Learning How to Swim

Crystallized

“Are you hot? I could turn off the fan,” I told him, sitting down on my bed.

“No, no. It’s fine.” He threw off his hoodie, leaving it on my bed. Today he was wearing a tight wine-red long-sleeved shirt.

I looked at my own claret shirt, smiling a little.

Steven was rummaging through my room, commenting on the little things I had. He especially liked my purple stuffed giraffe.

“Cute,” he had told me, making it kiss my cheek. “It’s almost like the real thing only, you know, tiny.” He had then proceeded to tossing it carelessly to the floor and heading back into my closet.

He was now tearing apart my pillows, asking if that was real silk or just imitation. I told him it wasn’t real—I was allergic to silk. I watched in curiosity as he set it down, but crouched down under the bed.

“What are you doing?” I asked, watching as he pulled a bag out from under my bed. “What’s that?”

“You tell me,” he said, producing a bag full of pills. I narrowed my eyes in confusion, snatching them.

“I’m not sure...” I told him, opening the bag and pinching the powdery crystals.

“Well, I know what it is,” he told me, taking it back into his hands. “It’s methamphetamine. Why do you have this?” He looked anxious. I took it back again, staring at it.

“I don’t know, Steven! It’s not mine, if that’s what you’re implying,” I scowled.

“Then whose is it?”

I thought for a minute. “What does it do?”

He thought for a minute. “Well, it’s known to cause irritability...” I remembered how she had looked at me in the bathroom. “Aggression, dilated pupils, involuntary movements...” She had twitched suddenly in class. “Severe depression, weight loss, paranoid delusions...” She had recently been diagnosed with bipolar depression, she was turning super bony, and she had thought she was drowning back at Beckham. Steven glanced over to me, suddenly getting it. “Oh, Alyssa... I’m so sorry.” He reached out and touched my arm gently.

She had tried to frame me.
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These chapters are really short, I know. I apologize for that, but I just try to find the best places to stop them.