"So, are you willing to help me?" I say to my best friend Avery, who is sitting on my bed next to me. I called her earlier and as soon as I told her about The List, she came over immediately to my house. "Yes! Of course I am! Why would I be over here if I wasn't!? Now which item do you want to do first?" she says, smiling down at The List, which is in between us on my Queen-Sized bed. Wow, she seems more eager to do this than I do. We are both sitting with our legs folded over each other, and she is rocking back and forth slightly with excitement.

"I guess I'll start with one," I say quietly, but loud enough for Avery to hear me. "One. Go on a date," Avery reads aloud. "Honey, I think you're going to have to get a guy to like you before you can do that. Any other ideas?" she says, looking up from The List and at me. "Umm... let's start with the drunk one then," I say, pointing at the sixth item on The List. "You do know you could possibly get arrested for actually getting drunk with alcoholic drinks. We're in America, remember? And you have to be 21 and older to drink. So that's not happening. How about you get... sugar drunk? Yeah. Sugar drunk," Avery says, nodding her head at the end. "What do you mean by that?" I ask, tilting my head curiously.

"Sweetie, it means you have too much sugar. You know your parents never let you eat candy when you were younger. You basically only got to eat sweets on special occasions, and even then you could only have one piece. Plus, your Aunt was, and still is, the same way, so it would still technically be something you've never done, it would just be like... a play on words if you know what I mean," Avery says, placing her hand on top of mine as it is on the bed. "Ok. So how are we going to do that?" I ask, and Avery leans in close and whispers it into my ear. Here we go.

1 Hour Later

How did I end up standing in front of the candy store on fifth avenue? I don't know. But I'm here, so I might as well go inside.

"Umm... you've been standing there for five minutes just staring. Go in and buy the candy already so we can go back to your house!" Avery says, opening up the shop door and pushing me inside. The person at the main counter looks at me weirdly. So. Many. Candies! I don't know which to choose! "Ooh... sour gummy worms... I'll take those. And these Hersey's kisses, and these m&ms. Ooh! Skittles! I'll get some of theses... and Hersey's chocolate bars! And jolly ranchers! And Swedish Fish, and gummy bears! Ok... I think that's enough," I say, filling up my small basket to the brim with candy. I go to the register and pay for all of it, and then Avery and I get in her car and head back to my house to get sugar drunk.

I take one bite of candy, as Avery takes her fifth. "Come on Em! Live a little," Avery says, nudging my arm playfully. I give a small smile, and continue to eat. This stuff is really good. I start to get a little hype. "PASS THE GUMMY WORMS, SISTA!" I yell, laughing, but Avery covers my mouth. I'm guessing she does not want my Aunt to know that we are doing this. I can't believe I missed out on this sugary goodness in my childhood!

After about 10 huge servings, I feel my eyes open wide, and I see the world in a whole different light. All of the colors are brighter, and I feel... happier! I start to laugh out of nowhere, and Avery does the same. "I FEEL SO ALIVE!" I yell, but this time Avery does not cover my mouth. She is too busy dancing crazily on the other side of my room. I feel like I'm on a rollercoaster because the room starts to spin, and I don't think Avery is feeling the same feeling I am...

"WHOA! WHOA!" I begin to yell, and I stagger around the room. Now I know why everyone protected me from the sweet sensations of candy. After staggering around more, I bump into Avery. We both fall on the ground, and I believe I have a bump on my forehead, because of the throbbing pain.

After about two minutes of trying to get up, we both burst out laughing. Our laughs are disoriented, and sound so weird. The pitches in our snickers and giggles go up, and down, and up, and down. I hear this for a while longer, until I fall back, and land on the floor. I think I just passed out. Not only does the world go black, but the last thing I hear is a thump, which I am assuming is Avery's body, doing the same as mine. Fainting from too much sugar intake.

I wake up, on the floor of my room. I then sit up slowly, so very slowly and carefully, just to discover that I have a massive headache, and my stomach hurts too. The room is dark, and the only source of light is coming from a little opening in my curtain, where a stream of moonlight is seeping through, illuminating the dust flecks floating in the air. I look over at Avery, and the moonlight is shining directly on her. Her beautiful brown eyes flutter open, and she sits up, the moonlight beautifully illuminating the auburn waves in her hair and bringing out her freckles, complimenting her gorgeous skin tone perfectly. I never noticed how flawless she was. Must be nice to be her.

"Hey," I say, waving at her slightly and smiling. "Hey. I guess I'll be sleeping over tonight since it's nighttime already," she says, standing up off of the floor and dusting herself off. I stand along with her, and I still feel somewhat disoriented, but I'm sure I can manage. "Yep... I guess so," I say, trying to keep from being awkward even though she knows I'm always awkward because I've known her since Pre-K.

We both get up, and go into my bathroom. Little specks of candy and sugar are all over our faces, and we swat them off. Then, we both take showers. I lend Avery a nightgown to wear, since we wear the same size, and we both put our hair up in messy buns. We then creep to the kitchen, because my Aunt is probably sleeping, and we eat some food, nothing sweet though, since our headaches have yet to disappear. After we eat, we go and clean my room, throwing all of the wrappers and extra pieces of candy away. Then we make my bed, brush our teeth, and go to bed.

One item down, nine left to go.

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The List:

This List is for me, Emily Olivia Jackson, to complete before my 18th birthday. It has 10 things to do on it because 10 is my favorite number.

1. Go on a date|
2. Get a boyfriend|
3. Take a long walk on the beach with my new boyfriend at sunset|
4. Have my first kiss|
5. Get my drivers license|
6. Get drunk and do drunk stuff |✅
7. Fly in an airplane|
8. Go to a concert|
9. Go cliff diving|
And most importantly...
10. Lose my virginity|

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Word Count: 1278