I N D U L G E N C E
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Namine clutched the small bottle tightly. Her knuckles were white and the plastic creaked under her vice-like grip. She ran ignoring the looks people gave her as she brushed past them. It didn't matter if she bumped into them and left without even a hurried mumble of apology. This was the city with its traffic, crowded subways, tall glass buildings, and hectic twists and turns.
This was the city with its gangs and alcohol and drugs.
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She was acting like some junkie.
Namine tried to forget how she nearly jumped up and wrenched the bottle from the dealer's grasp.
She tried to forget that feeling of despair that overcame her with each empty bottle.
She tried to forget that indescribable ecstasy that each pill gave her. She tried to forget, and the drug helped her.
She was different, she'd tell herself. She could quit anytime she wanted. She wasn't addicted. She could live without it.
Couldn't she?
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Namine couldn't stand it. She couldn't wait until she got home. She turned into a dark, empty alley between two dingy apartments. There were only trash cans, rats, and bugs. Nobody to see her and her desperation.
Her trembling fingers fumbled as she unscrewed the bottle cap and poured the little white capsule into her palm. She swallowed. Her vision blurred for a moment and her head felt feverish. And then…
Namine felt like she was floating in the air, above everyone, everything. Nothing to pull her down to Earth. She leaned against the wall lost in her daydream. Suddenly, a screech pulled her back to harsh reality. She dropped her bottle in her fright and looked wildly around her. There was no one there but yet… she felt like she was being watched. She walked quickly out of the alleyway and into the street, blending with the crowd.
She had forgotten to look up.
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A boy walked down the rusty iron stairs. He jumped over the railing next to the second floor and landed lightly onto the ground. He looked at the bottle curiously and picked it up.
"That was weird."
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Roxas plopped down onto Sora's couch with a skateboarding magazine.
"Still want to be a professional skater even with that?" Sora looked pointedly at the bandage on Roxas' arm. He had fallen recently at the skate park and had gotten a very painful, bloody scrape.
"Of course he does!" Riku walked into the apartment.
"You should knock first or ring the doorbell!" Sora reprimanded.
"You should lock the door. Besides, it's not like you're doing anything, right?" Riku winked at Sora who turned beet red.
"Don't tell me you're jealous, Riku!" Roxas put on a face of mock surprise. "Why, Riku! If you're so in love with me you could just tell me. You know I love only you, right?"
"Idiot. Why would I love you? Sora is much hotter!" Riku sidled up next to the blushing Sora.
"Stop it you guys!"
"So what are you doing here anyway? You aren't hiding from any vicious ex-girlfriends are you?" Roxas raised an eyebrow. Ex-girlfriends were a scary, possessive race that knew no bounds. He had a scar where one of them had scratched him with her long manicured nail.
"Ready to have fun tonight?" Riku smiled devilishly and Sora gulped. He really hoped Kairi wouldn't find out.
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Roxas smiled as a girl winked at him. "Having fun, Sora?" He yelled over the blaring music to his friend. Sora was currently trying to refuse the attentions of a sultry woman. He gave a pleading look to Roxas who laughed and went up to the lady. "Sorry, miss, but he's my date tonight." He grinned and the lady left giggling. Sora fumed.
"You didn't help at all! What if Kairi finds out that I'm supposedly gay!"
"She'll ask what you were doing here anyway." Riku popped up from behind them. His shirt was rumpled and he had lipstick smudged on his cheek. Sora raised an eyebrow at him
"Do I want to know what you were doing?"
"No... Or maybe, you secretly do…" Riku chuckled as Sora blushed. "Hey. Why don't you go home and watch some sappy chick flick with Kairi while Roxas and I have some fun without you preaching good morals to us?" Sora brightened at the idea.
"Bye!" Roxas and Riku stared as Sora bowled over some dancers and rushed out the door.
"Well… that was quick."
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Roxas had lost sight of Riku hours ago. His head hurt from the oppressive smoking, the glaring lights, the heat exuded from the mass gyrating bodies, and that goddamn techno beat.
He looked around him and took a gulp of sharp, bitter beer. His gaze stopped on a girl. His eyes narrowed. He had seen her before. His hand slipped to his pocket and he felt the hard touch of plastic. His hand closed around the bottle. Roxas paid for his beer and got off the bar stool. He squeezed through the crowd.
"Excuse me, miss. You dropped this earlier today." Roxas handed the bottle to the girl. She looked up.
"Thank you." She took it and turned away. Roxas could hear the unscrewing of the bottle and he saw her pale hand lift to her mouth. She turned back to him. "Thank you," she said again. She seemed to have seen something behind Roxas because her eyes widened and she hastily grabbed his hands. "Do you want to go to a room?"
"Why not?" The girl looked relieved. Some one, probably her pimp, was putting pressure on her from behind, Roxas thought grimly. For some reason, he felt repulsed not by the girl herself but by the world around her that up until now, he used to enjoy visiting.
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"My name's Namine," she said as they walked down the badly lit hallway and into a room. There was a dresser with packets and bottles strewn across it, and a large bed with clean white sheets. Roxas wondered who cleaned the sheets day after day, night after night. Namine sat on the bed and motioned for him to sit.
Roxas wondered what the hell he was getting himself into.
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Roxas sat up in the bed. His head hurt, his body felt exhausted, and he felt a strange weight on his hand. He looked down at it and saw he was holding Namine's hand. Her long, slender fingers were intertwined with his. He trailed his gaze from her hands, up her arms, over the curve of her shoulder and the length of her neck, up to her face.
She was beautiful, there was no denying that. Her blonde hair formed a lovely little halo around her head and the white of the blanket covering her body made Roxas wonder if she was an angel. And then he'd remember last night and decide she was definitely human. Not to mention her skin was a deathly pale, there were dark circlesunder her eyes, and she was a drug addict. Namine's eyes opened and he could see that her blue eyes were dilated. She pushed herself up with her free hand and faced him. Smiling, she lifted her hand and the tips of her fingers grazed his face. She leaned forward and kissed him.
She really was beautiful.
Izzy should really start working on her next fruit again... and her homework, too... xD. English is killing Izzy... -cries-