"I mean you don't have to if you don't want to Mike" Woody smiled, eyes slightly squinted and slightly tinted red. I glance up for a second, looking around the circle we were currently forming in the park. Woody was sitting next to me, Jason and Renet next to him, and Mira and Shini on the other side.
I glance at Woody again, and more specifically, the joint that was sitting in his hands.
"No I want to" I say, biting my lip. "I just… I don't know how to.. smoke?" Woody stares at me for a moment, but it was Mira who barked out a laugh first.
"That's so adorable" Mira snickered, erupting in a fit of giggles again. "That's really adorable. But it's not hard though"
"No wait, I wanna explain it" Jason snickers, taking the joint from Woody, bringing it to his lips, and inhaling some weed. He blows out the weed, grinning. "Okay so you just put it between your lips, inhale through your mouth. Then inhale that smoke into your lungs. And exhale"
Jason explains, bringing the joint to his lips again. Then, as he just explained, inhaled through his mouth. He took the joint away from his lips, over-emphasising inhaling again, forcing the smoke into his lungs.
"And then you just hold it for a few seconds" Mira snickered, gesturing to Jason. "And then exhale" Jason did as Mira told, exhaling the smoke.
"Light another joint, this one's almost done" Renet interjected, throwing the lighter over to Mira. "Last part of the joint isn't that good, can't have his first experience to be coughing up his lungs" She shrugs. I chuckle nervously, glancing around the circle.
How did I even end up here?
Oh right, college, first year, California. In hindsight, I should've expected it in a way, but at the time the only thing I could think about was the slight reluctance of leaving my family in New York, but the excitement of going to the University of Southern California far outweighing that reluctance.
I almost immediately bonded with a group of good friends. But it wasn't until now, the beginning of April, that we ended up in the park with the six of us, and Woody took out a joint. It wasn't the first time I had seen them smoke, they actually did so pretty often. But it was weed, drugs, bad for you, right?
At least, that's what I had been told.
And it wasn't like it was entirely legal here in California, I was still underage, so actually I was doing something illegal. But legally none of us could drink yet, and my friends and brothers still did. So why was weed so different?
Dad wasn't against alcohol per se, and allowed us to explore alcohol as much as we wanted. In turn, we were all very responsible with it. Raph got drunk a few times, but never too far. Leo and Don drank from time to time as well. I was the only one who never liked it. I didn't like the taste, and that's about it.
Why bother drinking it when you didn't like it?
"Okay just inhale, inhale and exhale again" Mira tells me, handing me the joint. I carefully grasp the white tip, passing it between my left and right hand before it comfortably rested between my fingers.
'Do you wanna try it?' Woody had asked after Jason had more of less skipped me in the circle and given the joint straight to Woody. Just because he knew I didn't smoke weed. But I mean.. they all seemed to have a great time being high, they were relaxed, giggly. So of course I wondered what is was like.
So I bring the joint to my lips, inhaling like they had explained. Immediately warmth fills my mouth, and I wait just a millisecond before inhaling the smoke down my lungs. There was a slight, strange tightness in my lungs, and after a few seconds I release the smoke, blowing it into the air.
I glance up, and Mira snickers. It only took a few seconds to hit.
"HOly fuck" I mutter, head spinning, but in a good way.
"Yup he's high" Woody barks out a laugh. I giggle, bringing the joint to my lips again, and repeating the process, inhale, inhale, hold, exhale. It probably wasn't as smooth as the others looked. I glance at the smoke leaving my mouth, blinking a couple of times.
"Fuck that hits fast" I mutter, giggling before holding out my hand for someone to take it. Mira leans over, taking it and inhaling again. I look up for a moment, the sky was bright, sun far above us, and a pleasan- holy fuck. I catch myself before I fall backwards, blinking widely.
Where the fuck was I?
"You okay?" Woody snickers, a pleased yet slightly worried look on his face. I nod shakily.
"Feels like I'm in a mixer" I mumble, chortling.
"A mixer?" Jason inquired, and I nod. And only then do I actually realise what I meant with that. I kept twirling slightly on the spot, my upper body rotating continuously.
"I can't stop spinning" I bark out a laugh, trying to stifle it. Fuck that hit hard. I shudder, closing my eyes for a moment. Everything was turning around me, and I felt myself unable to stop myself. But in all honesty, I didn't even want to. The movement was pleasant, natural, and weird to explain.
It wasn't an unpleasant movement, like the feeling after spinning round and round for a couple of seconds, or the spin you feel when you get nauseous. It was gentle, and I didn't mind.
"You want to go again?" Woody nudged me gently. I blink in confusion. How had that joint gone around the circle so fast? "You've been staring into thin air for like 5 minutes Mike" Woody snickers in my ear and I frown slightly, taking the joint either way.
"How does that happen?" I ask, snickering before I can stop myself. I take one hit, blowing out the smoke and laughing again. "It's not even funny" I giggle, and Woody looks at me for a split second before a huge grin appears on his face.
"It's not funny" I laugh, feeling a tinge of pain in my stomach at the continuous laughter. "Shit I can't stop laughing" I choke out, quickly giving away the joint before I dropped it or anything like that.
"Just let it happen Mike" Woody comments with a laugh, handing me the bag of chips. "And keep eating, it will help" I take the bag without complaint, putting my hand in the bag. Everything felt tingly around me, but yet again, it was pleasant. I closed my eyes again, trying to keep myself focused on the conversations around me.
What would my brothers even say when they heard about this? I knew they weren't going to be mad at me for trying this, and neither was dad. But they were sure as hell going to be surprised that I, of all people, would be the one doing drugs before the others. Or even drugs in the first place.
Especially since I had skipped alcohol altogether. But I shook off that thought.
I just brought my hand to my mouth, stuffing it with a handful of chips.
"Did anyone bring some bread?" I heard Jason call out. I blink a couple of times, and within seconds something was thrown at Jason, who caught it with far more grace than I probably could at the moment. "Sweet bread" He laughs, breaking off a piece of the baguette and passing it along.
I take some as well, finding myself not able to stop eating.
"Why does that taste so good?" I mumble out loud, smiling again. Woody next to me grins, but probably not because of the comment, but the way I voiced it. Shit I was really far gone wasn't I?
"Food's always good when you're high" Woody shrugs. "And it helps, if you're hungry you get even worse"
"Shit that happened to me once, like 2 weeks ago with you guys, remember when I said I was meeting up with my roommate to eat dinner?" A few just nod. "I hadn't eaten dinner yet and I was so far gone. I just had to get out of there. I didn't meet up with anyone. I pretty much stared at the microwave for 30 minutes waiting for my dinner" She grins, and I can see Mira snicker as well.
"You could've told us" She laughs, but Shini just shrugs.
"Well I couldn't exactly think straight anymore-"
"Welcome to my life" I mutter, and Woody barks out a laugh. I grin.
"Everyone knows you're a bisaster Mike" Shini rolls her eyes. "Besides, you guys were pointing at gooses and arguing whether it was a duck or a street"
"How do you even confuse a goose for a street?" I snicker. Shini shrugs.
"We were trying to find a store, and I recognised a street so I said 'look this is the street'" Mira snickers. "But Jason thought I was pointing at the goose and he was like 'no bitch that's a duck" I bark out a laugh, and I could hear the rest of my friends join as well.
"I missed some shit" I grin, and Woody nods.
"They're awful when they're high" He laughs, pointing at both Mira and Jason. "Don't try to out-high them, you will lose, and probably die trying"
"You can't die from an overdose" Mira rolls her eyes.
"I bet 5 bucks that he can't stand right now." Woody retorts.
"Hey! I resent that." I cry out, and Woody looks at me with a blank expression. "Yea okay, I don't feel my legs" I mutter, and Woody grins.
"You will die if we leave you alone right now" Woody shakes his head and Mira barks out another laugh.
"He's so innocent" She snickers, and I roll my eyes. But my smile never falters. I was relaxed, I was with friends, the weather was beautiful.
Fuck yes, I made the right decision. I think, closing my eyes again.
TMNT
So uhm, I don't know where this came from actually xD But I really wanted to write this. It's actually pretty much my first experience smoking weed now 8 months ago or so? The way they explained it to me, how I reacted etc. The duck thing happened as well with two friends, it was hilarious. And Shini having to leave was me as well :3 Welp…. Kids, bring food when you do drugs or you will go down. Also, don't do drugs underage, or where it's illegal.
(I guess I also wanted to show my side on drug use cause I know it's illegal in a lot of countries, and seen as something only criminals do instead of just relaxing with friends, despite Alcohol being viewed as something you can also do casually.)
Hope you liked it!