Lows and Highs

The following chapter is written in 3rd person POV, following Cassie, Tanya, and Maddy.

Back at Tanya’s apartment, while Jay and Stella were on their date...

“I hope he doesn’t cum inside her tonight. I’m pretty sure Stella’s mid-cycle.” Cassie shares her concern with Tanya.

“Why? What happens if Stella’s mid-cycle?” Maddy asks innocently.

“It usually means it takes about a week before the birth control pills can prevent pregnancy.” Tanya answers Maddy, who just gives a long “Oh~” as a response, blushing as she hears that that was the new topic of conversation.

“You think we should leave a note on his bedroom door, or text him he shouldn’t risk cumming inside her yet?” Cassie asks with genuine concern.

“I’m sure Stella listened to the doctor, chica; and that she told Jay about it. Plus, they’ve had this talk already, so I think there’s nothing to worry about.” Tanya assures her.

Cassie just sighs before taking another hit from the joint she rolled, inhaling deeply, before passing it to Tanya. Tanya doesn’t take a hit just yet, and just observes Cassie, who seems to be deep in thought.

Cassie, Tanya, and Maddy are all in Tanya’s apartment to hang out and slowly introduce Maddy to smoking weed. This came about from Maddy having had a quiet conversation with her grandfather during their hug goodbye; and being encouraged by him to try what she wanted to try now that she’s somewhat free from her father, the consequences be damned, because he’s on her side and he’ll protect her from her Dad. As Maddy previously mentioned to Cassie, she’s always wanted to try weed, and that’s what the three girls are doing now.

Given her grandfather’s blessing, and after she made sure that her parents won’t be calling again, Maddy told her grandparents that she’ll be at Tanya’s place and that she’ll be back before her curfew, which was still a few hours away.

“I didn’t peg you to be a stoner, chica.” Tanya teases Cassie.

“I’m not. I just do it recreationally.” Cassie replies. Tanya still observes Cassie being deep in thought, before she takes a hit from the joint herself and inhales deeply as well, holding it inside her lungs, before passing it back to Cassie.

“You wanna try again, Maddy?” Cassie asks her, holding the joint tightly between her index finger and thumb, and offering it to Maddy. “No, not yet. I’m still trying to process what I did wrong with my first attempt, and why I coughed so much, unlike you guys.” Maddy answered innocently, getting a reassuring smile from Cassie.

“I told you, Maddy; there’s nothing wrong with coughing your first time, I did that too when I first tried. I still do sometimes when I don’t inhale right. You’re just not used to it yet; but you also won’t get used to it if you don’t try again.” Cassie encourages her, and offers the joint to Maddy again.

“You also shouldn’t succumb to peer pressure, Maddy. That’s the first lesson you need to learn now that you’re not being homeschooled. You’re going to be exposed to a lot of new things in college. Some are okay to try, and some aren’t worth the risk. I know your grandfather’s encouraging you to try stuff, and I am too; just trust your gut feel first. If you don’t want to try it, that’s perfectly fine too.” Tanya adds, as motherly as she could.

“Thanks Ms. Tanya. Really. I’ll keep that in mind; but I want to say I’m not feeling pressured. I do want to keep trying for myself. Just maybe… let me watch you some more?” Maddy responds politely, and Cassie just gives her a reassuring smile before taking another puff and handing Tanya the joint.

“I gotta say though, Cassie; a grinder, your own papers, and you rolled a joint way better than I ever could. Seems more than just recreational use to me.” Tanya brings up the topic once more.

“Kinda hard to smoke weed without those things.” Cassie jokes.

“You get what I mean. I’m not saying I have a problem with it, but the fact that you have the paraphernalia means you’re doing it actively. It’s just taking me by surprise is all.” Tanya explains.

“They’re not mine. They’re my mom’s.” Cassie tells Tanya.

“You didn’t take it from her without her permission did you?” Maddy asks, her tone one of being impressed instead of concern.

“Nah. Mom has a bunch of these lying around. I’m sure she didn’t even notice it was missing when I took it with me for college.” Cassie recounts.

“That doesn’t explain how you’re so good at rolling a joint, or how you were so sure this isn’t the paranoia-inducing kind of weed.” Tanya points out.

“It kinda does if you think about what I said hard enough.” Cassie answers her, beginning to giggle.

“Your mom taught you how to smoke weed? That’s kinda cool.” Maddy reacts.

“Ha! Trust me, Maddy. It’s not.” Cassie reacts, laughing a bit.

“I was thinking it’s just a step further to how Mr. Craig was cool about it when he found out Stella smokes weed with you too. I mean, compared to my dad, your mom’s super cool.” Maddy explains.

“I guess that’s true. My mom... My super cool mom... taught me how to roll her joints for her when I was fifteen so she doesn’t have to bother rolling herself one when she’s already high.” Cassie jokes, but Tanya can hear the sarcasm in her voice, and the pain she was feeling in those pauses she took.

“You never talk about her much. I only hear that you’re staying over for the summer, and that your mom is off somewhere with her boyfriend. Are you and your mom okay, Cass?” Tanya asks, genuinely concerned.

“We’re fine. Actually... You know what, we’re more than fine. Especially now that our set-up is exactly how she always wanted it to be.” Cassie answers.

“What set-up is that?” Maddy asks, curious.

“Being on entirely separate continents.” Cassie answers laughing.

Tanya knew the laugh wasn’t genuine. Maybe it was the weed. Maybe it was intentional and she **** it out of herself to hide what she was really feeling; but Tanya knew it was nowhere near genuine.

“Can you hold this for me, Maddy?” Tanya asks Maddy, referring to the joint in her fingers.

“Uh-okay. I’ll just hold it.” Maddy agrees, but unsure what Tanya wanted her to do with it. Maddy was still unsure if she was ready for another puff, after the first one didn’t feel too good in her lungs.

As Maddy takes the joint in between her fingers like Cassie taught her to hold it, Tanya goes in for a hug with Cassie. Making Cassie laugh in confusion at what Tanya’s doing, but Tanya’s giggling with her now too.

“I’m glad I’m not a continent away from you.” Tanya tells Cassie, before giving her a sweet motherly peck on the cheek. The kind younger people get annoyed by if their mother did it to them in public. Cassie didn’t find it annoying though. In the mixture of her cannabis influenced feelings, this was exactly what she needed at this moment to get her mellow.

Seeing the two other girls bond in front of her, and mistakenly thinking it was because of the weed, Maddy gets the courage to try and take another puff from the joint. Trying to do what Cassie and Tanya advised her to do the first time, only much more controlled this time. Now that she knows that if she inhales too much, she won’t be able to inhale the smoke deeper without coughing.

Maddy takes a much more controlled hit, before inhaling the smoke in her mouth deeper… and she coughs once again. Cassie and Tanya are still hugging, but laugh as they hear Maddy cough after trying to take her second hit from the joint. Tanya, not wanting Maddy to mistake their laughter as laughing at her and making her feel embarrassed; Tanya motions Maddy to join them in their hug, signaling that they were laughing with her.

“You’ll get there, Maddy. You’re having a better start than I did when I first tried.” Tanya assures her.

“What do you mean?” Maddy asks, in between coughs.

“I didn’t cough the first time I did it, but I didn’t get high either. Apparently, I wasn’t doing it right. Coughing at least means you’re taking in more, while losing more oxygen in your brain, so it gets you high quicker.” Tanya tells her. “Or is that a weed myth, Cheech?” Tanya teases Cassie, who just laughs it off.

“Can I ask who’s Cheech, and why do you guys keep calling each other that? Stella said it was a dated reference, but it seems pretty relevant if everyone’s using it.” Maddy asks.

“Oh? Who called who ‘Cheech’ earlier?” Tanya asks, not answering Maddy’s question.

“Cassie called Stella ‘Cheech’, and I thought it was one of Stella’s nicknames.” Maddy explains.

“Oh~ then that makes you Chong!” Tanya teases Cassie, laughing at her own joke, making Cassie laugh too. Eventually, even Maddy laughs from her enjoyment of the two girls laughing and having a good time.

Tanya and Cassie explain to Maddy the comedic duo that was Cheech and Chong, but mostly Tanya did the work of explaining since Cassie only really knew of either as just iconic stoners. That talk led to Tanya and Cassie playing a game of who can guess which iconic stoner Maddy has heard of before first.

It was eventually Cassie who won first by guessing Hunter S. Thompson, but Tanya argued that he wasn’t an iconic stoner; but just an iconic user of psychedelics in general. The two had a fun argument about that, which was put on hold by a phone call to Tanya’s phone.

“Hey V! What’s up?” Tanya asks Viv over the phone.

“Is nobody at Jay’s place? I’ve been ringing the doorbell, and no one’s answering.”

“Oh, Stella and Jay went on a date tonight. Cassie, Maddy, and I are at my place. Come join us.”

“Oh. I guess murdering your boyfriend’s going to have to wait then.”