Ariel

My entire Saturday has been spent searching the apartment for my mum's stash. I'm still no closer to finding it.

My phone beeps.

Taylor: Sorry about disappearing last night x

Me: Are you ok? x

Taylor: Yeah. I'll see you at school on Monday x

Taylor is clearly not fine. Her parents are probably ripping her a new hole after what she put them through yesterday. They turned up at Kayla's house at twelve last night, panicking and asking if we'd seen her, which made me start to panic because she hadn't responded to any of our calls or messages. I contacted Ryder because even though he said nothing is going on between them I know for a fact they kissed the other day; I confirmed it with several reliable witnesses who were present at the time of said kiss.

I would love to be able to kiss Kayla freely. Unlike last night where I spent the evening watching her walkabout in these tiny sleep shorts and a thin t-shirt as she fretted about Taylor. I wanted to kiss her. Actually, I wanted to do a lot more but I couldn't even touch her due to Sydney being there.

Once Ryder called shortly after two in the morning to say Taylor was fine, we all went to bed. By the time I'd brushed my teeth, got distracted with a bunch of shit on my phone and realised I'd spent over thirty minutes in the bathroom, I returned to Kayla's bedroom and found Sydney asleep on the pull-out couch snoring like a fucking fog horn.

Kayla was awake and she said I could share with her. It was cute how nervous she looked. Me and Kayla kissed. We kissed a lot. And by the end of it, I was more turned on than I am when I read my mature books on Wattpad. We didn't do anything else because Sydney was there and I know from experience that can freak people out.

Last year, a group of us slept in the living room after a party and the couple next to me started taking it to the next level. Waking up to those sort of noises in the dark is terrifying, I thought a zombie apocalypse had occurred and I was about to be the next victim. I was so relieved when I found out it was just them giving each other oral, awkward but still a relief.

Slumping on my couch, I look around. There's a jar of cookies on the table but no drugs. How long do cookies last for? They must be stale by now. Not that I could eat anymore. I'm actually bored of cookies due to how many I've eaten.

A bit like I'm bored of Kayla acting like my girlfriend when no one's around then turning into a fucking stranger when people are present. Actually, she's worse than a stranger because a stranger wouldn't fucking flinch every time you come near them.

I understand she isn't comfortable with people knowing about us but I'm getting whiplash from her changeable behaviour. I mean, she kisses me like she needs me to live then can't get far enough away when in public.

Where could my mum's stash be? Ryder's mum used to hide her drugs in really obvious places, so obviously, no one thought to look there. Once she had a jar of cocaine in the kitchen which looked like a jar of flour. Luckily, none of her kids were into baking because that would not have ended well.

I haven't looked through the kitchen cupboards yet! Glancing at my phone, Ryder still hasn't messaged me back. He occasionally goes off on one of his missions but usually, he sends me a message to let me know he's OK. I spoke to him when he told me he'd found Taylor then nothing.

Faithful might know where Ryder is.
I phone Faithful as I search the kitchen for the second time today but in much more depth. My mum's pills have to be in this apartment somewhere.

"El, what's up?" Faithful says.

"Do you know where Ryder is? I spoke to him at around two this morning but I haven't heard anything since." I pull out all the tins in our cupboard. She could be hiding it in one of those fake tins. It's where my dad used to hide his shit on occasion.

"Yeah."

"Fucker." A bunch of tins fall and clatter to the floor.

"You alright?"

"I'm fine. I can't believe he's spoken to you but hasn't responded to my messages."

"I'm helping him with something."

"Great, so I'm getting left out. I thought we were a threesome but now you two are leaving me out to become a twosome." I jump off the counter and pull out the pots and pans.

"No, we're friends, El. There's no twosome or threesomes going on. I'll tell him to contact you."

"You tell him I'm fucking annoyed I've been left out of the threesome."

Faithful laughs. I fucking love his laugh. It rolls over you and makes you feel good like a laughter orgasm.

"Have you made anyone orgasm from just laughing?" I ask.

"No idea. I'll see you at school on Monday, El."

"Bet I get sent to Ms Healey's Office first."

Faithful laughs again. "We're meant to be aiming to stay in class not get chucked out."

I pull out a drawer and look through the papers. "Where's the fun in that?"

"I'm hanging up now."

Placing my phone on the table, I look around the kitchen which is a mess of pots and cans. Packets lay across the floor. Where the fuck is she keeping her pills? She's hidden them well this time.

A bit like Kayla is good at hiding she likes me, even though I saw her give Poppy the evil eye at lunch yesterday when she came over to ask if I was free to go to the game with her.

Fuck, I can't believe what happened last night with Miles at the game. Rumours of the cause behind his collapse have spiralled out of control, and I can only imagine they'll get worse when we all go back to school on Monday.

Ugh, Monday! It's the day I have to tell my teacher what my final Art piece is going to be. I pick up my phone and message Kayla.

Me: Please help me with my art project. Freaking out. Need a final piece by Monday.

I move back into the living room. I'll start working on my art once I look through here again.

My phone beeps.

Kayla: I can come over this afternoon? x

Me: Thank you for saving my art life! x

Kayla: Anytime x

Tucking my phone in my pocket, I start to look under the couch's cushions.

Maybe, when Kayla comes over I'll also talk to her about how long we're keeping us a secret. I don't need an exact timeline but I need to know this isn't going to be ongoing for months or years.

Fuck, it's amazing in this day and age people are embarrassed by who they are. I mean, the fact we have whole months dedicated to groups of people is fucking bizarre. I get it, we need to do it but really we should be at the point we don't need it because it's fucking normal. People need to get over their narrow-minded ways of thinking and just stop being so fucking prejudiced because once you peel back our layers we're all the same underneath; blood, guts and gore.

"El!" My mum shrieks.

I jump up startled."What?"

"What have you done?"

My mum slowly walks around the apartment and surveys the rooms. Following her, I look around and realise everything is a mess, cupboards and drawers are open and items are scattered across the floors.

Looking at my mum, I try to look apologetic over what I've done. Although I'm not because I still haven't found her stash. Where the fuck could it be?