Chapter 1 - First time

'Alright then. Telling you just once more, this isn't something to do with a bad mind-set. It will spin you off. but if you're optimistic and smart, it will pay off and you'll walk out feeling refreshed and content with life I swear. You sure you're ready for it?' I looked at to Sarah as I held the bong in front of her gaze, cross-legged on the cool ground. The stars were fully out now and the crickets were clattering and rattling away.
'If I wasn't ready, I wouldn't be sitting out here in the dark with you would I? After all, how am I supposed to really know about something if I haven't seen, experienced or done it myself?' The glint of amusement and passion was in her blue eye again. Her clarity was always what made me fond of her.
I smiled, keeping my eyes on her, making sure she was watching my demonstration as I lifted the nozzle to my mouth. I gestured for the lighter and she quickly placed it in my waiting hand. Here we go! my expression said like a gleeful child, before I focused on the bowl and lit it. I'd done this a thousand times now. I waited until the fibers were glowing, and let the lighter flick off. With the fibers glowing, I sucked in , feeling the familiar scalding on the back of my throat and the bubbling of the water I'd become so used to. I kept dragging hard, seeing the smoke disappear from the bong into my lungs.
My chest finally tightened and I drew away from the bong, holding the intense smoke and heat in. It was like a furnace of glory inside me. I looked at Sarah who was waiting for me to puff out the smoke.
'Wow. I was so miss-lead. I thought it was just like smoking a cigarette or something but this seems to take skill,' she mused, eyebrows slightly raised.
I widened my eyes in glee and smiled as best I could while holding it in. I felt my lungs start to hurt. I waited it out a bit longer and slowly blew out the smoke into the cold night air, savoring what I could. A smile lit my face as I saw her amusement.
'And that, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, is how you toke.' I made a mock bow to an imaginary audience. 'You reckon you could go now, or do you want me to demonstrate one more time?'
Sarah brushed a strand of mousy, brown hair back behind her ear and said, 'I don't want to fail the first time. Show me again.'
I did so, lighting, drawing the smoke in, holding it for a while and then exhaling. I decided to pack another bowl and finish it off within three goes.
Something was different. The stars were brighter and I forgot Sarah was sitting beside- Course they're brighter! Of course you forgot! The weed is kicking in, fool! I chuckled to myself and looked at the bong for a long time, appreciating the way the light bent and refracted inside it's glass confines.
'John?' Sarah asked.
I slowly looked at her, having forgot she was there and grinned. 'It's working. I feel the gravity! Damn... this is some good stuff, I won't lie.'
'Alright, I think you've had enough. It's my turn.' She winked at me and I packed the bowl with luscious, green weed for her. She took it with shaking hands.
'Are you nervous?' I laughed.
Sarah froze, looking at the glass bong. 'Well there's no point lying. I am a tad nervous.' She grimaced at me. 'Does that mean I'm in a bad mind set?'
'No, no, think of it more as excitement!' I giggled. 'I was so nervous my first time. I'm glad for that now really. It made it such a magical time.' I stared off into the ground, recollecting my first memories of being high on weed.
'Well, I'm gonna do this then now. Hello? You there?'
'Sorry, I'm somewhere else right now.'
I found the lighter and handed it to her.
'So, hold the bong like this... yep, put your mouth to the rim... uh-huh, pose the lighter over the thingy- the- the bowl,' I sputtered, high as a kite, 'Now burn it!... Don't breath in just yet. You need to let the weed burn up a bit first. Now see how it's in embers now? Now take off the lighter and breath it in!' I almost jumped off the ground in excitement.
I stared as she breathed in and scowled, clearly disliking the burn and taste of the smoke. She stopped and held it in. She failed, and she sputtered and coughed for a while. 'That was horrible.'
'That's the thing you see... you have to learn how to breath in just the right amount at the right speed. Not too fast, not too slow. Not too much, not too little.'
her coughing came to an end and she gathered herself. 'Alright, I think I can do it this time.'
She took a breath to clear her lungs and tried again. This time she managed, desperately trying to contain the coughing and scowling at the feeling in her throat.
She was determined though. Thorough in her approach and after the second try, she pretty much had it. I just sat there and stared, droopy-eyed at her in my highness. Stared at her auburn hair that was almost a dark grey in the silvering moonlight. Something about the darkness of the night in the park brought out her features and coaxed them for pleasant viewing of the poor souls like me, her prettiness made plainly obvious and even more so in my high. She sat cross-legged on the grass, the silkiness of her skin glowing in silver shades, her delicately arched eyebrows sitting proud above her large eyes that concentrated on the bong in her hands. Her hands, which were so smooth, yet firm in their grip.
It was too bad. It was really was. It was tormenting for me, to be honest, that she was under the spell of some other swag-induced tosser. A 'swaggot' as Michael would often say when referring to Damien. I genuinely wanted to know what kept Sarah tied with Damien and his self-indulgent ego. Was it insecurity on her part? Was it pride on his part? Was it hate for everyone? Was it genuine love? Surely not. There was no way that man could possibly selflessly give affection to another without expecting something absurd in return to mount his ego into the sky.
'Woah... woah... um...' Sarah was looking at me, confused. 'I think I feel it. I feel it. Yep, I feel it.'
I realized I'd been caught staring at her. How embarrassing.
'You're high!' I grinned and laughed.
'Wow. I feel so...' she stood up and swayed about dramatically before regaining her stance. 'Gravity is increasing I swear!' She shouted.
I laughed and said, 'Come here, let me see your eyes.' I was not to gaze into them dramatically, but see if she was squinty-eyed. She drew close and nearly tripped. Her hand landed on my arm as she steadied herself. I nearly shied away from the startling event, her cool hand feeling odd but pleasant. I looked at her eyes. She was squinting funnily: she was high. 'Confirmed... You. Are. High. As. A kite... mate... You should see your eyes.'
Sarah's movements were slow as she looked at me, droopy-eyed and moved away. The spot where her hand was suddenly felt cold and abandoned, like something was missing. She stood there without saying anything, her eyes wide.
'Sarah?' I asked. She didn't move. Her eyes widened further and she frowned.
It dawned on me like a car plowing a man on the road. She's spinning out. Oh no! I panicked.
'Sarah, how do you feel?' I asked in a panicked daze.
She didn't respond. Shit!
'I feel... So ***ing weird... ha-ha!' She turned to me and I was bathed in relief. 'I feel like... I feel like a child again!' She laughed. 'I feel like a child again, experiencing things for the first time! Like experiencing standing for the first time. Or seeing. Or thinking. I feel like my mind is seeing and experiencing things how it was meant to! Everything is so amazing! So brilliant! It's all so... magical!' She spread her arms into the sky.
Relief was intense in its abundance now and I spread my arms into the sky too, laughing, my heart soaring in unison with hers.
'Dude, my throat feels dry. I feel like I have cotton in my mouth.' She scowled as if tasting something bad then her eyes widened as if she had discovered something important. 'I feel... so hungry! Man, I am starving! Is this what they call the munchies?'
'Yes! You are experiencing intense munchies right now! ...So am I actually... shit, I am so hungry!'
'Where's the foods? Um, I mean food markets? Or whatever? I just need food!
I thought for a moment. 'There's a service station up ahead... wait, no, screw buying stuff while high. You have no idea how awkward it is.'
'For real?'
'Go look in a mirror then.'
'What would I look like?'
'You would be red-eyed, droopy and you would be squinting really hard. You would also talk really slow and it's just not worth it, trust me.'
'Oh,' her mouth frowned into a cute pout.
'Never mind buying stuff, just come back to mine. I have so much food there, reserved for moments like these!'
She thought for a moment, dopily staring into the sky. 'The lights are so pretty...' she mused. 'Um, I don't know... what's the time?'
I checked. 'One-thirty. That's the time.'
She gaped at me, shocked. 'That's all?! It feels like hours have passed!'
'Nope, only been here for around twenty minutes. Time goes REALLY slow when you're high. It's good.'
'Oh my god, this is so awesome!' she shouted.
'Yep. Now, let's go.'
'Wait... I have to be back by dinner tomorrow. Mum and Dad won't be too happy otherwise.'
'We'll make sure of that won't we. Now, let's eat, come on!' I gestured for her to follow me back to my house. It was only a few blocks away from the park, which is why I chose that for the meet up spot. We walked in silence, each lost in our own little worlds. I would her frequent snickers and giggles from Sarah as we made our way back in the cold. Luckily weed lets you shrug off the cold, and before we even realized it, I had nearly run into the door in my dazed state. Sarah giggled uncontrollably and I fumbled with the keys, finally unlocking the house.