Because I'm Disposable by Rosie Somers

before you head back to school.” Sweets? And he wanted to get high again. Or was I still high? I was groggy and still had trouble concentrating on anything not two feet from my face.
    By the time we were finished smoking, I’d given up concentrating on anything. I lifted my phone and checked the time, but by the time I lowered the phone to my lap, I’d already forgotten what it read. I check it again, and once more after that. At this rate, I would never make it back to school in time to catch the bus home. Days could have passed already, for all I’d been aware of the time. And I couldn’t care less.
    “Time to go!” Mona’s cheerful voice echoed off my eardrums as she danced to her feet and all but twirled across the room. How she could have so much energy right then, I would never know. I could barely muster the drive to get up off the couch. But I did. Link would be waiting for me in student parking when school let out, and I had the gnawing feeling that school was letting out soon.
    Getting up off the couch and adjusting my clothes took days, weeks maybe. I tugged at the hem of my black sweater at least twenty times before I was satisfied that it was sitting flat against the waistband of my jeans. I stepped with care as I followed Mona and Garrett toward the door. I didn’t feel unsteady on my feet, but I was certain that one wrong move would topple me over. Or at least make me look stupid stumbling to catch my step. Navigating a flat floor had never been so stressful before.
    Seth didn’t budge from his chair, and for some reason my mind hitched on that tiny detail. I’d never had a boyfriend before, but shouldn’t he have walked Mona to the door? Given her a kiss goodbye? Mona didn’t seem at all bothered by his lack of interest in her departure. Link would have walked me out and probably opened the car door for me. And he wasn’t even my boyfriend.
    Then again, Link wouldn’t have gotten high. Maybe Seth was a wonderfully attentive boyfriend when he wasn’t baked. Or, maybe he was always baked, and this was normal for him.
    The return trip was infinitely longer than the drive out to Seth’s place, and I was grateful for the fresh air when I finally climbed out of Garrett’s car and stepped onto the street outside of the student parking lot. The gate had already been wheeled away from the entrance and students were milling about inside the chain-link fence. School was out.
    “I gotta go find my ride,” I told Mona.
    “Okay, hun, I’ll catch you tomorrow at lunch?” She was inviting me to hang with her at lunch again? Apparently, falling asleep on her boyfriend’s couch wasn’t a party foul.
    I nodded.
    “And don’t forget Jason’s party this weekend; it’s gonna be totes fun!” She wrapped me in a one-sided hug, letting go just as I raised my arms to reciprocate.
    I dropped them awkwardly to my sides. “Totes.”
    Garrett climbed up onto the car so that he was leaning over the roof toward us. “Bye, Callie! See ya tomorrow!” His voice was too loud, but his grin was wide and genuine and largely effeminate. I wasn’t used to such flagrant displays of enthusiasm. I shot him a small smile and a shoulder high half-wave before ducking my head and making for the parking lot.
    I found Link standing next to his truck. He looked relaxed, leaning against the driver’s side door with his hands in his pockets. His face lit with the sweetest smile when he spotted me, but faded as I neared. I looked down at my clothes, checking for the gazillionth time that everything was just right. There were no stains on my clothes, no rips, tears, or even wrinkles. Nothing was out of place.
    “You’re stoned,” he announced when I stopped in front of him. Was I wearing a sign? Was it written on my forehead? I darted my head from side to side, almost turning completely around in my efforts to see if anyone was close. When I was satisfied no one else was near enough to hear us, I turned back to him, but I