A Highschool Fantasy Redux

Dan wandered into the kitchen of the house he shared with his mother and sister. Dan had been adopted at the age of eight along with his sister. They weren't related by blood, but after years together in the system, they had grown inseparable. Dan did not really remember much about his real parents, but had never been that curious. As far as he was aware, he hadn't been found in a shipping container covered in his dead mother's blood. His adopted mother had given them a stable home life, and neither he or his sister had wanted for nothing.

He heard his mother call from another room. “There are some leftover chicken wings in the fridge, Dan,” Christine advised him.

Christine, Dan's adopted mother, was forty-five. She worked as a senior designer for a fashion company in the city. She had come into some money many years earlier and, in a moment of kindness, took in Dan and his sister Britney.

Dan opened the fridge and found the chicken wings Christine had mentioned on a plate. He grabbed them and a couple of cans of soda to wash them down with. It was late evening, and he wanted a snack.

He wandered back upstairs and saw his sister coming towards him from the bathroom. Britney was a year older than Dan and had already started college. She was 5'5, with long black hair. She didn't even look in her brother's direction as they passed on the stairs. Things between the two of them had been fraught over the past few months. The two of them were almost inseparable. Dan decided it was wiser not to try to engage her in conversation.

Dan passed the floor-length mirror that was in the hallway leading to his bedroom. Dan was white and 6'6. He kept himself in shape and tried to go to the gym at least a few times a week. He had dark brown hair, which he kept short, but it was starting to grow out. He was currently wearing shorts and a T-shirt.

He opened his bedroom door and was greeted by a cloud of smoke. He closed the door behind him. His bed was against one wall, his computer desk next to it and beside that his flat-screen TV. Opposite the TV was a large sofa currently occupied by his two best friends, Emma and Randy.

Emma was a platinum blonde with a pixie bob cut. As was usually the case with Emma, her figure was covered by her hoodie and baggy skate jeans. Currently, she was busy shouting expletives into her headset while gaming on Dan's copy of Call of Duty. Emma was usually the most level-headed of the three of them, except during online gaming. When she wasn't hanging out with the two of them, she was often on her skateboard.

Randy was sitting next to her, putting the finishing touches to the joint he was rolling. Randy was a little shorter than Dan but still over six feet. He had grown his hair out and styled it into dreads. In the last year or so, Randy had started a side venture as their local drug dealer. He limited himself to weed, pills and the occasional bit of coke.

“Dan, put some beats on,” Emma said, muting her mic to talk to him.

Dan put the plate of food down on his desk and fished his phone out of his pocket. He opened Spotify and queued up Nicole by Gravenhurst.

“More sad British shit, you should put on something hardcore,” Randy commented.

“It's ten at night, my dude. I'm not putting on Torturing Nurse. I thought we needed some depressing beats while Emma whips some noobs,” Dan quipped.

Emma snorted at this “You know these bitches can't compete. If you want cool British shit, put ADF on.”

“Why didn't we get to that gig when they were playing nearby? Oh, yeah, because Randall's car broke down and we had to sit there for three hours waiting for my Mom to pick us up.” Dan exclaimed in comedic annoyance.

All three of them cracked up with laughter at this. As they only ever used Randy's full name when they were annoyed at him or trying to piss him off

“Christine is really cool and chill.” Emma remarked.

“Plus she's really hot,” Randy added.

“Dude, that's my Mom.... even if she is my adopted Mom,” Dan stated with a hint of annoyance.

“So what's up with Britney. She had extreme vibes of back off, or I will end you bitch earlier.” Emma asked.

“I don't know. She's been weirdly frosty and hostile ever since she went to college. Something's going on, but she won't open up. I really miss my sister.” Dan replied honestly.

Randy spotted the wings “Give me some of those and you can light this up.”

Dan was happy to change the subject, handed Randy the plate and took the offered joint. He searched his desk for a lighter and, after finding it, clicked the lighter until it sparked into life. He took a deep drag of the joint and was unable to stop himself from coughing.

“How fucking strong did you make this? We've all got school tomorrow,” Dan said in mock protest.

Randy was too busy stuffing his face with chicken to reply.

The three of them were their school's main slacker stoner group. Not quite outsiders and friendly with most of the other social groups in school.

Dan took another hit and passed the joint over to Emma.

“So are you going to Sarah's party this weekend?” Randy asked Dan.

Sarah was the head of the school's cheerleading team, and despite her father being their District Attorney, she was not the stereotypical rich bitch. Sarah was genuinely nice, and there was something amusing about her being one of Randy's most frequent customers.

“I hadn't really thought about it. I'll check my really busy social calendar.,” Dan replied sarcastically.

“Well, I'm going to be making some drops there if you want a lift.” Randy told him.

“I also have it on good authority that Nicole will be there. Fairly sure she is into you, Dan.” Emma interjected into the conversation.

“Yeah, she is pretty cute, but not sure if I'm down for that just yet.”

Nicole was a brunette in their year at school. She and Dan were pretty close as friends, and he wasn't sure if that would change things between them.

“Are you going to be there, Emma?” Dan asked her.

“I might get there late as there's this new spot Lieke and I want to hit,” Emma answered.

Lieke was another friend of theirs and in Dan's drama class. She was originally from the Netherlands but moved over here a few years ago. She was a regular a skate partner for Emma.

“I am so not fucking bailing you two out again if you two get caught breaking in,” Randy chimed in.

“That was just one time, and the Marion mall is a great skate spot.” Emma retorted.

“Yeah, if you ignore the weird creatures in the basement trying to sell you their special meth” Randy joked.

“Pretty sure that was just because you were really fucking high on acid, dude,” Dan exclaimed to shut down Randy's occasional weird conspiracy theories.

Randy started laughing at this and took the joint from Emma. He took a deep hit, holding it in before exhaling.

“You’ve got to get back out there, man. You can't keep pining over Tessa.” Randy said to Dan.

Tessa was Dan's ex. He had never really considered it to be a serious relationship. She was only visiting for a few months, and they both knew she was going back home eventually.

“It's not like that. I've just not really tried putting myself out there. Not sure if I'm after a special person or someone I can have some fun with for a little bit. “ Dan replied honestly.

“Which is why he's on Porn hub every night,” Emma said mockingly

“Most of those are links you sent me, Em.,” Dan snarked.

“A girl has to have taste,” Emma stated proudly.

It was always an amusing thing between the three of them that the biggest porn hound of all of them was the female member of their friend group.

“If you want a quick hook-up, Steffi is always down.”

Steffi was Randy's not-quite-girlfriend. They hooked up every couple of weeks, and they would get stoned and fuck.

“Thanks for the offer, but I'm good, man.,” Dan replied to him.

“So what are you doing over the summer?” Emma asked

“My Mom's mentioned she could get me an internship at her work,” Dan answered her.

“Like working the mail room?" Emma queried.

“Probably, but I'd be getting paid for it,” Dan responded.

“He just wants to be near Claudia.” Randy teased.

“No comment.” Dan joked.

Claudia was Christine's assistant. She was in her mid-twenties and was a really attractive Latina brunette.

“Tell us the Claudia story again.” Randy pleaded.

“Do you need a bedtime story while I tuck you in at night?” Dan commented.

“Yes, Mommy, can you give us a kiss goodnight?” Randy retorted.

All three of them laughed. Dan had a history with Claudia, but they weren't getting into it again tonight. Their laughter was cut short as Randy's phone went off.

Randy pulled it out of his pocket and answered curtly, “Not on this number. I'll call you back in twenty minutes.” He cut the call short and put his phone back in his pocket.

“Business calls” He turned to Emma “You need a lift home?”

She nodded.

“I'll catch the two of you tomorrow at school. I'll hit you up about Sarah's party.”

Randy and Emma gathered themselves and left Dan to his own devices. Dan put on some chill music to relax and lay down on top of his bed. He soon drifted off to sleep, curious what the next day at school would bring.