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10. Three Weeks, Five Days

Friday I sat in history class with Ryder and Mr. Schue. Mom hasn't mentioned anything to anyone and I know that for a fact because nobody has spoken to me in person about it. I haven't smoked since Mom found me in my room but I craved for one so badly. I chewed on my fingernails to keep myself occupied but after I ate all my fingers, by Tuesday, I had to find a new habit. Singing helped and writing songs down too but that only helped for a short time.

I was occupied in my head again that I almost didn't notice the paper set in front of me. D-. It was Ryder's. (Sometimes Mr. Schue gives a test or quiz back to the wrong person, usually the partner that sat next to you). I handed it over to Ryder, face down of course, but Ryder handed it back. "This is yours Marley, I got mine. A+ too!" He cheered.

I was shock. I checked the name and it had my name, my handwriting. D- ?

The bell rang. I packed up everything and was about to leave when Mr. Schue called me to his front desk. I got up here with the D- paper in my hand. "Oh good, it's a mistake."

"The D-? No, that's what I was going to talk to you about." He said.

"I'm fine." I told him. I knew where he was going with this. If I had problems, if I was emotionally okay, blah blah blah crap. "I'm fine, I'll just study harder next time."

"Marley that isn't the point," He opened his grade book. "You had an A+ last week on a similar quiz, now this week you have a D- for a grade. Did something happen? Is everything okay at home?"

Oh my god, no, I don't need this now. "Yeah, I'm fine!" I yelled.

"Are you sure?" He asked me.

" 'Are you sure' " I mimicked him. "I'm freaking FINE! I keep telling you this all the time because you're just too damn stupid to realize you have asked me that question since the day after I caused us to lose Sectionals!" I barked in his face. He sat back a little startled but seemed okay.

I got up and left the classroom and went to Health class next. I sat in the back row again and kept to myself. That is until I got a test back and received a D- on that too.

Same with English class. A D-. But for science I got a C-.

At lunch time I took my tray and instead of sitting with Glee kids, where usually Ryder or Blaine saved a seat for me opposite ended from Tina, and instead took my tray to the football field and watched the football players practice for a big game coming up. Second to last game then the finals. I heard laughter from below and knew who it was. Maybe Lark was there too. I stood up and followed down to the laughing and caught Stoner Brett and his friends. Obviously high at this point. Zandra came over and offered me some crack, I shook my head. She handed me weed and said, "Brett say last free time, pay next." Then she stumbled back to the others. I forgot how to take this so I walked over to Brett and watched him inhale it.

I followed his steps. It took me a while to get the drift of it again, but I think it worked. If someone were to ask me what it's like to get high I'd tell them It's kinda like that feeling you get when you are kinda in between dreaming and being awake in the middle of the night where you feel all out of it and weird, but usually in a good way. You also notice small details more and feel like you are gaining crazy revelations about normal stuff. I looked up into the sky and notice the clouds and said, "Whoa, when you think about it clouds are so weird! their like floating blobs of white that circle around the purple sky with orange stars."

"Yeah...I see some weird hippie clown...and dragons." Someone else pointed out.

Now I know what The Beatles used to make their song Marley in the Sky with Diamonds, except with weed this time instead of LSD.

I saw my world turn vivid colors as things began floating around. My papers came out of my backpack and the D's turned to flowers and my C- became a chocolate bar that I wanted to eat but instead the chocolate bar flew away with golden wings it had grown and called from above. "Nooooo Marley...none for youuuuuu..." Well that sucked. I wanted food so desperately.

I looked towards the ground. The grass was moving like water, slowly drifting me away from everyone as the scenery around me turned to more groovy colors of a rainbow lava lamp. I could hear the birds chirpping away and singing a sweet loving song. Four birds came along dressed in formal suites and had bob-like cuts and in their British accents began to sing to me.

I felt myself being lifted up and the colors around me changed rapidly. I found myself on a flying carpet and leaving Lima and going to the sky. I held arms out fully and took in the sunshine that I was given. Freedom, liberating and happy. I laughed and laughed until I could laugh no more. I glanced down to the ground that had begun to rise up to catch up with me. The Glee girls were changing colors; red sparkles, blue stars, yellow stripes, black sparkles, violet stripes with green sparkles...every combination possibly thought of. The Glee boys, too, joined along. They were doing the cane-cane dance and some of them were dancing and playing together.

I felt the carpet push me forward and I came off of it. But instead of falling, I was flying. Flying high and above the sky. I heard the four British birds following behind me. Singing to me as we all flew up high and high and soon reaching space. The white stars were glistening and dancing around with one another. The birds sang out again.

Marley in the sky with diamonds
Marley in the sky with diamonds
Marley in the sky with diamonds
Aaaaahhhhh...

I thought I heard myself singing that as I woke up. I found myself inside of a bedroom that seemed all too familiar...Blaine's?

I sat up from the bed and observed again. Yup, Blaine's room. Where was Blaine?

As if my questioned was heard, the door swung open and Blaine came in with some soup and crackers with water and pills. "Afternoon Marley."

"Hmmmm?" I groaned. My head killed.

"Do you remember anything, Marley?" He asked me as he settled the tray on the end of the bed and gently sat on the bed himself. "Anything at all?"

"Hmmm..." I groaned again. "Birds...Beatles... candy bars...Mr. Schue..." That was all I could remember. Everything else was a blur to me.

"Hmm, I figured." Blaine told me in a matter-of-fact voice. "I decided to skip my last class, art elective, and drive home. I passed the football field for a change of route and saw you with Stoner Brett and his friends. Did you get high, Marley?"

"No..." I said, but my head killed. "I...raggy...chocolate bar...history...Dartmouth...piggies."

"You're just getting passed this first time be high. You've must of been really out of it if Mr. Schue was in it and chocolate raggy things too." I think he was trying to joke. "You'll be fine, I'll care for you until you feel like yourself again. I called your Mother and said you were coming here after school."

"Mom...pies...cigarettes." I spoke.

"Cigarettes? Your Mom doesn't smoke."

"I...I wanna...I wanna..." I coughed several times. "I wanna... cig..." The latter word didn't come out fully.

"You can sing later." Blaine told me, thinking I meant 'Sing'. "Just rest now. I have food here, some water and some pills to help with that high hangover."

I didn't speak or eat for a while, I just slept. Luckily Blaine didn't ask too much, though I don't know why though. Maybe he guessed all the stress I was under?