Out of Breath (Exposed Series Book 2) Read Online Free Page B

finally broach the subject. “But I
think last Saturday- the night I went to my Aunt’s- was the last straw.”
    “Why?”
    “Cause my Mom busted me coming home stoned.”
    Her jaw dropped. “Stoned? Who were you getting stoned with?”
    “Kevin.”
    Her eyes stayed wide. “You’ve been smoking with Kevin?”
    “Yup.”
    “Like a lot?”
    “No,” I said. “Just a few times.”
    “Why didn’t you tell me?”
    I cocked my head at her. “I was actually going to ask you the
same question?”
    “Sorry.”
    “I felt like such an idiot for not knowing. I’m supposed to be
your best friend.”
    “You are.”
    “So why wouldn’t you tell me something like that?”
    “I didn’t think you were cool with it.”
    “Even if I didn’t want to, I wouldn’t have cared if you did.” I
looked over my shoulder at the back of her house to make sure none of the
windows were cracked. “I’m just disappointed you didn’t tell me, you know?”
    “My bad. But you liked it anyway?”
    “Yeah,” I said. “I did. I do. It’s different than drinking.”
    “Better in some ways.”
    I nodded. “Since when have you been doing it?”
    “Since I started seeing Rob. That’s the only reason Kevin knew
before you. I swear.”
    “It’s no big deal,” I lied.
    “I’m sorry I didn’t mention it.”
    “What about Danielle?”
    “What about her?”
    “Does she know? Have you smoked with her?”
    She didn’t have to say anything. Her guilt had nowhere to hide
on her tiny freckled face.
    “What the fuck. How come she knew?”
    “She has older siblings. She just sort of guessed.”
    I shook my head.
    “I wasn’t going to tell her either. She just called me out.”
    “So you guys have gotten high together then? Without me?”
    “Once or twice. That’s all. Really.”
    I felt a familiar, nagging cramp in my lower guts. It was
stress, and it made me want to stuff my face.
    I took a deep breath.
    What if feeling left out was one of my triggers? It would
certainly go a long way towards explaining why I’d spent so much time with my
finger down my throat the last few years. I mean, my entire high school
experience was just a mess of humiliation and paranoia. I felt left out,
singled out, and like I was missing out all the time.
    “You okay?” Annie asked.
    “Yeah.”
    “You’re not upset?”
    “No. I’m fine.”
    “Cause if you’re really depressed, we could smoke a bowl.”
    I turned my head towards her. “You mean you have some now?”
    She smiled. “Just a little… But it’s stinky.”
    “Your call.”
    “I think I’ll get it. I feel bad I didn’t tell you. I’d like to
make it up to you.”
    “Well, if it would make you feel better…” I said,
laughing.
    Her small face lit up. “Say no more.”
    “Wait-” I sat up in my chair. “Isn’t your Dad home?”
    “Yeah, but he’s working on his car in the garage,” she said.
“And even if he caught us, he wouldn’t say shit.”
    “How do you figure?”
    “Cause he still smokes sometimes, too. When his best friend from
college visits.”
    “He does?”
    “It’s not all the time or anything. Promise me you won’t say
anything to anybody.”
    “I would never.”
    “Anyway, trust me,” she said. “It’s not like I’m going to do
anything that would get me kicked out of my own house.”
    “Good one. Hilarious .”
    She scooted her chair away from the table. “I’ll be right back.”
    I couldn’t wait to get high, and I wasn’t even stoner. Not yet
anyway. But I did like it. And if I liked it even half as much as I liked
cigarettes, I’d be smoking every day in no time. I mean, it was so easy to say
“yes” and lift a burning joint to my mouth. It didn’t seem like a big deal.
    But how many easy yes’s did it take to become a full blown pot
head? Were you only one if you bought it yourself? If you never turned it down?
If you got high every day? By yourself? Like Kevin did? And maybe Annie, too?
Maybe I was the weird one for not