but stopped.

As we turned into my street we saw police lights flashing in front of my house. My heart jumped to my throat as I immediately thought the worse.

"Uh is that the house?" Our driver asked, but I couldn't answer him.

"Yes." Jack said for me.

The driver slowed down and parked in front of the house. Jack and I both got out and I saw Grandpa and Nana standing at the front door talking to the police officer. They both ran to me once they saw me.

"Alex, where have you been?" Grandpa asked. I couldn't answer before Nana asked another question.

"Are you okay? We've been worried sick. We thought something bad happened to you." She said worriedly.

"Yeah I'm okay, I just lost track of time while I was with Jack and his friends." I lied. My Grandpa frowned and looked over to Jack.

"It's actually my fault sir. His phone died, and I didn't check mine to see when we should have left." Jack said, trying to take the blame off of me.

"Thank you for getting him home safe, but it's way past his curfew. I hope you understand why he won't be allowed to see you anymore." Grandpa told Jack.

"That's not fair!" I protested, and he glared at me. I'd never seen him look so angry at me so I quickly shut up.

"It's okay Alex. I'll see you around." Jack said. He looked me in the eyes to let me know he was just saying that for them.

I watched him leave back to the Lyft and I turned back to my grandparents. Grandpa went to thank the cop for coming out and Nana and I went inside. Nana made me go sit at the kitchen table and wait for Grandpa to finish. I was terrified as I sat at the table with my cheek resting on my hand. I was also tired and not in the mood to lie or explain myself. I heard the front door close and footsteps come up. Grandpa sat at the table across from me and Nana sat in a seat next to me.

"Where were you?" Grandpa asked in a stern voice. I wondered if this was what he sounded like when talking to my mom.

"I-I told you. I was with Jack and his friends at his house." I said while looking him in his eyes so he wouldn’t think I was lying.

"We said to get back home by midnight and it's almost three am, Alex." He scolded me.

"I know and I'm sorry. We just lost track of time." I repeated.

"I hardly believe that." He said and rubbed at his temples. I was finding it so hard to concentrate with trying to act sober and stop myself from throwing up. "You're not allowed around him anymore. He can't come to our house, you can't go to his, and you aren't allowed out of this house with him. Is that clear?" He added.

"Yes sir." I mumbled while looking down at the ground.

"We aren't trying to be mean Sweetpea, we just don't want to see you go down the same dark road your mother went down. It all started with a boy that introduced her to all these bad things." Nana said, and I nodded. I did understand, but that didn't mean I wasn't angry or sad that I couldn't see Jack anymore. Plus, I was nothing like my mom.

"I'm sorry." I apologized again, and Grandpa sighed.

"I know you're young and want to do certain things, but it scares us when we don't know where you are and can't get in contact with you." He said. I didn't say anything, I just continued to look down. I wanted to go to my room so I could throw up, talk to Jack, and then cry myself to sleep. Grandpa sighed again before continuing. "We're going to ground you so you will learn a lesson. You're grounded for two days." He said and looked over to Nana to see if that was right. She nodded her head confirming what he said. "Now go to your room and go to bed." He said.

I looked around to see if he was serious. They didn't take my phone or anything and I was only grounded for two days. This didn't feel like a punishment at all.

"Tom, I think we have to take his phone. That's what grounded means now-a-days." Nana told him and I groaned internally. I handed my phone over before they could ask, and I quickly walked off to my room. I was angry and embarrassed at the same time. I didn't like having my grandparents angry at me, but I didn't like that they wouldn't let me see Jack anymore either. We were only friends for like a week. I could only imagine what would happen if they found out about me smoking.

I went to the bathroom in my room and forced myself to throw up just to get it over with. I gargled with mouth wash and then pulled my clothes off. I stopped and looked in the mirror at the hickeys still visible on my shoulders. It was like a reminder of Jack since I couldn't talk or text him tonight. I sighed put my pajamas on and passed out as soon as my head hit my pillow.

Notes

Correct chapter!