Disclaimer: Hotboxing is bad for you. So is taking credit for things you don't own.
ooo
"Fuck, Jake, pass that shit." Quil said, reaching a long arm from the backseat and attempted to snatch at the pipe in Jacob's hand. Jacob swatted his hand away and held the lighter to the bowl, inhaling deeply.
After several seconds, Jacob exhaled, coughing heavily, before passing the pipe and lighter to Quil, smirking. Embry sat next to Quil, clutching onto the bag of Cheetos with an almost predatory expression on his face. A joint was clenched between a clip in his free hand. In the front seat, Bella watched the proceedings with great interest.
It was one of Bella's first times hanging out with the guys since discovering their "furry little secret," and her first time seeing what the boys of La Push did when they weren't patrolling on the lookout for vampires. Jacob had called her, asking her if she was interesting in hotboxing; like she had an idea what it was. She agreed however, and Jacob pulled up to her house twenty minutes later, Embry and Quil stuffed into the backseat, a bulging bag of snacks on the floorboard in the passenger seat.
ooo
"So, what are we doing?" Bella asked curiously, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt as Jacob maneuvered the car into a parking spot at First Beach. It was mid-February, and ridiculously chilly. As such, the beach and its parking lot were both empty. She made to roll down the window, but Jacob grabbed her wrist.
"Don't do that, Bells. Can't hotbox with an open window." Jacob said with a grin, before pointing to the glove box. "Open that for me, will you?"
Bella did as asked; a lighter and small glass object fell into her lap. She held it up, examining the white glass object with interest. "Is this a pipe? I wouldn't figure you to be the fancy-smanchy tobacco type." Bella said teasingly, passing it to Jacob, who grinned at her as Quil howled loudly in the backseat.
"Oh, it's not tobacco we use this for, Bells." Jacob said, extracting a small bag, filled with something green. Embry produced a similar bag, filled with hand-rolled cigarettes. Bella examined it with mild interest, before drawing back, horrified.
"Jake! Is that weed? Ok, forget this." Bella reached for the door, but Jacob stopped her again, grabbing her wrist.
"C'mon Bells. You don't have to smoke it, but just hang out. We never hang out anymore." Now Jacob's eyes looked sad as he said this. Bella tugged her arm away, frowning deeply.
"Well, whose fault is that? You expect me to hang around you guys while you get high? Charlie is a cop! He'll kill me if I come home smelling like weed!" She replied, crossing her arms petulantly and trying to figure out how long it would take her to walk from La Push home. Or to the police station at least, to get a ride home from Charlie.
"Got it all figured out. We'll just say you fell into the water, and you can change into some of Jake's clothes and shower and wash your stuff at his house." Embry piped up. "Now hand me the bag."
"Come on, Bells. Please?" Jacob repeated, looking at her with pleading eyes. She stared at him for a long moment, before shaking her head in defeat.
"Dammit, Jacob. The puppy eyes get me every time, and you know it." Bella sighed, leaning back into her seat. Quil gave another howl of laughter, and Jacob's eyes glimmered as he started to pack a bowl.
ooo
And so, the atmosphere was quite relaxed. Quil had produced a cd of Bob Marley tunes, which they inserted into Jacob's radio, and the car was hazy with the smoke that circulated with nowhere to escape to. Bella had inhaled a fair bit of it, and after the initial fits of coughing, was feeling pretty decent as she munched her way through her third twinkie.
"Hey, you want a hit?" Embry asked, holding out the roach clip. Bella eyed it momentarily, indecision crossing her face. She was already well into a contact high, how much worse could it get?
"Seriously, you want this shit, or not? Cause otherwise I'm gonna finish it." Embry said, flicking the ash off the end. Bella made her decision and reached for it. However, as Embry handed it to her, her clumsy fingers let it slip, and it fell onto the seat behind her back.
"Fuck! Jake, grab it!" She squealed, twisting out of the path of the falling joint. Jacob swore and made for the flash of silver that was the roach clip. He grabbed it, brushing at the seat.
"Man, you're lucky you didn't burn my seat, jackass." Jacob groused, holding the joint out to Bella, maintaining a tight grip on the clip. "I'll hold it, you take a hit." Bella leaned forward cautiously, closing her mouth around the end.
"Inhale, and then hold it." Jacob instructed, and Bella did so, feeling the burn in her nose and throat. He pulled the joint away watching her. He motioned for her to exhale and she did so, coughing heavily. Quil passed the pipe back to Jacob, and patted her on the back, laughing.
"Nice, Vamp girl!" Quil teased. Bella smiled back at him woozily, motioning for Jacob to pass her the roach clip.
ooo
The hours ticked by, and soon it was 3 in the afternoon; Bella had been out of the house for four hours and was pretty faded at that point.
Embry was chugging a two-liter of Mountain Dew and Quil was finishing the third joint of the afternoon. Jacob was instructing Bella how to smoke a bowl, and grinning to himself.
However, the mellow mood ground to a halt at the whoop of a siren, as one of the old police cruisers used by the reservation police pulled into a spot about ten feet away.
"Godammit!" Quil swore, dropping the joint onto the floor and crushing it out in his panic. Jacob snatched the pipe away from Bella and stuffed it into the ashtray, panic momentarily crossing his face.
"Em, roll down that damn window. You too, Bells." Jacob swore, feeling under his seat and producing a bottle of Tag. He sprayed it heavily in the car, still swearing. Bella was near tears from the moment the siren sounded.
Charlie was going to kill her when he found out. First the breakdown, and now smoking? What was she thinking? She wiped at her eyes hastily, trying to quell her tears, although her imminent fate came closer with every step.
The smoke in the car had dissipated rapidly, but the distinct smell remained, mingling with the scent of the body spray. Jacob wiped off his face as the officer knocked on the window. Jacob rolled it down slowly, giving everyone time to compose themselves.
"Everything alright in here, kids?" The officer asked, observing the situation. Three abnormally large men, a petite girl in tears, and a heavy lingering odor? "Jacob, Quil, Embry…Bella?" Bella blinked, recognizing Quil Atera Junior, Quil's father.
"I'm fine, Mr. Atera. Just having a bad day, and the guys were cheering me up." She lied in a small voice, wiping her eyes one last time and putting on a watery smile. Mr. Atera met her eyes and she held his gaze levelly, before he nodded and looked away.
"Quil, I think your mother was looking for you. Yours too, Embry. You kids head on home now, and try to stay out of trouble." He warned, his nostrils flaring. He was no idiot, he knew exactly what they were doing. But he also knew the boys had taken to the habit as a stress reliever since their first shift, and he wasn't going to begrudge them a little relief from the painful and often unexpected transformations.
"Yessir." They chorused, and with one last nod, Mr. Atera left, leaving them all shaky with relief. After several minutes, Quil picked up the crushed joint, examining it with disappointment.
"Sorry, man." He said, handing Embry the broken joint, along with the clip. Embry scowled, dropping it back into the bag.
"Fuck you man, you owe me a nickel bag or something now." Embry informed him, stuffing the empty Cheeto bag into the grocery bag.
"I'll buy you a dime bag or something next time." Quil promised, and Embry nodded, satisfied. Jacob put the car into gear, pulling away, glancing over at Bella, who was still clearly shaken.
"Sorry 'bout that. Normally, they don't check here…but I guess someone must have said something." Jacob said by way of explanation. Bella waved him off, wiping at her eyes.
"I don't wanna hear it. Right now I just need a shower and some food." She groused, placing a hand over her stomach.
After a couple of minutes of silence, Bella broke it.
"Next time, can we go somewhere we're not gonna get caught?" She asked, a teasing tone afflicting her tone. Jacob smirked, and Embry and Quil snickered in reply.
"That can be arranged, don't worry. But whoever thought Bella would be looking to smoke us out? After all the protest you put up at first." He chuckled, as they pulled up in front of his house. Bella opened the door and threw a glance over her shoulder.
"What can I say, one good hit deserves another."
ooo
SMOKING IS BAD FOR YOU. And I mean smoking of any kind, cigarettes, weed, crack, all that ish. It's bad, m'kay? So, don't do it. Bella and the wolfpack aren't using the best behavior, are they? Someone didn't pass D.A.R.E…ha. Before you get offended, this is just me playing around with a plot bunny that hit me out of nowhere. I've developed a love for Asher Roth recently, and "Blunt Cruisin'" has been on repeat. I happen to have an awful lot of friends who smoke, have been stuck in a non-voluntary hotbox situation before, so yes. I hope you enjoyed the read, but know better than to follow their example. Natural highs are the best, hands down. Remember, HUGS, NOT DRUGS :).