Page 115

Story: Pretty Poison

Troian didn't seem to believe it, but, luckily, she didn't question it.

“Ok, I'm going to take a shower... You and Emily are very weird today.” Troian pointed out.

“Emily drank an energy drink, that's why she was jumpy.”

“No, that's not it...” Troian sat on the sofa for a moment, taking off her sneakers. "I mean, she's more animated than usual, more energized, but I don't think it's just from an energy drink."

“What do you mean? What are you talking about?”

Troian made a slightly disappointed face.

“I don't... I shouldn't say this, but I worry about her and well... earlier today, before we left, I went to call her in herroom.” The words came out of Hu's mouth fearfully, and I didn't get why. Until she said: “She was leaning at her own table and then wiped her nose quickly when I entered.”

“Are you suggesting…?”

“Yeah, you know…”

“Cocaine?”

“Cocaine, Ketamine, I don't know, some white powder!” Troian said, nervously. Then she closed her eyes tightly, frustrated and sad.

This was very wrong. We didn't have an anti-doping test to report on, but none of that made it okay to use certain substances. Troian seemed quite stunned by the realization and, honestly, I had no idea what to do. Put Emily against the wall and question her about it? Tell the coach? Ignore it? Emily was my roommate, she was my friend, but there was right and wrong, no matter how often we tried to ignore right in favor of those we loved.

“We need to talk to her.” I decided.

“Will she want to talk? Or will she just get angry and argue with us?”

“I don't know, T. But I hope we can talk in a civilized way, if we can't, Karlee will need to know.”

The sadness and disappointment were obvious in Troian's expressions, but she agreed.

It was a delicate matter, a sensitive situation. I couldn’t understand why someone so talented at what they did would turn to something as heavy as drugs for relief, but apparently, that’s what was happening with Emily.

I felt a little guilty for not noticing sooner, but I was going to do something about it.

The heavy atmosphere didn't get any better when we heard knocking on the door.

“Are you waiting for someone?” T questioned, getting up and going to the door.

I was a little stunned by the new information.

“Oh… it must be Kendra.”

Troian opened the door and came across Winfrey.

“Hi, Ken! How is Colleen?” Troian greeted her.

“She's at her dorm, Zorah is with her and Derek said he will show up later...” the blonde explained.

“Oh, that's good. I think Colleen and Derek make a beautiful couple.” Commented Troian, friendlier than a few minutes ago. “Well, I'll let you two chat, I need a shower.”

We both agreed and sat on the couch, waiting for Troian to leave. As soon as the door closed, two hands grabbed my face and a kiss was stolen from me. But I couldn't complain, I was thirsty for it.

“Hey, are you okay?” I pulled her away a little and she just nodded, kissing me again, but this time softer and slower, leaving me with weak legs.

“I really wanted to do that…” She declared, smiling softly. “I needed to take some frustration out of the system.”

“I understand.” I grabbed her fingers and brought them to my lips, placing a soft kiss there.