Who Else Will Love You?

Eden sat in her first hour practically shaking in her shoes. She stared intensely at her phone researching what she had just done. It was a bit difficult since she didn't actually know what she had just done but she knew she could figure it out. And when she did, she nearly had a panic attack. She swallowed all the spit in her mouth immediately. Acid. She had done acid. But she didn't understand, she wasn't feeling any sort of effects. . . Maybe she had done it wrong. Hopefully she had done it wrong.

"Phones away." Her teacher warned.

"Sorry Ms. Belling." Eden quietly apologized.

Eden put her phone away and began to pay attention to whatever her teacher was talking about. She let her mind wander and stared past her teacher at the wall. And she could swear the wall was breathing. She blinked a couple of times and refocused on the wall. It was definitely moving like it was breathing. She shook her head and zoned in on her teacher. Ms. Belling's mouth was growing bigger and bigger in proportion to her face. It freaked out Eden so badly she had to look away. She raised her hand waiting impatiently to be called on.

"Yes, Eden?"

"May I use the restroom?"

"Sure."

Eden got up, grabbing her bag, and began to quickly leave the room. She stared at her feet and was taken aback when the floor looked like it was sinking beneath her feet, but it didn't feel like it was sinking. She all but ran from the classroom to the nearest bathroom. Looking into the mirror, she examined her features. She looked fine, but the mirror didn't. It appeared to be stretching wider and wider by the second.

"What the hell?" Eden thought aloud.

She left the bathroom staring at all the posters and papers that lined the walls of the hallway, having to do double takes several times to make sure what she was seeing was really there. Eden was headed toward the basement, hoping Echo might still be there. Pushing open the door, she stumbled down the stairs and toward the back left corner. Sure enough Echo sat there in his chair, right where he was when she left earlier that morning. He was staring at the ceiling with a stupid grin on his face.

"What is this?" Eden asked with fear evident in her voice.

Echo jumped, startled by Eden suddenly appearing behind him.

"Shit, you scared me." Echo mumbled.

"What is this?" Eden repeated.

"Acid, dear. Look at the ceiling, dude." Echo said, both answering her question and being sidetracked by the visual effects of the drug.

Eden looked up at the ceiling and sure enough it looked like it was rippling. Like a drop of water in a pond. Both Echo and Eden sat staring at the ceiling watching it "ripple" for a solid thirty minutes.

"How long will this last?" Eden asked suddenly.

"A long time." Answered Echo.

"How long?" Eden asked, wanting clarification.

"Like eight hours."

And they both went back to staring at the ceiling.

~

"How long have y'all been down here?" Asked Rhiannon, breaking both Echo and Eden from their trance.

"All day baby." Echo laughed.

"Seriously? Good trip bro." Rhiannon said as she high-fived Echo.

"What time is it?" Asked Eden.

"3:15" Answered Rhiannon.

"Holy shit! Are you serious?" Exclaimed Eden.

"Yeah." Rhiannon said, nodding her head.

"I gotta go." Eden said as she began to collect her things quickly.

"Not so fast." Echo said as he stood up.

"What do you mean? I have to go." Said Eden.

"No, you're gonna hang out with me." Echo said as if it were obvious.

"No, I really have to go. Sorry. See you later?" Eden called as she ran through the school basement.

She couldn't be late. She had never ever been late in the past three years. She ran and ran until her lungs felt like wild fire and her breathing was like an earthquake. She couldn't be late, she wouldn't.