1000 Cigarettes Chapter 2


Finished this in a day. What a way to spend the first of June. Also, Happy June, everyone!


I made it to the cafeteria. The tables are all empty, but there are workers in the kitchen and steaming hot food out. Guess I'm still early. I grab a tray and go to the food. I make myself a little salad and get some grilled chicken, mashed potatoes, and a glass of water. I settle down at a table between the kitchen and an exit. Just as I'm about to start eating, someone taps my shoulder. I look over to see some shaggy haired kid.

"Hey, mind if I sit here?" He asks. I just shrug. I don't mind. Just as long as I can eat. I go to take some of my chicken.

"So, you must've just gotten here, right?" He asks. I nod. He does a little celebration, whispering "yes" to himself and stuff like that.

"I knew it. I didn't see you at the orientation for new students. That was on Monday." He says. I'll take his word for it. I go back to my chicken. Then, gee I wonder what will happen.

"Do you watch movies?" He asks, scarfing some corn bread down at the same time, getting crumbs on me. Again, I nod.

"I watch the classics. Well, not too old. I mean I appreciate the old black and white films, like they're works of art, but I mean the movies that would've appealed to our age if we lived when they were released. Like..." The kid went on for I don't even know about movies and crap. I at least ate my food as he ranted on.

"...but I really wonder if we'll be able to even achieve what Doc Brown did in, I mean it's a stretch and I know it's a work of fiction, but time travel is just an interesting subject to consider..." He probably doesn't know I zoned out. I take out my phone to check the time.

"Oh, do you have somewhere to be? Sorry, I just get a little carried away with movies. Look, if you want to talk more about movies, just look for a room with the name "Warren Graham" on the board. That's me. Later, dude!" He said, grabbing his tray and leaving. As soon as I hear door close, I let out a long sigh.

"Jesus Christ." I just say. I leave soon after to explore some more.

...

I'm back in the main campus where I met Max. There's more people out here this time. Max doesn't seem to be here, though. Maybe back to her room. I look around to what seems interesting. I'm kind of gravitating towards the skaters by the railings. My cousin Connor skated a lot when I was young, so why not? As I walk towards the group, I see something fly towards me from my peripheral vision. I duck just in time.

"Fucking shit! Sorry, bro! Yo, could you throw that back to us?" Some said. I look to see a guy in a red letterman jacket with a hand raised. Standing next to him was another guy with shaggy hair and a striped hoodie. I look to the ground to see a football near my feet. I haven't touched a football in, like, two years. Fuck it. Why not? Let's see if I still got it. I pick it up, take my old stance, and let muscle memory take care of the rest. As I let it go, I saw them both chasing after. I flung it way past what I think they were expecting.

"I think I still got it." I say to myself. Once they picked it back up, they came running to me.

"Bro, that was some arm you got there. You play?" Red letterman asked, patting my back.

"Only with my friends, but that's about it." I tell him. Crap, my friends back home. Those were good times.

"Hey, if you're interested, the team here meets on Wednesday when classes start up. We meet over by the football field." He told me.

"I consider it. Thanks..." I say.

"Logan. Captain of the Bigfoots. And this bitch over here is Zachary." Logan said, introducing shaggy as well. Zachary punched him in the arm. I shake their hands.

"Cool. Later guys." I say as I continue to the skaters. However...

"Hey, dawg. C'mere." A voice called to me. I looked to see some guy laying under a tree with two girls laying on either side of him. I approach him and his little entourage.

"Yo, that shit was fucking dope, man. Fucking dope." He said. He seemed a little... out there. I breathe in a bit, until I notice a lingering scent I haven't smelled for a while.

"You smoke? Seriously, on school grounds?" I asked. He gives me a cheeky grin.

"They don't care, bro. A lot of people here do it and more. Do you?" He asked, offering me a j.

"Only cigarettes, man. But even then, only on occasions." I tell him. Bald Marley gave it to one of his harem girls. I just stood there.

"Suit yourself, dawg. But seriously, I think the team could use someone with an arm like that." He said, bringing it back to football.

"It wasn't that special." I tell him. He just chuckled a bit.

"It's a helluva lot better than our current QB. But again, suit yourself." He said, laying back onto the tree.

"Hey, if you don't have anything better to do, you can hang out with me and the Vortex Club. Me and Logan can vouch for you if either of us aren't there. That'll get the others to be easy on you. They're a bit sus about new members." He told me. I remember seeing some posters about the Vortex Club around the school. Eh. Whatever, bro.

"I think about it. Later, bro." I tell him. As I walk away, he called back to me.

"Hey, if you do come and me or Logan ain't there, just say Logan or Hayden know me, aight?" He yelled. I give him a thumbs up. I finally get to the skaters. One of them notices me and beckons me to sit with him. I lean on one of the railings.

"Hey, man. Nice throw." The guy who beckoned me over said. I look to him. Trucker hat, goatee, glasses. I suspect a hipster.

"Thanks." I just say, putting my hands in my jacket pockets. The two of us watch the others skate around, doing tricks and stuff.

"You skate?" He asks. I shake my head.

"My cousin did, but that was a long time ago. Wanted to learn, but I was too young at the time and completely forgot about it." I answer. We continue to watch. One of them tried to do a trick and got a whack to the balls for his efforts. We couldn't hold our laughter.

"Help Trevor up, bro. He's driving us to get some pizza." He said between chuckles. I helped Trevor up, all the while laughing. He took a jab at my arm with one hand and clutched his crotch with the other. I sat him down next to trucker hat.

"You wanna join us on a pizza run?" He asked. I shook my head.

"Naw. Just ate. Gonna chill later. Sorry." I say, stretching a bit

"It's cool, bro. Just hit me later. Justin, by the way." Justin said.

"Sean. I'll remember to hit you up." I tell him, giving him a fist bump before I head back to the dorms.

...

Got back to the dorms with a lot of time left before curfew. I looked around and noticed some framed artwork. It was a mixture of photos and hand drawn portraits. I stopped by one of a girl. She looked so familiar.

"You like it?" A voice asked. I turned around and saw a short, fat kid with a meme shirt on. 10 out of 10 ign, fam.

"Yeah. It's really good. She looks familiar to me." I tell him, reviewing the portrait. He was very detailed, down to the freckles, lone hair strands and everything in his portrait.

"You must have met Max already, then. She was more than happy to be a muse for a moment." The kid said. No wonder she looked familiar. It was Max. I feel really stupid right now.

"Damn..." I say, looking for a name to credit the artist. I found a tag below the portrait and read it.

"Daniel. Wish I could draw like that." I tell him. I continue down the works. I stop by a photo and review it. It was a group of girls, sitting and laughing. It didn't looked scripted at all. I admire candid photos. Only way to capture a photo in my opinion. I was never a fan of those structured, manufactured type photos where the subjects were placed in a specific position.

"Admiring some art, buddy?" Another voice said. I turned to see, ugh, a real fricking hipster. Scarf, glasses, and a stupid haircut to boot. Damn, son. I get it. You're non-conformist.

"Y-yeah. I am." I said, going back to the photo. The photo seemed to be focused, literally, on a single girl as the rest of the group were blurred out. Even more so with the vignette around the edges. Naturally, I drew my attention to what was the main subject of the photo. I analyzed the girl. I could see freckles, a mop of hair, and it hit me.

"It was the only one I felt comfortable submitting. Also, Max said it was fine." He said. I nodded. I looked to the tag under the photo. Evan.

"It's good, Evan. What you use?" I ask.

"Just my iPhone and Photoshop. Anyone could've taken it. I just happen to be that anyone." He said. I nod, and continue down the works. I skim through some of them until my eyes catch a tag that says "Maxine". I stop to look at it.

It was a landscape style photo. However, instead of nature, it was a photo wall, with a single person standing in front of it, back to the photographer. It wasn't the most original photo, but it would be a good album cover for an indie record.

My admiring of the art was interrupted by a slam of a door. I turn to see some kid stumble out. Clearly had one too many. Guess Hayden was right. No one cares. As he passed by, I caught a whiff of his drink.

"Stolichnaya?" I say out loud. It catches his attention. He raises his head to look at me. He placed a finger on his lips and shushed me.

"Don't tell daddy." He whispered. He looked left, then right.

"He doesn't know I took it." He said, going back to stumbling down the hall. As he lumbered around, someone emerged from their room and pushed the drunkard down. The drunk, likewise, fell to the ground and just laid there. He must have "fell" asleep. I'm so funny.

"Fuck you, Nathan!" The kid said as he ran away to the outside.

"Luke, where you going, fam?" Someone said outside. I just walked to my dorm. I think I have had enough for today. I go inside my room, lock my door, put my ear buds in, put my phone on shuffle and drift away to sleep.


You want a little taste this guy's music? Well, I'll guess this is what he'd listen to.

watch?v=Dy5zzY9yoho