Inhale, Exhale

The wind is fast. Faster than me? Maybe. We were neck and neck - me, running down the street and the wind, zipping past my face and screaming in my ears. In second place we had a very angry Chandler sprinting after us, his yellow Neff hat clenched in his hand in fear of losing it to the air if he had it on his head.

I'm not a runner or anything. In fact, I don't even run in general. Gym class? I walk. Work out? I walk. It's not something people usually see from me. But in this case, it was worth it.

A few minutes beforehand, I had bumped into my 'kind-of-friend, mostly-dealer', Chandler Satti. The skin under my eyeballs was sagging and he took quick notice.

"Sweet tits, your eyes aren't red." He hinted, with his always-appropriate nicknames. "That isn't good, not for my Allie-cat."

I looked at him with my best droopy-faced dog impression and shrugged. "I don't know, Chaddy. What you got?"

In response, he pulled out a full baggy of stunning purple haze. My jaw slacked enough for me to poke my tongue out from between my lips to show my blazing interest.

"How much?"

"For you? Let's say, thirty." Chad settled, reaching up to brush his blonde bangs away from his eyes so he could flash me a wink.

"Damn, babe. I love you." I said, sticking one hand into my back pocket, prodding around for money I knew wasn't there, and extending the other to retrieve the baggy. Carelessly, Chad dropped it into my hand and that was my cue.

I went flying down the street, laughing excruciatingly gleefully at how easy Chandler was to con. A few feet behind me, he was shaking his fist, spewing profanities at the speed of light.

"You'll get your money next week!" I screamed happily, spotting a quick corner into an ally I could very easily hide in in the distance. "I love you, Chaddy! I owe ya' one!" I said loud enough for him to hear before taking the sharp corner into a black pathway to guide me home.



"Cupcake, it's seven thirty! You slept in!"

That is the last thing I wanted to hear from my mom when I spent the night prior smoking and munching until 5 in the morning.

I flipped over in bed as mom shut the door behind her. Her high heels clattered down the wooden hall, muttering about how thirty minutes is the minimum time any girl should ever spend getting ready for the day. My mouth opened wide, letting out a yawn that could easily compare to a hippos call. I rubbed my eyes, flexed out of bed, and threw my hair into a pony tail.

Fell asleep in jeans and t-shirt? Cool, it was Monday anyways. On the back of the chair to my desk hung my black leather purse which I snatched up on my way through my bedroom door. I walked quickly down the hall, faster down the stairs and busted through the front door.

Mom was getting into her white jeep, one tall heel in the car and the other one out. She was constantly dressing like she was a young business attorney with tons of money, spending that day in a white pencil skirt and a black blouse with a grey baret on top of her middle parted, teased hair. She was blonde. Very blonde.

"Baby, do you want a ride to school?" She called, holding the car door open with one hand and bouncing on her foot for me to answer quicker.

"No, mom. I'm walking, you'll be late for work anyways. It's almost 7:50."

"Oh, shit. Okay. Thank you, baby girl. Have a great day. Talk to that cute boy in your math class." She teased, blowing me a kiss and then hopping into her car. She pulled out of the drive way, turned right and sped down the road, out of sight within twenty seconds.

I probably should have followed her car, knowing that school was in that direction. Instead, I had decided it was Monday - a day where mom leaves for work late, and gets home late - and that I had much better things to do. I spun on the pads of my feet and started skipping left down the sidewalk. Off to Chandler's house, I was, with the mission of paying him back early but not in money.