America

Cassandra couldn't believe that she was truly doing this. All her life she dreamed of a life filled with nothing but adventure and freedom to be herself. But now that she had the chance, there way no way she would ever decided to turn back on it. She was going to spend the rest of her life with her best friends. This was definitely going to be the opportunity of a life time.

She sat on her front porch, smoking a blunt as she waited on Jaxon to pick her up with the others. Thankfully one of them had a vehicle because it would suck trying to get around with a taxi all the time. She sighed as she took a hit from her blunt and inhaled before blowing the excess from her mouth.

As Cassandra sat there, all she could ever seem to think about was Samantha and James. Those two were her world and she would definitely do anything for either of them. But if anyone were to find out how she felt about either of them, her life would be completely destroyed. Yes, she would love to have a life with either of them but for one, Samantha showed no interest at all in girls and James, she just didn't seem to think that he would ever want to give her the time of day.

She shook her head and took the last hit from her blunt before dying it out and tossing it aside. Whenever she was alone, Cassandra always seemed to think too much or over think things. Sometimes it can come in handy, but most of the time all it seems to do is stress her out more and more. No matter what she tries to do to keep herself from thinking, it never seems to work. Most of the time it all just becomes worse for Cassandra.

"Where are those fuckers?" she questioned to herself out loud.

There were few things that James Clement desired for himself in his life. He had not grown up with much and he didn't expect to die with much either and, truth be told, he rather suspected he'd die young rather than live long enough to die old. For as long as he could remember, James dreamt only of one thing: escape. Escape from his apathetic, drug addled mother and his asshole stepfather. Escape from a public school system that had already written him off the moment he didn't act like a happy dipshit in kindergarten like other, normal children. Escape from his memories. Well, two out of three wasn't bad. Even he wasn't desperate enough to take too much of the hard drugs in the vain hope of forgetting.

His feet took him on a familiar path, his mind far from his surroundings. There were only four people he counted as friends in his life. Two of whom he thought could be more.... But, reality flipped him off his matress recently. He had tried to be happy for Jaxon when he found she wasn't into guys, but it reminded him too much of reality. With his luck, Cass was unreachable too. Speaking of which...

"Where are those fuckers?"

He grinned, speaking with barely a thought, "Unfortunately, not fucking. At least, not this fucker. We could always remedy that..."

He spotted her blunt and grinned, searching for something to occupy his hands more out of habit than anything else. Unfortunately, his pipe was with his things in Jaxxon's vehicle, but he did have his flask and a cigarette. He took a swig of it, a mix of fruity flavors, rum, and other alcohols before offering it to his secret crush with charming smile and an unlit cigarette in his mouth.

"Trade you for a light."

Cassandra immediately turned her head, not expecting to see James. Why was his bags with Jaxon and he wasn't? She chuckled a bit and handed him her lighter and took the flask from him. She sipped from it a couple times before handing it back. "Thanks, I really needed that," she stated as she leaned against her suitcase.

"So why are you here instead of riding with Jaxon to pick everyone up when your things are already in her car?" she questioned, feeling a bit curious about this. Though she didn't mind having his company while waiting and having this time alone with him. Ever since she first met him she felt attracted to James. Though as they got to know each other and in the end became best of friends, she felt more than attracted to his looks. James was a great guy and hoped that some day she would have a future with him. She just didn't know how to break it to him.

But then there was Samantha. She loved Samantha to death and she was able to tell her everything. But she was clearly not into girls. In a way she hoped that somewhere down the line Samantha would give girls a chance. But even if she didn't she was just glad to have her as a friend.

Where are they? she thought to herself and took another hit from her blunt. She needed to get on the road before her parents got home. If they caught her running off with a bunch of, well what her parents would call "potheads and underachievers" she would definitely go through some hell. That was something she desperately wanted to get away from.

James lit his cigarette, raising an eyebrow at her comment. Patiently, he took a long drag before exhaling. Truthfully, he didn't know why. He didn't particularly like his home town. He hated it. However, he didn't feel right just leaving it before taking a last look around. He shrugged.

"I guess I wanted to say good bye. Fuck knows why. Knocked over a few people's trash cans on the way. Only our favorite people, of course," he told her with a grin. They both knew the type. People who saw them as trouble or fuck ups. Well, fuck them. He looked at her. Flawless as always. He didn't know what he deserved to have a friend like her. Few people actually tolerated his personality let alone liked to be around him.

I'm glad you're coming..." he said quietly.

Cassandra smiled at his last comment and grabbed his hand, pulling him down to have a seat. "You should sit down. You make me nervous just standing there," she stated. Ever since she could remember she always hated talking to someone who was standing beside her while she was sitting down. She never seemed to know why that was, but that's just how she was.

"I didn't know you liked this place so much," she stated with a smirk. She offered the blunt to James with a smile, "Want a hit?" she questioned. Just when she turned her head, she noticed her parent's car turning down their road. "Oh shit!" she exclaimed as she stood to her feet with her suitcase in hand and running towards the backyard of her house, hoping that she could sneak away and wait somewhere else for Jaxon and the others to pick her up.

James grinned at her touch, allowing her to pull him down next to her. He watched her lips as she spoke, curled in a smirk he found so sexy. "You should sit down. You make me nervous just standing there," she said. He laughed, teasing her a little.

"Scared I'm going to jump you, Cass?" he asked playfully.

"I didn't know you liked this place so much," she stated with a smirk. He scowled.

"I like it slightly more than I liked D.A.R.E. back in elementary school."

As she offered him her blunt, he grinned and took a long drag just as her parents pulled in. He cursed, following quickly after her, trying not to cough at the combination of sudden movement and not exhaling properly in his haste.

"Fuck, Jax is late! At least they won't catch us in bed," he said as he followed her to her backyard.

Cassandra laughed a bit and leaned against the fence, closing in the backyard from the neighbors. She couldn't believe he said that. Though then again, it was James, she should have known better than to be shocked at those words.

She took his flask back from his hand and took a much needed sip. "At least I know one of us has the alcohol," she stated before glancing over to him. "We need to get out of here and tell Jaxon to meet us some place else. If my parents catch me with my suitcase, there will be a huge fight that I am not in the mood to deal with. Besides, I'm hungry," she stated as she lifted her suitcase and began walking through the neighbor's backyards, not caring if they see her or not. She would rather deal with them than her parents.

---

---

Jamie sighed as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and texted James. "Hey, has Jaxon picked you up yet?" he typed before sending the message.

Jamie sat in his living room, watching TV. His parents were out on vacation, so he didn't have to worry about them coming home, finding that he was packed and ready to just get the hell out of there. He reached for the bottle of bourbon that was sitting on the coffee table and sipped from it. He couldn't wait to just leave. Life would be a whole lot better spending it out on the road with his friends.

Jaxon looked in the mirror. Her hair was over her shoulder in soft waves, her eyes held that playful glint that they always did. "Alright, you can do this, Princess." she told herself as she turned and grabbed her bags. Quickly she made her way downstairs, taking deep breaths and giving herself an inner pep-talk so that she wouldn't chicken out. Now don't get me wrong, Jaxon was a tough child but even though she hated that town, it was her home, and always would be.

"Bye, Dickwad!" she called to her father. A bottle of gin was clasped tightly in his hand, he laid face down on the couch, not a word left his mouth except for a loud snore. She rolled her eyes and walked out the house to her car. Without a second to waste she started it an drove off down the road. Her eyes stayed on the road except for the fraction of the second that she wasted lighting her blunt. The smoke curled out of her lips in small wisps as it fogged up the window. By the time she reached Cassandra's house the car was already completely fogged up. It made her smile.

What didn't make her smile was seeing the car of her friends parents out front. She put the car in park and exited her vehicle.The smoke left behind her in a big cloud. Without as much of a glance at her parents she walked to the backyard. "C'mon, Children. Mama's waiting." she stated taking off her sunglasses and looking at Cass and James.

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James grinned at Cass, watching her take a swig out of his flask. Taht was another thing he loved about her. She had great taste. Turning serious, she poke.

"We need to get out of here and tell Jaxon to meet us some place else. If my parents catch me with my suitcase, there will be a huge fight that I am not in the mood to deal with. Besides, I'm hungry."

"Pity. You're hot when you're angry," he told her with a grin before a familiar voice interrupted them. He laughed, feeling his phone buzz with Jamie's message. He texted back.

"She is now."

"You're late, Jaxie," he greeted her happily, though he was painfully aware of how smoking hot she looked right now. With a witty smirk on his face, he took a swig from his flask, "Christ, you could have caught me sober."

Cassandra jumped a bit, not expecting to hear Jaxon's voice. She quickly gripped her suitcase and began making her way through the yard to the vehicle. She prayed that her parent's wouldn't notice her with the suitcase, though no matter how quickly she tried to get to the vehicle it was too late. Not only did she have the suitcase, there was a lit blunt held between her fingers.

"Cassandra Marie Thames! Where the hell do you think you're going?!" her mother shouted from off the porch. Cassandra just rolled her eyes at her mother's words before taking a hit from her blunt. "Why does it matter to you? It's not like you want me here anyway," she responded back.

"Put that garbage out right now young lady and get in this house before I call the police on you and your little friends!" she demanded as she made her way over towards Cassandra. The brunette balled her fists at her side and handed the blunt over to Jaxon.

"No mother, I'm leaving whether you like it or not. Besides, I'm eighteen. I have the right to leave the house whenever I want and do whatever I want. This is what I'm doing, you have no say in this," she shouted at her mother. That's when her mother's hand collided with her face with a loud slap. That's when Cassandra just snapped and punched her mother in the face, breaking her nose. "Don't you ever lay your hands on me again," she mumbled angrily into her mother's ear before hoping into Jaxon's vehicle. "Let's go guys," she stated.

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James watched in amusement as Cass told off her mom. Really, she should have done this a long time ago. He winced as he heard a loud slap from her mother's hand colliding with her face and Cass' subsequent response. Without a word, he followed her into Jaxon's vehicle. As they drove off, he offered her another swig from his flask.

"Parents..." he stated simply, "Fuckers..."