Hide the weed.

I walked at a clip back towards my room, not willing to risk having the weed on me now that I had that brush with Rick. I was walking fast, which felt disorienting as train hurtled along at its usual pace in the opposite direction. I turned a corner to quickly and slammed into Ayanna, nearly bowling her over.

She stumbled back and as a reflex I grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back upright, bringing her right up against me. Her hands pressed against my chest and we just looked at each other for a moment. She wore an surprised expression on her face and fought to catch her breath. Our faces were mere inches apart and I could feel her warm breath on my neck. She looked up quickly and her eyes met mine. I flinched, as for a second I thought she may continue to gesture and give me a quick peck on the lips. Silly, I knew, but I still had such a gut reaction to be repulsed by her. Suddenly that seemed very silly. She broke into a small grin. She smiled with her whole face, she had a broad smile with bright white teeth; her cheeks moved up and her wide brown eyes twinkled. I remembered how that smile used to drive me crazy, but then dismissed the thought.

"Well, hey," Ayanna said cheerfully.

"Sorry bout that," I said, letting her go.

"It's okay," she said. Then she wrinkled her nose, "Is that weed???"

"Shhh. No," I said, flustered, "I don't smell anything."

"Well I definitely smell weed," She paused, but I said nothing. I just stood there, lips pursed. "You know, pot?" She offered as if I may not have understood.

"Rowan, you're like 25! Grow up." I resented that. She drank like a textbook binge drinker but was condemning me because I found a little bit of pot? Grow up? She was one of the least mature adults I knew, not to mention far and away the ditsy-est.

"I don't smell anything," I repeated and started to make my getaway past her. She grabbed my arm, forcing me to turn and face her. Once again, our faces inches apart. A second passed and she did not take her hand off of my arm. We were frozen in this pose. I slowly looked down and where she held my forearm and looked back up at her face. Our eyes met, and oddly my body tingled. She held my gaze.