Best Friends Forever

7

The very first thing I did the next morning after brushing my teeth and taking a shower was rush over to the guesthouse. I'd been thinking about Jason all night, worried out of mind. This wasn't my first run in with his recreational drug use, but it freaked me out every time. It was disturbing to see someone lose control of their body like that.

I tiptoed out of the house so that my parents wouldn't ask where I was going. When I was safely in the guest house, I made my way over to the bedroom I'd left Jason in. He wasn't in bed, but I could hear the shower running in the ensuite bathroom. So I sat down and waited for him.

Ten minutes later the water shut off and then he came out in fresh clothes Ella must've given him. His dark hair was wet and pushed back and his green eyes glistened like dew. He looked so normal now, it wasn't like he had been almost unconscious nine hours ago.

"Leils!" he grinned when he saw me sitting there. "Thank you for yesterday. Ella set me up pretty good. I'm sorry you had to deal with me though."

His grin was so infectious. It was like a radiator of happiness. Anytime he smiled, so did everyone else in eyesight. But today, I didn't.

"You promised me no more drugs," I said accusingly.

His beautiful smile faltered, but he forced it back up. "I was just having fun."

"There's nothing fun about ODing."

He chuckled, then came over and ruffled my hair. "I'm not going to OD from taking one pill. Don't worry."

"There's a fentanyl crisis. You don't know what's in it. What's the point of doing it anyway? You just wasted your whole night being high out of your mind."

"Sometimes I need to be high out of my mind, Leils. It doesn't matter. But again, sorry you were stuck taking care of me. Where were Addy and Lucas?"

"No idea," I responded honestly. Neither had returned my texts even until now. "But we're not changing the subject. This isn't who you are."

Again, his smile fell a little. "So who am I, Leils?"

"Not this guy. I don't know what's going on with you lately, but whatever you're turning into isn't you."

He laid himself down on the bed and I laid down next to him, facing him. I stared at him inquiringly and he stared back at me, shame clear in his gaze. He opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it and grinned again.

"It's junior year, I'm just having some fun," he said. He threw his arm around my waist and kissed my forehead. "But thank you for caring."

I put my arms around his torso and held him close to me, as if doing that would protect him from himself. I felt protective as I held him, I wanted to cage him in my arms forever and hide him away from whatever self-destructive behavior he had.

We laid there together for whatever time passed before the door swung open and we flew apart, as if we had been caught doing something wrong. I looked up to see my mom standing there, her hands on her hips as she looked at me.

I didn't know whether to explain or not. I didn't know what I would explain either. What would I say, 'hey mom, Jason was on drugs so I let him crash here?'. Not the best idea.

Thankfully, Jason saved me from that. "Hey, Talia," he said. "Sorry I slept over here, I forgot my keys so Leila told me I could use the guesthouse. Hope that's okay."

My mom raised her eyebrows at him disbelievingly, but let it slide. "Nice to see you, Jason. It's been a while since I've seen you. How is everything?"

She was so formal with him, it was kind of weird to watch. Out of all my friends, my mom liked Jason the least and I didn't know why. She absolutely adored Addy and Lucas. But when it came to Jason, it was like she didn't even want to look at him.