Page 15 of Love Legacy

Sage

T oday’s Thursday, my favorite day of the week.

Toasty Thursdays, as me and a few friends, including a couple of the KTA sisters, call it.

Raven, Aleka, Stephanie, Davidson’s buddy Chase, Noah, and I all get together on Thursdays while the weather’s still nice and hang out in the clearing in the woods right at the edge of campus.

There’s a stream right there, nice and cold, perfect for dipping your feet in on a hot day.

We found this spot late in my sophomore year, and we’ve been coming here since.

It was our little stoner hideaway on campus.

While weed is legal in New York state, it’s not permitted on campus, same with alcohol, technically.

And since all of our apartments had no smoking policy, we had to find our own spot to light up.

The biology program used to come to this spot to do an ecosystem lab in one of their introductory-level classes, which is how I found the place.

The professor who taught the lab retired right before my sophomore year, and none of the other professors in the department picked up the experiment.

So now the spot remains wholly undisturbed and under the radar, which is why it’s perfect for a smoke session.

We all plan our class schedules so that we have only morning classes or no classes at all on Thursdays.

Then, we come out here in the afternoon to smoke, catch up, and relax.

Usually, someone brings lunch. Thursdays are always a great day for me because they allow me to turn off my brain completely.

ADHD and Anxiety are a beast of a combination.

The constant stream of thoughts in my head never stops.

Yes, meds help, but they come with some nasty side effects.

I was already on Zoloft for the anxiety, but Adderall made me more anxious and irritable, Vyvanse made me nauseous, and Ritalin gave me migraines.

Sure, I could keep trying different combinations of drugs until I found the right fit, but to be honest, I gave up trying.

I make do academically, I’ve created my own workarounds and developed coping mechanisms to help me perform.

But the thoughts, they just don’t stop. I hyper-fixate on things—hobbies, facts, lyrics of a song I listened to three days ago, etc.

Sometimes, the target of my fixation was my anxiety.

The nice thing about weed is that it silences everything: the hyper-fixations, the anxious thoughts, even my own internal monologue.

My therapist actually supported my usage.

She knows how much I’ve struggled with finding the right mix of medications and the way she saw it, as long as my marijuana usage didn’t get in the way of my day-to-day responsibilities.

She didn’t feel like I was becoming dependent on weed; she saw no harm in me using it for this purpose.

She requires I journal my consumption—dates, times, method of consumption, dosage, you name it.

But I do it. I’ve been required to do it since I had my medical marijuana card, and even though I’ve been getting it recreationally in recent years, the habit was already there. Plus, it keeps me accountable.

The weather so far this fall has been unusually mild, still having sunny, warm days in late October, early November.

So, we were still meeting up on a weekly basis.

This week was my turn to bring the food, so naturally, I bought my go-to munchie food—Taco Bell.

I ordered two supreme taco party packs, six large Baja Blasts, and a crap ton of hot sauce.

As I wait for the order to be filled, my phone pings with a text.

Naomi

Hi Sage!

What are you up to today? I just got out of class and I was wondering if you wanted to hang out.

I definitely wanted to spend time with Naomi, don’t get me wrong, but these smoke sessions were part of my routine, and knowing her limited exposure to any kind of substance, I don’t know how she’d feel about joining us.

Sage

Hey Naomi! I was actually getting ready to meet up with Alex and a few friends to smoke.

You can join us if you’d like, otherwise, maybe we can do something tomorrow night instead?

A Friday night hang out might be too date-adjacent, but I’m in class for most of the day, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to take her out on a date anyway. My phone pinged again.

Naomi

Smoke? As in *leaf emoji* smoking? Aleka’s tried to get me join her a couple times.

I don’t know if I’ll join in, but I’ll still hang out, if that’s okay with you.

Sage

Absolutely, the more the merrier. I’ll pick you up on my way back from grabbing food. I’m leaving Taco Bell now.

Alright, I’ll see you in a little bit. *smiley face emoji*

My name’s called out, signaling that my order was ready. With the help of one of the employees, I carry the order out to my car, putting everything down on the floor of the backseat. I start the drive back to campus, stopping at Naomi’s apartment building first and texting her that I’m downstairs.

After a few minutes, she comes downstairs, smiling when she sees my car.

She is wearing a flowy romper, a pink top, white floral shorts, and a blue denim button-up shirt.

She has a brown leather crossbody bag slung across her chest, and she is wearing white Converse with her outfit.

Her hair is braided back into two Dutch braids, tucked into a low bun.

“Hi, Sage!” she says excitedly, getting into the car. “Hey, look at you wearing shorts!” I say, poking fun at her as I pull out of her complex’s parking lot. “I know, right? It’s almost as if I can wear what I want, and the ground isn’t going to open up and swallow me whole.”

She grins, throwing on a pair of brown sunglasses. “So we’re going to go smoke with some friends?”

“No, I’m going to smoke with some friends. You’re hanging out with us as a sober buddy.”

“What if I want to smoke with you guys too?”

I glance over at Naomi, trying to keep my focus largely on the road. “You’re joking, right?”

She doesn’t respond, fidgeting with a stray curl that escaped her updo. “Oh, you’re not kidding…” I say, pulling into the commuter lot on the far side of campus.

She shrugs, picking at her cuticles. “Maybe… I haven’t decided if I want to. But I haven’t ruled it out either.”

I turn the car off, turning toward Naomi. “Well, if you do decide to ‘partake,’ let me know. I brought a mix of products, so you’ll be able to try a variety.”

She nods, looking around. “What are we doing all the way out here?”

“You’ll see,” I say with a wink, getting out of the car. “Help me with this food, will you?”

We make a short trek through the woods, following the smell of weed.

The scent is nearly indetectable from the parking lot, but it grows stronger with every step we take further into the woods.

We approach the clearing to see that the crew has already set up.

They laid two queen-sized quilts out in the grass, separating us from the stream.

Raven and Chase were stretched out on one of the blankets, Raven sitting with her legs stretched out in front of her, leaning back on her hands, and Chase laying on his back with his head in her lap.

Those two are like an old married couple already.

They met during freshman orientation and haven’t been apart since.

They just fit so well together, and they’re so happy with each other.

Alex, Stephanie, and Noah were sitting on the other blanket, passing a blunt between them, each one taking a hit when it was their turn. “Hey, look what the cat dragged in,” Raven says, looking in my direction.

Alex looks up to see me coming into the clearing. “Hey, it’s Sage, and she brought my roommate with her. Hey, Naomi.”

“And food!” Stephanie chimes in, reaching out for the boxes of tacos in our hands. I laugh, placing one of the boxes and trays of drinks in front of them and placing the other box and tray next to Raven and Chase. “You guys couldn’t even wait. You got started without me.”

“You were taking too long. But now I see why. You had to stop to pick up your girlfriend,” Chase says jokingly, sitting up to grab a drink and passing it to Raven. She shushes him. “You’re not supposed to know about that.”

“Guys! They’re not together,” Alex says, grabbing a taco.

“Not yet anyway,” she mutters under her breath to Stephanie, the two laughing maniacally.

I roll my eyes, knowing that they’re just poking fun at us.

“Ha, ha, you two are grade-A comedians.” I lay down on the blanket with Raven and Chase, rolling onto my side.

“Come sit, Naomi,” I say, digging through my purse until I find my goods—a preroll, my pen, and a small baggie of peach ring edibles—laying them out on the blanket next to me.

“You said you were considering trying it out? Take your pick. I’d recommend the gummies though, for you. ”

Naomi kneels on the blanket next to me, surveying my spread. She grabs the peach rings, sizing them up. “Peach rings, huh?” she says with a smile, taking one of the rings and popping it in her mouth.

“Of course, peach rings for my Georgia Peach,” I say with a wink.

“They just happen to be my favorite candy.” She blushes, chewing the candy.

“So, how many of these am I supposed to take?” she asks, popping another into her mouth.

I take the bag from her. “Whoa, slow down. Let’s just see how you feel in a few minutes, okay? ”

She shrugs. “Okay.” Naomi grabs a soft taco from the box, unwrapping it and putting a little fire sauce on it. I take my pre-roll and put the filtered end between my lips, holding a hand out toward Raven.

“When will you bring your own lighter, Sage?” she asks, handing it to me.

“When you stop letting me borrow yours.” I light the joint, taking a hit and holding it in for a few seconds before exhaling and tossing the lighter back to her.

After some time and quite a few more hits, I finished my joint, and the high had fully set in.

Naomi took another peach gummy and she was fully feeling her high as well.

We were laying on our backs on the blanket, our shoulders pressed against each other.

Raven and Naomi were going back and forth about their Global Strategy professor, cracking jokes about his awful hair piece and laughing up a storm.

“How ya feeling over there, Naomi?” Alex asks. She stopped smoking a little bit ago. While she did have a work shift tonight, she likely stopped because she wanted to make sure that her roommate was okay.

“I feel like I’m floating, but my arms and legs feel so heavy,” Naomi answers slowly, carefully choosing her words.

I chuckle, rolling my head over to look at Naomi. “She’s high as a kite.”

Naomi looks over at me, grinning wide. “I should have tried this stuff ages ago,” she says, scooting a little closer to me.

Her arm extends out, pinky brushing against mine.

I return the gesture before looking back up at the sky, spacing out and fully relaxing.

A hand grabs mine, interlacing their fingers with mine.

It brings my attention back to the present, and I look down to see that it is Naomi’s hand holding mine.

“Yeah?” I say, looking over to see her staring at me.

She nods, biting her lip and scooting even closer to me.

I gave Naomi’s hand a squeeze, pulling her right against my side. She rolls over onto her side, resting her head on my shoulder, nuzzling in close. “So you’re a cuddler when you’re high? Good to know,” I say softly, burying my nose in her hair. God, I love that scent.

“Thanks. It’s my curl cream.” Naomi giggles. Whoops, didn’t realize I said that one out loud. I move my arm, releasing Naomi’s hand so I can wrap my arm around her back. She wraps her arms around my middle, throwing a leg over mine.

“Aww, don’t you two look cozy.” Stephanie stands over us, snapping a photo with her phone.

Naomi buries her face in my shoulder, blushing profusely from embarrassment.

“You’re going to thank me for this later.

Down the line, when you guys get married, you’ll have a photo from the very beginning,” she says, typing a few things on her phone.

My phone and Naomi’s ping at the same time, indicating a text, and I pull out my phone with my free hand to check it.

Stephanie sent the photo she took to both of us.

I love it . I have my hand up, shielding my squinted eyes and grinning, and my other splays across Naomi’s lower back.

Her body is completely curled into mine, a wide, lazy smile across her face as she looks up at me.

It’s a perfect photo. One that shows us effortlessly happy together. Sure, it’s fueled by marijuana, but it’s raw, and I want to bottle these feelings to save for later. I set the photo as my lock screen background before putting my phone away again.

Stephanie, Alex, and Noah gathered their things. “You guys are leaving?” Raven asks.

“Yeah, Alex has work, Noah has a workout, and they’re my ride back to the sorority house, and I have homework to do for my nine AM,” Stephanie responds, grabbing some of the leftover tacos. “Brain fuel.”

Alex waves at us as she heads back toward the parking lot. “Don’t stay out too late, you lovebirds. I’ll see you back at the apartment, Naomi.” She waves back lazily, not moving from her position draped on top of me.

Raven checks her watch. “Shoot, Chase, we have to get going too. We have that study group for econ in an hour,” she says, tapping him on the shoulder to wake him up. He had fallen asleep maybe an hour ago, napping in his girlfriend’s lap peacefully.

Chase takes the signal, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. “What? Is it time to go?”

“Yeah, we have work to do, dude.” Raven stands, collecting her garbage and belongings, leaving the blanket with us. “You two going to be okay out here by yourselves?”

“Yeah, we’ll be fine. See you guys later,” I say as they take off, leaving Naomi and me alone in the clearing. It’s five in the afternoon, so we have some daylight for an hour or two more. “Do you want to leave too?”

Naomi shakes her head, propping herself on her elbow. “Not yet. I like it out here. And with you,” she says softly, giving me a smile.

One-on-one time with Naomi, and she’s not itching to leave right away? I’ll take it.