"Never thought I'd see the day the captain of the football team comes running to me." His voice carries a hint of challenge as he pulls out a small baggie. "This shit is not like what you've smoked before, you sure you wanna try it?"

"I'm sure," I say, though certainty is the last thing I feel. All I know is I need an escape, something to dull the pressure crushing my chest.

The first hit feels like fire in my veins, but then, euphoria takes over. The burn transforms into something else entirely, wrapping around me like a warm blanket, numbing everything. Every worry, every weight pressing on my chest, evaporates like smoke. I lean back, close my eyes, and for the first time in what feels like forever, I feel... light. The moon hangs above me, half-hidden like the truths I keep buried. As the euphoria of the pills Aaron gave me takes full control, I sink deeper into the ground, letting it swallow me whole. It's not Earth anymore—it's absolution, soft and endless, pulling me under. I can't tell if I'm falling or floating, but for once, I don't care. I want to disappear into this nothingness.

Her name comes to me through the haze.

The thought of her pulls me back, even just for a moment. Those big beautiful eyes that are so full of life with a smile to match. The way she laughs when she thinks no one's watching. My heart clenches because it beats for her.

Always has.

Always will.

But even as I picture her, I know it's fading. She can't know this version of me. She can't ever see me like this.

This is the beginning of something I can't control.

And I'm not sure I want to stop it.

Audioslave's "Be Yourself" fills the air, the opening notes haunting and slow, curling around me like an embrace. The sound penetrates deeper than just my ears—it's inside me, resonating in my bones. Each note vibrates against my skin, the music pulsing through my blood. The guitar solo hits electric, every chord sending shivers down my spine. The lead singer's voice cuts straight into my mind, and I feel the irony of every word. The highs, the lows—they're all part of me now, the drumbeat matching my heartbeat until I can't tell which is which anymore.

I open my eyes to find the stars blurring together, the night alive with an energy I can't explain. My head's swimming, but it's not unpleasant. It’s freeing, like I could drift away into the notes forever.

I'll never be like him.

The thought cuts through the fog, sharp and clear. A promise I've made before but never voiced. But as the music swells, filling every empty space inside me, I realize how hollow that promise is. Because deep down, I know I'm already too far gone. This is where it starts.

The spiral.

The addiction.