"Did you just say LSD? Am I hearing you right?" I couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that Brianna could even consider doing drugs, let alone LSD.

She bit her lip nervously, shifting her weight on her feet. "Yeah... but I only did it once. I was very drunk, so I wasn't really thinking logically when I did it."

She paused before continuing. I just stood there baffled at the new information. How was I supposed to react? Like, "hey that's all right! It happens!"

No. That doesn't happen. Maybe smoking weed, but not LSD. Only hardcore druggies do that shit.

"I was drinking with Cameron and his brother, Kyle. Since Kyle is in college and had a fake ID, he'd always get us alcohol, but the catch was we'd have to drink with him. One night we were all drinking in their basement, and Cam had passed out early. It was just Kyle and I awake. " She tensed up as she said Kyle's name, and her voice became shakier. "I was extremely drunk and nauseous, and, so, he handed me a small and square, white tablet saying it was medicine to help me feel better. Me being completely oblivious that it was actually LSD, took it without hesitation. That night, I don't remember anything else except that I woke up underneath their kitchen table with no pants on and my bra outside of my shirt."

I wanted to laugh at that last bit of info but decided to just nod along with understanding as she appeared as though she were about to cry.

"A few days later, I came over again to watch a movie with Cam, but he forgot to pick up the ice cream we always ate during our nights in. So, he quick ran to the store, leaving me alone with Kyle in the house. Kyle threatened to tell Cam and my parents that I did LSD with him if I didn't kiss him, so I kissed him. Of course, as it happened, Kyle deepened the kiss and Cam walked right in on us. I didn't want to do it... I was blackmailed into it."

At this point she sighed, and I saw the glimmer of tears forming in her eyes.

"Cam didn't believe me. He believed his brother who said I was throwing myself at him... I would never and I mean NEVER intentionally hurt him or cheat on him...I loved Cam."

The glimmer of possible tears finally shed, creating a waterfall down her face. Instinctively, I threw my arms around her, hugging her whilst rubbing my hands on her back for comfort. Her tears were already soaked up by my shirt as she bellowed in my embrace.

"I'm sorry, Bri." My voice came out low and strained as I tried to comfort her. She squeezed me tighter, letting her head rest in the crook of my neck.

After a few minutes of us embraced, her tears came to a stop as she pulled her head away from me, leaving her arms wrapped around my torso.

Her sniffling ceased as her blue/green eyes sparkled up at me. "Th..thanks. For listening and understanding..."

I gave her shoulders a slight squeeze before letting my arms limp back down to my sides. "Yeah. Anytime you need someone to listen, I'll be here."

She smiled at my response back before rising slightly on her tiptoes, her breath fanning my mouth before she gently placed her lips on mine. Even though it was only for a second, I could taste the peach flavor of her lip balm.

She then waved slightly before proceeding out of the gym towards the parking lot. It was then I realized that I just had my first kiss.

Okay, yeah I kissed Skylar, but I'm not counting that. I'd like to forget that ever happened, to be honest.

****

"JOSH ALLEN PARKER, I WILL NOT HESITATE TO HAVE YOUR SISTER WAKE YOU UP IF YOU DON'T GET DOWN HERE IN FIVE MINUTES!" My mother screamed from down the stairs. I felt a rush of anger as I woke up from my deep slumber.

I groaned before, slowly, pushing myself off the bed and into my bathroom. I hastily brushed my teeth and did my business before walking towards my drawers, shuffling clothes around until I found my favorite black Adidas top and dark jeans.

As I was slipping on my socks, my door flew open with my sister, crossing her arms while popping her hip out to the side. She looked like one of those bratty little girls on that pageant show. All she was missing was the tiara.

"You can leave. I'm just about done, Sarah," I snapped at her before she had a chance to scream at me.

Her face contorted before an evil smirk arose on her face.

I know that face. She was gonna yell for mom.

"MO....oooof," Sarah squealed as I shoved into her, slamming her into the ground with me. I placed my hand over her mouth while pinning her down with my other arm. She squirmed around, but I used my strength to keep her down.

"I swear to god Sarah if you scream for mom once I release you, I won't hesitate to tell her about you messaging some boy late at night." Her eyes widened in fear as I smirked. That's right, Sarah. I know all about you messaging the mysterious boy every single night. How could I not? She would giggle to herself and whenever I'd walk past her room, she was glued to her phone with a huge grin plastered on her face.

I took my hand from her mouth and stood up. She still sat on the floor, bewildered that I had found out about her big secret.

"Just don't tell mom... okay?" She now stood up, giving me her biggest pleading eyes.

"I won't tell don't worry. Just tell me who the boy is? I want to make sure this boy knows who I am." Yep. Big brother protective mode is on.

She rolled her eyes before a slight smile appeared at the corners of her mouth. "Chase Johnson. He's an eighth grader..."

My mouth dropped. "Skylar's brother? But, how?" How was Skylar's younger brother who literally was the younger version of him, personality and looks-wise, interested in my little sister? They practically belong in separate social groups, and I know his social status must be higher up due to his popular brother.

She narrowed her eyes at me. "What do you mean?" Crap. How do I say this nicely to her without hurting her feelings?

I gulped as she stood there with her arms crossed once again. "Well he's older than you? I thought you were...shy?"

"Yeah... well he saw a couple girls teasing me in the hallway a few weeks ago and stood up for me. I guess we've been talking ever since. We're just friends, don't worry," she sighed as she walked out of my room and down the stairs. She liked him more than that... aw. My baby sister isn't a baby anymore.

Now, time to threaten the little punk, Chase, and find out who those brats were that picked on my baby sis.

****

"Why do you want my brother's phone number?" Skylar asked me incredulously. He rose an eyebrow at me before a huge smirk arose. "You really must love me, Joshy... trying to get to know more about me through my baby bro....pshhh I see right through you, Josh."

I rolled my eyes, shoving his shoulder. "No, idiot. My sister and your brother have been talking, and I want him to know that if he hurts my sister I will literally go ape shit on him."

Skylar laughed before a serious look overtook his face. "Don't worry. If he ever pulls any crap on your sister, I'll beat up his ass."

"Good." I smirked, and he grabbed my shoulders before pulling me into a hug. I just stood frozen, as people in the hallway gave us odd looks. I swear people must think we really are gay for each other, especially after the whole 'kissing Skylar dare'.

"Dude, I never got to thank you properly for socking one on Bryan. I owe you big time." He smiled, and I gave him a questioning look.

"Why are you bringing that up now? That happened weeks ago..." I asked as we headed to lunch. We stopped at the lunch line, grabbing our trays and plopping down double of the meal for the day.

"I don't know... I just thought about it since Zoey was talking about..." he immediately stopped and bit his lip, changing the subject. "Uh ... so I heard Bri kissed you."

I glared at him because A) he changed the subject and B) how did he know about the kiss?  Nobody was in that gym when it happened. At least that's what I thought...

"How did you know about that?" I growled. My voice came out much lower than I intended, and a gawky freshman girl behind me took a step back, with frightened eyes. Whoops.

"I have my sources..." Skylar replied with a wink before heading towards our lunch table. I glared at him as I followed behind.

As we sat down, I noticed that Charlie wasn't sitting by us. I looked around the cafeteria and spotted him sitting at Zoey's table right next to Amira. I shook my head and let out a chuckle. That dude needs to ask her out. It's obvious how much he likes her, but he's too chicken to. I'm actually shocked he had the balls to sit by her today.

Munching on my tator tots, I listened to the guys ramble on about the volleyball game last night. Actually, it was them just rating how hot some of the girls are on the team. Jordan, of course, was the leader of the discussion.

It was times like these that I wished Brianna didn't have a tutoring session. She always managed to keep the discussion at the table interesting, especially now that Cameron sits with Ryan and his druggy friends. Or at least that's what they appear to be since they all have red eyes like all the time, and they literally smell like a drug-lords weed farm.

It's gross.

After scarfing down my tots and my sandwich, I decided to actually pay attention to the conversation. What's the worst that could happen?

"Ugh man, if Josh here wouldn't have claimed Brianna, I'd totally ask her as my homecoming date. She's gotten hotter for sure," Jordan remarked giving me a smirk.

Skylar then turned to me with that weird face of his, "you did ask her, right?" I shook my head at the question. I totally forgot about homecoming, and I wasn't really sure if I wanted to ask Brianna. I mean, yeah, I probably should since we have been hanging out more and such, but I guess I still was hoping I could clear things up with Zoey and possibly ask her. Maybe.

Forget it. She'll most likely go with someone else. I know she's been talking to Skylar more, but that's only because he's been asking her what to do about Margo. She's been trying to help him, but Bryan is not even letting him have a shot. Like, he claimed Margo but not. I don't know, but whatever it is, it's sorta a dick move.

"You haven't asked her yet? Dude homecoming is like in two weeks. You better before someone else does..." Skylar said nudging his head towards Jordan.

Jordan scoffed, "eh, don't worry about me. I have eyes set on Kenna Williams. She sorta made it clear that she wanted to go with me."

All of us at the table looked at Jordan in disbelief.

"No way."

"You shitting us right now?"

"Really?"

And my response took the cake, "who's that?"

Now it was my turn for everyone to look at me. Hey! I'm sorry, but I suck at getting to know people. I'm not like the bitchy cheerleaders that have to know everyone and everything. I could give a crap.

"She's the redhead on the volleyball team. She's literally in all your classes... how did you not know her?" Jordan scoffed, and I responded with a shrug.

After lunch, I suffered through the rest of my classes. Even study hall was a bore as Charlie was heavily involved in his homework, and I sat there rereading over my calculus homework. I didn't have any other homework to work on, so I sat there twiddling my thumbs and stealing quick glances at Zoey. She was biting the end of her pen as she scrunched her eyebrows in frustration. She was working on the math homework I had gotten done a couple days ago. I wondered if she needed any help.

Do I go up to her? Or let her keep getting frustrated?

After she slammed the pen down on her desk, making everyone look up for a second before going back to work, I got up and walked over towards her. She slouched in her seat, resting her chin on her hand.

I cleared my throat once I approached her, making her look up at me. Her eyebrows burrows in utter confusion, and I lightly smiled.

"Uh I noticed you were having a difficult time with the math homework... I got it done and would be happy to help if you'd like..."

She just stared at me for a couple seconds before replying, "um yeah. Actually that would be nice." She patted the seat next to her, and I sat down, scooting the seat closer to her. I took a look at the problem she was on. Number 1.

Oh boy. She was only on the first problem?

"I know what you're thinking, and if you don't want to help and you're only doing this to make up for not apologizing to me, then just leave," she snapped at me.

I sighed. "Zoey, I'm sorry I never manned up enough to apologize for all that." I let out another sigh before continuing. "I'm an idiot, but I honestly just want to help you because I saw you struggling. This is just me wanting to help you."

She bit her lip, most likely deciding if she believes me or not, but after a minute, she gave me a half smile. "Alright. Apology accepted. I'm sorry for being stubborn. That's just kind of how I am."

I smiled back. I finally was getting Zoey back as a friend, and I've never felt happier. "Now with all that being cleared up, let's start with simplifying this problem first."

We went through the whole worksheet, and after awhile she picked up on the material. She beamed every time she got an answer right, and honestly, seeing her feel proud made me feel so good inside.

It felt good knowing I had the crazy girl back in my life. It felt pretty damn good.

*****A/N****

Hey everybody!

Please ignore any grammatical errors as I'll be editing this later ;)

Sorry it took so long for me to post this chapter and for leaving you all on that cliffhanger before. I guess I just wanted to start right up on my newest book, Amira. Yes, it is based upon the characters Charlie Walters and Amira Montoya that are in this story as well. I just fell in love with both their characters, and I really felt that they deserved a story on their own.

"Amira" does have two chapters up right now, and I am working on the third one at the moment ( yes, I'm writing chapters when I should be working on getting my stuff ready for my second year in college, but oh well 🤷🏼‍♀️). Please check it out!

Please vote and comment!

Much love <3
~Madelyn Joy