"Wanna see a trick?"
Cloudy pulled out her banana-flavored vape and sucked in its fruity liquid. She let the pool of liquid sit in her mouth while she breathed in its essence.
After a moment, she opened her mouth in an O-shape and puffed the fog at Faith.
Faith scrunched up her face and walked slower until she was a little behind her. "Common Cloudy, are you serious?"
Cloudy smirked. "I have a strawberry one in my backpack that's new. Do you want it?"
"No! Cloudy I don't vape, you know that!" Faith yelled. It was after school on Friday, and like always, Faith and Cloudy would walk home together and like always, Cloudy would pull out one of her vape pens and smoke until throat hurt.
Though vape made Cloudy smell tangy and sweet, Faith refused to vape. She heard many horror stories of kids who had ruined their throats and lungs with drugs, vape being one of them.
"Common Faith, it's new! I haven't tasted it or anything! Just try it, you'll like vape!" Cloudy pleaded.
“No.”
Cloudy frowned, and her eyes went dull. She did feel dizzy from vaping all the time. “Common Faith, just take one. Just one with me, and you’ll see how good vape is. I got strawberry blast, I know you’ll like that flavor.”
Faith’s face scrunched. "I wonder what Poppa Joe would think about Strawberry Blast," Faith said, and sped down the road towards Cloudy’s house.
"You better not tell Poppa Joe about this or I will find you in school!" Cloudy yelled after Faith, but Faith looked straight ahead, bolting for the little green house with the flowers by the window.
Cloudy’s lungs seriously hurt from running after Faith for this long, when they got to the door Faith knocked rapidly. “Poppa Joe! Poppa Joe!”
Cloudy grabbed Faith’s arm and yanked her into facing Cloudy’s dark eyes. “Don’t even think about telling my grandparents. Poppa Joe will never believe you over me. You should just mind your business.”
Faith’s eyes watered. “But-”
“Don’t.”
Faith’s mouth slumped into a trembling frown. She gripped her book bag straps and stomped down the porch steps.
Poppa Joe opened the door just as she left. “Cloudy? What’s goin’ on? Where’s Faith going?”
“She’s going home, Poppa. We were just racing to my house is all, Cloudy smiled, but she felt like she could throw up just about then.
“What’s wrong, Cloudy? You look like you might just pass out right here.”
“Nothing Poppa Joe.” Cloudy rushed off to her room to hide her vapes under her bed.
The next day at school, Faith avoided Cloudy like the flu. She wouldn’t talk to her in the mornings before class, sit with her at lunch, or even text her in the nights as they used to.
This lasted two weeks until one day Cloudy came home sniffling with a tear-streaked face.
“Cloudy, what happened?” Poppa Joe said firmly. Cloudy ran past him up the steps.
When she came back down, she threw all her vape on the table, and her grandmother, who was sewing, gasped.
Poppa Joe’s eyes widened. “Cloudy, what-what is this?”
“I’m sorry!” Cloudy wailed. “I’ll explain everything, I promise, because I know vape is wrong, and I don’t wanna hurt my lungs, and I don’t wanna lose you like I lost my best friend.
Hey there! I’m Shila! I’ve loved books since I could read, and decided I would write books I wanted to see written for others! Check my children’s book Imagination on Amazon!
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