Looking Glass Media

Trouble on Cloud Nine

C. Block

11/4/2009

Sophie thought her old life was dull, that was until she met Ariel, now her whole world is turned upside down.

"Dad where do you want me to put these boxes?" Sophie asked she had a large brown box in her arms. Staggering up the steps, she almost dropped it on the front porch. Natalia, Sophie's new step-sister, snickered at her and continued to paint her toe nails. Sophie's dad, Franco, looked up at her from the large white truck parked in front of the new brick house they would be sharing with his new wife, Monica, and her three children. Natalia, who was only three months younger than Sophie, was her oldest. Then there was Micah, who was fourteen, and Karin, who was seven.

The brick two-story seemed a lot bigger than what Sophie was used too. She always moved in with her father for the summer and for the past fifteen years he had a two bedroom apartment, and then there was her mother's tiny two bedroom duplex that had way too many people living in it. Sophie, her mother Maria, and her uncles, Roy and Ricky; the place was crowded but it was home. Sophie was also used to being an only child; she knew that would change quickly.

Franco and Monica got this house right after they got married, which seemed a little too fast for Sophie. They said they needed a bigger place for their two families to grow as one. Sophie thought it was all a bunch of shit but she tried to help her father as best she could. Sooner than she thought she found out that she would be the only one doing any work. Franco ran up the stairs and past Natalia, clueless that she was not helping.

"Put them anywhere Sophie," he replied. "I need to find the keys and get the truck back before closing."

Sophie shook her head; her father was always losing things. "They are in the truck dad; remember you put them in the glove box so you wouldn't forget them." He smiled at her. "Thanks pumpkin," he replied, placing a kiss on her forehead before sprinting to the truck and taking off without another word.

Sophie picked up the large box and heaved in through the door-way. She put in on the floor by the gold and scarlet couch, which matched the curtains and the carpet. Sophie rolled her eyes; everything had to be coordinated in Monica's house. Sophie walked back onto the porch and sat on the brick wall encompassing the porch. Natalia looked up at her and rolled her hazel eyes.

"What?" Sophie snapped she really disliked her new step-sister.

"Nothing," Natalia replied, she picked up her things and sauntered inside, slamming the door behind her. Sophie flipped the bird towards her, Natalia was such a bitch, and everything had to revolve around her.

"You just moving in?" a loud voice stated from the sidewalk. Sophie looked down and found the speaker. She had very curly red hair and bright blue eyes. Sophie pushed the naturally blonde strands of hair from her face and nodded. "Yep."

Sophie walked down the stairs to the sidewalk, and next to the girl. "I'm, Sophie Durand."

"I'm Ariel." The girl held out her hand and Sophie shook it. "Do you want to hang out for a while?"

Sophie nodded, this was just what she needed, an escape from her hectic new family. "Sure, sounds like a lot of fun actually, lot better than unpacking." Ariel smiled genuinely, "Okay, follow me. I just live two streets down."

Ariel turned and strolled down the street, Sophie tagged along. Her strides were shorter and much more brisk than Sophie's, she had to rush to keep up. They past the larger houses, with the bigger windows and longer drive-ways until they reached the bottom of the hill, Ariel's house was on the corner. She lived in one of the duplexes; it had heavy curtains in the windows and Christmas lights still hanging from the roof. Sophie noted the empty drive-way as she trailed behind Ariel into the house.

There was a little boy sitting on the floor in front of the television, he seemed so immersed in what he was watching that he paid no attention to the stranger in his house. Smiling, Ariel rubbed his head as she walked by him. He yelled obscenities as the girls took their time going up the stairs and into Ariel's room.

"How old is he?" Sophie asked shocked by the language he used toward his sister.

"Six," Ariel replied, "But it's no big deal, he only says those things to me and my brother Garret. He's such a prince to everyone else." She crossed her room and plopped herself down on her bed.

Her room was decorated with posters on inch of her walls; her dresser was piled with hair supplies and make-up. The table beside her bed held a lamp and an ashtray, a pack of Marlboro Smooth sat next to them. Ariel took one out of the pack and lit it, Sophie had no idea her new friend was a smoker and she wondered what would actually happen if she tried it for herself. Her mother smoked and she always told her how bad it was for her, she really didn't know but Sophie felt like it was her job to terrorize her mother about it. She always wondered why Maria did it; one wouldn't kill her, would it? Ariel must have noticed her gaze because she offered a cigarette to Sophie.

"Sure," Sophie replied taking and lighting it, "How bad could it be?" She inhaled, and the first taste of smoke chocked her. It burnt going into her lungs but it also felt euphoric, like she could do anything. She felt really good, Sophie took a longer drag the second time, the burning not as bad and her stomach was at ease.

"Never smoked before?" Ariel asked with a smile, she pulled the red curls out of her eyes and tied her hair back into a messy bun.

"Actually no, but I feel good. I wonder why everyone says it's bad for you; they must have never tried it either." Sophie joked.

"Yea," Ariel replied sarcastically. There was a loud honk from outside and Ariel looked out her window to she what it was. She turned back to Sophie and smiled. "Let's go, Dylan's here. There's always time to try new things, today's your day. Are you up for it?"

Sophie returned Ariel's smile, she had made a new friend on her first day in a new place. She had tried smoking and realized that for the time being it wasn't going to kill her. She wondered what Ariel had meant about today being her day to try new things but right now she was ready for anything. She took an other hit off of her cigarette and said, "Sure am, let's go."

Ariel lead the way down the stairs, she opened the front door for Sophie, hit her cigarette and said good bye to her little brother. Sophie and Ariel walked up the car parked in her drive-way; it was dark blue with decals on the hood and rear window. Ariel leaned in the window, "Hey Dylan, This is Sophie; she's my new best friend."

"Hey," Dylan replied mockingly, "I thought I was your best friend." He looked out the window at Sophie and smiled crookedly. "But I can see why you chose her. Get in."

Ariel opened the door and pulled back the seat so Sophie could get in the car, there wasn't much room to put her feet but she stretched out in the back seat. Ariel took the front and immediately started flipping through songs on Dylan's I-Pod. It was connected to his car stereo system, and the bass was extremely loud. Dylan brushed his black hair out of his eyes and met Sophie's gaze in the rear view mirror; his were mocha, chocolaty brown with a golden outer ring. Sophie found them extremely attractive and smiled as he backed up and pulled out of the drive-way.

"So what are we doing today?" Ariel asked flirtatiously, running her fingers over his arm.

"Well, I just got paid so I thought that we could get some stuff and go over to Jayson's." He replied eyeing Ariel.

"Sounds like a plan," she said looking back at Sophie. "We're going to have a lot of fun."

"I hope," Sophie replied. She remembered that she left without telling her dad. "Do either of you have a phone that I could use to text my dad to tell him I won't be home for a while?"

Ariel flicked her cigarette butt out the window. Sophie flicked her ashes out the window at a red light and took one more hit before following suit. Dylan grabbed his cell phone from the car door and tossed it to Sophie," You can use mine; put your number in it if you want."

"Well I don't have a cell phone but I'll put my house number in it." Sophie replied, hoping she would remember her dad's house number.

"Dad bbl, out with friends" She sent the text to her dad. She handed Dylan back his phone. "Thanks." He smiled at her in response.

Dylan turned the car into a group of townhouses and drove into a parking lot. He parked; Sophie listened to him and Ariel chatter about nothing in particular. Sophie found that soon a tall black man in a red hat and shorts strolled up to the car. He pulled a bag out of his pocket filled with green leaves. Sophie was shocked that this was happening and she was sitting in the back of the car. It stunned her that this was normal to Dylan and Ariel but she tried her best to keep cool. Dylan gave the man three twenty dollar bills and the man gave him the sack. Dylan looked back and could see the shock on Sophie's face, she tried to act like this was normal for her but she could feel her ears burning. She looked away from him. Dylan shifted the car into drive, left the parking lot and continued on his way.

"Don't you think you bought enough?" Ariel rolled her eyes at him. "Well, let me smell it."

Dylan extracted a small amount from the bag and put it Ariel's hand. She held it close to her face and sniffed it; Sophie wondered why she had to have it that close to smell it, she could smell it from in the bag in the glove box. "Do you want to smell it Sophie? It's really good and dank."

"Sure." Sophie replied, Ariel put into her hand and Sophie held it close to her face. It smelt like her mother's house, she knew this was what her uncles did in the basement all day but she never held any in her hand. The little bud was bright green and very sticky, she handed it back to Dylan who put it back in the bag in the glove box.

Dylan looked down at his phone and rolled his eyes, "We have to go pick up Tommy." Ariel smiled and bounced around a little in her seat.

"The more the merrier," she stated. "It's not like we'll run short, you bought a half 'O'."

"Well it's a special day," he said meeting Sophie's eyes in the mirror again. "Hold on." He turned a sharp corner and sped down the road. Ariel turned up the music and stuck her hand out the window and played with the air current. The drove for a few minutes before Dylan pulled into a gas station; he got out and entered the building. There was a crowd of kids standing around talking and after he pulled in the crowd, without delay, flocked around his car. "Where's Tommy?" Ariel asked out the window to one of the girl's leaning on the car.

"I don't know," She said chomping her gum, "Who's the new girl?"

"That's Sophie, she lives down the street from me, and can you go find him Miranda?"

"Sure," she replied. She walked down the tiny alley toward the fast food place and Sophie watched her go inside. A moment later she came out again, a tall brown-haired boy followed her; he had a large awkward grin on his face and was walking as if he owned everything around him. He got into the car from Dylan's side and started chatting with Ariel at once. Dylan got back into the car, packing his newly bought cigarettes, and started the car. The boy looked over at Sophie and seemed to have just realized she was there, his bright blue eyes were rimmed in red and his breath smelled of the dank green.

"Dude," he breathed, "You've got to let me have one of those." Dylan rolled his eyes, yet again, and threw a cigarette at the boy. He looked back at Sophie and asked for a lighter. She shook her head, keeping her eyes down. Ariel tossed the lighter at him.

"Tommy, this is Sophie, my new bestest friend." She smiled, now chomping on a piece of gum that the girl, Miranda, had given her.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Tommy, but you already know that." He laughed; he seemed highly amused for some reason.

"High?" Sophie asked.

"Hello," He replied smiling. Sophie shook her head and started to laugh. This was going to be something new to her.

Tommy's eyes grew wide, "Marcus had some really green shit today, and I'm so fucking blowed."

"Yeah Tommy, we can tell. You smell like it." Ariel replied. Dylan nodded in agreement. "Now are we going to Jayson's?" Ariel turned her attention back to Dylan.

"Hey people, I'm leaving now." Dylan shouted out his window to the people gathered around his car. "Yes we are, as soon as these vultures get off my car." He replied to Ariel then he turned back to those surrounding his car, "Hey don't scratch the paint." Dylan yelled as he pulled out and left.

Sophie leaned against the window and felt the bass beat through the back seat, it was soothing to her. She rested her head on the small window and listened to the senseless chatter of those in the car. When she woke up that morning she had no idea what she'd be doing today. She didn't know that she was going to try smoking, or witness a drug deal. She didn't know that she would be sitting next to someone higher than the clouds or on her way to a party where the main course was an illegal substance. But if she knew what has going to happen when she woke up she still wouldn't have changed anything. Sophie was ready to try knew things; she was tired of her old boring lifestyle. She smiled as Ariel turned on a song she knew.

Dylan drove for about ten more minutes before turning onto a one lane road. The street had cars parked on both sides and the houses were very close to each other. There were people of every color, shape and size sitting out on their porches, running on the sidewalks and walking back and forth across the road. To Sophie, this seemed like the ideal neighborhood, where everyone knew everyone else. Dylan drove a bit more down the road and parked his car on the side of the road between two other cars. "Roll up your window and lock the door." Dylan said. Ariel rolled up the window and let Sophie out of the car before she locked and shut the door behind her. Tommy stepped out behind Ariel, almost falling on Sophie; he grabbed her shoulder and smiled before following Dylan up the steps to the porch.

A short man, with shorter brownish hair sat on the top step smoking. Tommy and Ariel greeted him and lit their own cigarettes. Dylan came around Sophie and grabbed her from behind, squeezing her around the middle. "Hey Jayce, This is Sophie."

He looked up at her, "Hey."

"Hello," Sophie replied.

"Is she your new girl?" Jayson asked sarcastically.

Dylan grinned, "I don't know, hopefully."

Sophie looked toward Ariel and thought that Dylan's statement would offend her but Ariel was to preoccupied with Tommy, She looked back over to Sophie and gestured to Dylan. She winked, as if giving Sophie the OK. Sophie turned around and grabbed Dylan's cigarette from his hand, "Oh really?" She replied, taking a drag and blowing the smoke in his face.

"Yeah," he said taking back his cigarette. "You do know what blowing smoke in someone's face mean, right?"

Sophie didn't but she laughed at him. "Of course I do."

Dylan watched Tommy follow Jayson and Ariel into the house and leaned in toward Sophie. He brushed his lips on her ear and whispered, "Anytime, anywhere. Go inside, I'll be right there." Sophie smiled and hurried after Ariel. She followed them up the stairs and into a medium sized room, a bed in one corner and a couch in the middle, facing a giant television. Ariel sprawled out on the bed and Tommy sat at the computer table, Jayson took his seat on the recliner near the couch, he turned on the television and started to play some PS3 game. Sophie sat on the couch, she wondered if they did this all the time because they seemed quit comfortable with their positions. Dylan came into the room carrying a brown paper bag; Sophie knew everyone knew what was in it.

He sat down next to Sophie and put the bag on the coffee table; he draped his arm on the couch behind Sophie and nonchalantly looked toward the television as if there really wasn't a large amount of an illegal substance on the coffee table. "So," he said turning his attention to Tommy, "Did you bring your bowl?"

Tommy laughed mockingly, "Dude, When do I not have it?" He pulled a little black bag out of his pocket and handed it gently to Dylan.

"True," Dylan replied.

Dylan put the bag on the table and took the substance out of the brown bag. He picked up a game case from the table and handed it to Sophie. "Put this on your lap." He told her, she followed his instructions. He opened the bag and took out a hand full of the green buds; he put them in a pile on the game case. Sophie had never had so much in her possession at one time. Even the very thought of it had never crossed her mind; she never thought it would cross her mind in a million years, but this wild dream came true. Dylan took the bowl out of the little black velvet pouch and turned it around in his fingers. The bowl part was coated in resin but Sophie could still see the faint violet color. Dylan took a bigger bud off the case and broke it up in his fingers, filling the bowl to the top.

"I say Dylan gets greens and I get deuces." Tommy stated business like.

"You always get deuces," Ariel complained.

"That's because I know what I'm doing." Tommy replied grinning.

"Will you two just shut up? I say Sophie gets deuces, then Jayce. You guys can fight over who gets it after him." Dylan stated, settling the argument.

"I agree with him." Jayson commented. Ariel crossed her arms and pouted.

"I really don't care that much you guys, really." Sophie started to protest but Jayson cut her off. "Take what you can get."

Sophie watched carefully as Dylan hit the bowl, inhaled all the smoke and held it in. His face turned vibrant red and he looked like he was choking. He passed the piece to Sophie as he exhaled, clutching his chest and rocking back and forth; it didn't seem as fun as everyone said, but when in Rome. Sophie held the bowl and lit it, doing everything exactly like Dylan, and inhaled the smoke like a cigarette, she coughed it all up and Tommy laughed at her.

"Try it again, this time hold it in through the coughing, it takes seven seconds for the THC to hit the blood stream." Jayson said he appeared to be in a happier mood even though he hadn't had it yet.

Sophie hit it again; this time when she inhaled she held it in as long as she could. The smoke burnt her lungs and she wanted to cough so badly. She counted to ten in her head and then exhaled. It wasn't as bad the as the first time, but she didn't feel any different. She passed the pipe to Jayson and then he continued to pass it around the circle. The next few times were easier for Sophie and after a few minutes she could feel her head start spinning. Now she knew why her uncles spent their days in her mother's basement smoking.

Time flew by fast and before they knew it a fourth of what Dylan had bought was already gone. Tommy and Jayson took turns rolling, and between the joints and bowls they all smoked Sophie felt really good.

"This is not what I expected we'd be doing today." Sophie commented, she thought she said it in her head, but that apparently wasn't the case.

"What did you think we'd be doing?" Ariel asked through her laughter, some how she ended up on the floor in front of Sophie, a blanket cocooned around her.

"I don't know, anything but this, this didn't even cross my mind." She felt her shoulder twitch and Ariel gave her an amused look.

"What…hic!?" Sophie asked through her hiccups.

Jayson was the first to speak. "You're twitching; it's kind of funny to watch." He pointed toward the fan above Sophie and Dylan. "Look you guys I forgot Krystal put that there." It was some mistletoe, but it took a second for Sophie to register it.

"Ha, it's mistletoe.." Shouted Tommy, he was laughing hysterically on the bed, rolling around and gripping his stomach. "That means you two have to kiss."

Dylan smiled and looked at Sophie, his eyes were red and she knew hers were the same. She didn't know what she should do, she liked him but she didn't want to be assertive and scare him off, but she didn't want to not do it and lose her chance. She decided not to worry about it, if it was to happen it was going to happen. Dylan leaned in closer and kissed Sophie on the nose gently. She giggled at him, not willing to worry about his actions right at this point in time.

The sun had gone down and the moon was shining in through the window. Sophie glanced at the clock through all their laughter and realized it was almost ten o'clock.

"Ariel, when are you going home?" Sophie asked, trying not to laugh.

"Um, I don't know. When do you have to be home?" She replied with a wide grin.

Dylan looked at the clock, stood up and grabbed his brown bag. "I think it's time to take all of you guys home." He swayed a little on the spot and helped Sophie up. "Tommy are you staying with me tonight?"

Tommy was sprawled on the floor, his shirt wrapped around his head. Ariel walked across his back and he jumped up, throwing her onto the bed, a shocked expression crossed his face. "Wait….what? Oh yea, sure." Ariel burst out laughing, jumped up and ran for the bathroom. Dylan shook hands and said bye to Jayson as they left. The walk down the stairs was harder for Sophie than she thought. Tommy helped her to the car and pushed her in before him. They got into the back seat as Dylan got into the front, it was as if they all knew exactly where they sat and were happy with that. "Ariel," Dylan shouted out his window. "Hurry up!"

"Sorry," She yelled back, running toward the car. "I had to pee but I couldn't stop laughing."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Tommy asked.

"It made me have to pee more." She replied with a goofy smile on her face. The group burst out in laughter.

Dylan started up the car and shifted it into drive; he swerved onto the street and stopped sharply at the red light. Before Sophie knew it, Dylan pulled into Ariel's drive-way.

"See you tomorrow Ariel." Dylan said, Sophie nodded and got into the front seat as Ariel got out.

"Bye guys."

"So, where's your house?" Dylan asked.

"Up the hill, turn left at the stop sign. It's the big red brick house with the grey shutters and tower." Sophie spit out. That was the only good thing about moving in with Monica and her bratty kids, Sophie got the tower bedroom.

"Okay." Dylan replied. Only a minute later he pulled into Sophie's drive-way, he appeared to know his way around the neighborhood pretty well.

"Thanks Dylan." Sophie said. "I had a lot of fun today. It's been a while since I've been out with people."

"Friends," Dylan replied, still smiling. He handed Sophie a piece of paper, she took it with out looking at it and got out of the car. She started to go up the steps and Dylan leaned out the window. "Promise you'll call me tomorrow, I'll pick you up and we can hang out."

"Yeah," Sophie nodded. She looked back to find Tommy sprawled out in the backseat snoring, she started laughing and turned toward her house again. She put the piece of paper in her pocket and sauntered up the steps. She tripped, caught herself quickly and laughed at her foolishness. Her head was spinning and she didn't know if she would be able to make it all the way up the steps, to her it felt like climbing a mountain; but miraculously she made it. Sophie grabbed onto the door knob for support, steadying herself; she turned and watched Dylan drive away.

She entered her house slowly, taking each step with caution, she tried to be as quiet as she could as she moved toward the stairs and she heard her father's voice before she got to the top.

"Sophie," he started slowly. "Where have you been young lady? Do you know what time it is?"

"No." Sophie replied from the top of the stairs, she kept her eyes on the ground. She knew they could giver her away, a ring of red surrounded the green. 'But I bet you're going to tell me."

"It's almost ten-thirty; I was worried sick about you." His arms were crossed across his chest and he had a large frown on his face. "All I got was a text saying that you'll be back later from a phone number I didn't recognize. It could have been a murderer, or a rapist. I had no idea what to think."

"Well, if I had a phone I'd be able to contact you, and I kind of just forgot." Sophie said swiftly, she wanted this conversation to end. She didn't care what Franco had to say at that point in time. "Night." Sophie hurried up the last of the stairs, totally blowing Franco off. She locked her bedroom door and collapsed on her bed. Today had been a new experience for Sophie and she liked it. She liked the feelings she was having, being so light-hearted and un-caring. It was like she could rule the world. She fell asleep almost instantly once her head touched her pillow. It was the best night's sleep she's had in a long time.