Out of Breath (Exposed Series Book 2)
Read Out of Breath (Exposed Series Book 2) Online
Authors: Hazel Kelly
Out of
Breath
Hazel
Kelly
©
2014 Hazel Kelly
All
rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, copied,
or stored in any form or by any means without permission of the author. Your
support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
All
characters in this story are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons is
purely coincidental.
Table of Contents
“Love is our true destiny.
We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone
–
we find it with another.”
― Thomas Merton
I was roused by the smell of weed.
I stretched my legs so I could hang my feet over the end of the
bed, but they hit a cushion. That’s when I remembered that I wasn’t at home. I
was in my Aunt Dawn’s apartment, my Aunt Dawn who supposedly used to be tight
with my Mom. Or at least the pictures from my Mom’s childhood made it look that
way.
I don’t know when they last saw each other, but I hadn’t seen
Dawn in years. I was lucky she recognized me when I showed up red eyed and
soaked on her doorstep.
All I really knew about her was that my Mom didn’t approve of
her lifestyle. She only came up in conversation when my Mom was unhappy with
something. Usually something I did.
Don’t drink hard alcohol or you’ll end up like your
Aunt Dawn. Don’t wear too much eye make-up or listen to your music too loud or
you’ll end up like her. Don’t smoke or you’ll end up just like you know who.
I sat up on the couch and rubbed my neck where I’d slept on it
funny.
From what
I
could tell, my Aunt looked like she was doing
okay for herself. Her apartment was cute and cozy. Very Crate & Barrel.
Except for a few weird accent pieces. Like a silver monkey statue in the corner
that looked like it might come to life, pick my pockets, and tip its little hat
any minute.
And she couldn’t have been nicer about me showing up the way I
had: unannounced, uninvited, panicked and drenched. It seemed dramatic at the
time, but it was a pretty pathetic attempt at running away. I mean, I didn't
get very far on account of the storm.
But maybe that was for the best. After all, I had school on
Monday, and ditching would be a surefire way to get my ass shipped off. And the
last thing I wanted was to be student number 401b at some strict boarding
school for mentally unstable girls. Which is what my parents had decided I was.
And I know I’d been a little reckless lately, but that didn’t
mean they were right about sending me away. Couldn’t they see that would only
make my life even more difficult than it already was?
I looked back at the monkey to make sure it hadn’t moved and brushed
the sleep out of my eyes. Then the smell hit me again. Fuck. I’d thought it was
a dream. I groped at my pockets until I remembered that I’d changed into Dawn’s
sweats. My pile of wet clothes was nowhere in sight.
As I came to my senses, the smell just got stronger. It had all
the warmth and depth of freshly baked bread. Except it didn't smell like a
bakery. The whole room- maybe the entire apartment for all I knew- smelled like
freshly baked weed.
I stood up and opened the window to let some air in, but I
panicked and closed it right away in case one of the neighbors was a narc. Then
I opened it again as wide as I could, deciding it was better seeping outside
than into the hallway of Dawn’s apartment building.
I followed the smell into the hallway. To my right was a small, tidy
kitchen and to my left was a small, tidy bathroom. At the end of the hall,
there were two more doors. Both of them were closed. I figured one of them was
my Aunt’s room.
But halfway down the hallway was a set of double doors. I headed
for them and opened them as quietly as I could. As soon as I saw the
washer-dryer combo on the left, I pulled the handle on the dryer’s front door,
causing the dank smell of weed to billow out and smack me in the face.
I dropped to my knees and reached inside. When I found my jeans
pocket, I turned it inside out. There were a few flakes of green, but the small
bag had untwisted and the contents were gone. Unsalvageable. Vaporized.
Then I heard a voice behind me.
“What a relief.”
I pulled my head out of the dryer.
Dawn was leaning against the wall in a hot pink fleece robe, her
arms folded. “If you were getting stoned at this hour, I’d have to tell your
Mom you were in way deeper than I thought.”
I looked up at her. “Please don’t say anything. It was an
accident. I didn’t mean to-”
“Don’t worry about it,” she said.
I assumed that meant I didn’t have to say it wasn’t mine and make
up a bunch of excuses.
“I haven’t woken up to the smell of weed in a long time.” She
ran her hands through her bedhead. “I’m absolutely fiending for McDonald’s
breakfast now.”
I stared at her.
“You hungry?”
I swallowed. “Sure.”
“Plus we should get out of here in case the cops show up.”
“The cops?”
“I’m only joking. It’s unlikely.”
“What about the neighbors?”
“Geriatric for the most part. They wouldn’t know the smell of
weed if you shoved it in their face. The lady upstairs can’t even tell when the
smell of shit is coming from her own pants.”
“You’re not mad?” I asked, still on my knees.
“What am I supposed to do? Flip out? Cause you left weed in your
pants, and I put them in the dryer?” She shook her head. “Sorry.”
I closed the dryer door.
“I can’t say I’m thrilled. I’m not impressed. But I don’t have
the energy this morning to pretend I’m pissed.”
“I’m so sorry.” I stood up. “I didn’t mean to wake you up and…
the smell.”
“Beats my own fag breath,” she joked. “Anyway, I’ll get changed
and we’ll go.” She took a step towards her room and then turned back around.
“You need a toothbrush?”
I nodded.
She pulled a small woven basket off a shelf in the closet and
dug around. “Here. Let me know if you need anything else, and help yourself to
whatever’s in the bathroom. Clean towels are under the sink.”
“Thanks.” I was shocked at how nonchalant she was being. I was
so used to being treated me like a criminal.
A few minutes later, I followed Dawn downstairs into the parking
garage towards her little white Honda. Her vibe was much lighter than my Mom’s.
She didn’t dress her age or walk like she was heavy with stress. She actually
seemed happy to have me around. Or at least not annoyed.
I buckled myself into the front seat. Her car smelled like
manufactured vanilla. Which was a nice change from the scent we left behind. It
felt like a much more appropriate scent to smell in the presence of an adult
anyway.
“Look, Kate…” she said into the windshield as she waited for the
garage gate to go up. “I don’t want you to think that just because I didn’t
flip out about the weed that I’m okay with it.”
I listened without moving.
“I didn’t flip out because I’m not a hypocrite, not because I
think a lackadaisical attitude to illegal drugs is OK. Does that make sense?”
I nodded. “When you say you’re not a hypocrite…?”
“I mean I’ve smoked it before,” she said. “And just because I
don’t think it’s the root of all evil doesn’t mean I think it’s okay that you
drove to my apartment yesterday with weed in your pocket and in your
system
.
Cause that was a stupid move.”
I pursed my lips.
“But we all make mistakes, right? So let’s start over. Because I
know you’re a lot smarter than you’ve come across since last night.”
I stuck my hands in between my knees.
“I am concerned, though, that you think you can get away with stuff
if I let you stay with me.” She flicked her blinker down and leaned back in her
seat.
“I don’t think that,” I said. “I just need somewhere to stay until
my parents chill out.” I swallowed and looked out the window. “I heard them
talking about sending me away to some school for messed up teens, and I really
don’t think I’m that bad.”
“So why do they think that?”
“What has my Mom already told you?”
“Why don’t you just do everyone a favor and tell the truth.” She
kept her eyes on the road. “Then you don’t have to keep track of who knows
what?”
I considered her suggestion for a moment and decided it wasn’t
the worst idea I’d ever heard. “They think I’m totally out of control and
completely unhinged because I like to party like everybody else my age.”
“I see.” Dawn turned her hands around the steering wheel. “And I
suppose they don’t understand because they didn’t do those things when they
were your age?”
“Yeah, basically. Or ever.”
“Well, if it makes you feel better, I don’t think you’re
completely unhinged. I drank when I was your age. I didn’t party so hard I got
picked up by the cops or anything but-”
“Did she tell you about that?”
“No, Jesus. Did that happen?”
Shit
. “Once. A party got busted, and I
just couldn’t get out of the house in time.”
“What happened?”
“I got grounded.”
“Bet that taught you a lesson.”
I couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic.
“Thanks for telling me the truth.”
“Sure.”
“Here’s the thing, Kate. I’m not as strict as your parents, but
you can’t pull the wool over my eyes either. So while you might feel like you
have a little more freedom to do what you want if you stay with me, you won’t
be able to “get away” with anything. Because I’ll know if you’re lying. Because
I was just like you at your age.”
“Uh-huh.”
“And that might cramp your style more than their strictness.”
“Nothing could cramp my style more than they do,” I said. “Plus,
they think I’m a danger to myself and others and a bad influence on Chris.”
“Are you?”
“Am I what?”
“Any of those things?”
I didn’t know why I felt so comfortable with her. Maybe it was
because I couldn’t hear any judgment in her voice. Like she wasn’t accusing me
of anything. It just felt like we were having a normal conversation, and she
was genuinely curious about what I had to say.
Which was weird. Because twelve hours ago I was convinced that
no one gave a shit about me or what was going through my crazy head.