Chapter 5

Just to avoid confusion, this chapter takes place entirely in the past.

Chapter 4

The first time Sharon got high, she had been nineteen and as such had been plagued with the fear of suddenly acquiring maturity. For above all else, Sharon valued immaturity. And in that spirit, she had thought it an incredible idea, to smoke some good ol' harmless weed. She hadn't done it before and was as such foggy on the details of how to go about it but Sharon was determined to a fault and stubborn to the point of irrationality so much so that she managed to convince Swayam into trying it out with her.

Swayam, for his part, was more reluctant than he let on and so he rationalized that it was infinitely safer for Sharon if she had someone looking after her than if she were allowed to run her own show.

Rey, having just been released from rehab, was eliminated as soon as he was considered as a viable participant in their up-coming "experiment".

So it was, that that summer Sharon and Swayam found themselves on the roof of Swayam's apartment debating over the best way to smoke weed.

"That is not how you hold it, you pointy faced arse!" said Sharon, trying to snatch the roll of weed from Swayam.

"How would you know, you psychotic little cough-drop! To my knowledge, you've never done this before." Replied Swayam, resolutely hanging on to the roll.

"Well neither have you, you smug faced brickhead!" said Sharon.

"That you know of." Relied Swayam, calmly.

At this point Sharon faltered a bit.

"You haven't!" she declared, disbelievingly.

"Oh, haven't I?" said Swayam, grinning openly.

"Have you?"

"Have I?"

"You haven't." declared Sharon, with conviction.

"Whatever you say." Said Swayam, smugly.

"Ugh, let's just try it my way!" said Sharon, at the brink of her patience.

"Nuh-uh! Your way is ridiculous. If Rey were here, he would have been able to help us." Said Swayam.

"If Rey were here he would help himself - to some weed." Said Sharon, dismissively.

"Bloody hell Sharon, at this rate it'll be morning before we can get one smoke in! Just shut up and smoke!" said Swayam, irritated.

The last shreds of sunlight melted with the inky black of the night sky forming a provocatively purple blend. The last handful of birds, uttered a half-hearted caw or a chirp before retiring for the night. A vast array of electric lights flickered on, growing in their brightness as the sky above lost its. Swayam and Sharon sat on the roof, with their back against the parapet. Dizzily, they felt the high set in. And in a flash, everything changed.

"Heee heee!" giggled Swayam.

"What? What, what, what?" replied Sharon, her eyes wide and unblinking.

"I think...I THINK I might be colour blind. Hee!" said Swayam.

"Why would you say that? Why, why?" sang Sharon, tilting her head.

"Because your shirt looks blue to me." Replied Swayam, smiling serenely.

"Hee hee! My shirt is blue, you silly goose! Hee!" said Sharon.

"Hey guys, I saw the apartment locked so I thought you'd be up here-" said Rey, walking up to them.

"Look Swayam! It's Rey, it's Rey!" shouted Sharon, pointing violently towards Rey.

"Rey! Buddy! D'you know, you're the dude of the dudes!" said Swayam, way too cheerily.

"Oook. Anyways, I got Pizza." Said Rey, sitting next to Sharon.

"Oooh Pizza! Rey got Pizza!" said Sharon, snatching the box from Rey.

"Ohhh! This Pizza is...divine!" said Sharon, taking a bite.

"I'm in love with this Pizza!" said Swayam, looking passionately at the slice in his hand.

"You guys are acting strange, almost as if...No!" said Rey, looking shocked.

"What?" replied Sharon and Swayam, innocently.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" said Rey, noticing the half-used rolls of weed for the first time.

"It's nothing." Said Sharon, nonchalantly.

"We smoked weed." Said Swayam, conscientiously.

"Swayam!" said Sharon aghast.

"I figured as much. How the f**k did you get high so fast? Amateurs!" said Rey, picking a roll up and lighting it.

For a while, they remained silent, sitting on the roof staring into space. Sharon had almost fallen asleep on Swayam's shoulder, while Swayam himself had his eyes fixated on the sky. Rey sat beside them, smoking leisurely.

"Did you ever notice," began Swayam, "that the moon is round."

Rey just grinned in response.

At this point, Sharon woke up with a start.

"Have we reached yet?" she said.

Suddenly Swayam burst into noisy sobs.

"I love you guys!" said Swayam.

In response, Sharon burst out laughing and Rey just shook his head in amusement.

"You wuss!" said Sharon, vigorously ruffling Swayam's hair.

"I want your shirt!" said Sharon suddenly, pulling at Swayam's shirt. "Take it off! I want it now!"

"Go get your own!" said Swayam petulantly.

"Give it to me!" said Sharon, trying to remove Swayam's shirt.

"Gerroffme!" said Swayam, trying to swat Sharon away. "It's my shirt!"

But by this point Sharon had managed to remove his shirt.

"Got it!" said Sharon, slipping it over her own T-back.

"Weed makes you mean!" said Swayam, shivering slightly due to the light wind and his unwarranted state of undress.

"And you, sensitive." Said Sharon, "which is a welcome relief from your otherwise stoic nature."

Rey, in the meantime, took his last whiff and declared with conviction,"Yep. I'm high."

"I miss my mother." Whispered Sharon, once more plonking her head on Swayam's shoulder. "I don't remember her much, but I still miss her."

"I miss my parents." Said Rey, looking away.

"I know." Said Sharon, placing her hand over his and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

For a moment, they sat in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

"I miss my hamster." Burst in Swayam, looking forlorn.

"Your...what?" asked Sharon, disbelievingly.

"I didn't know you had a hamster." Said Rey.

"Yeah. His name was Jamie. He was the best. And he knew a good many tricks too." Said Swayam, nostalgically.

"Yeah? What tricks?" asked Rey.

"Mostly pretending to be dead. Until one afternoon, he was." Said Swayam.

"I'm sorry." said Sharon, trying to suppress her amusement.

"Worst part was, it was a week before I realized that he was actually dead." Said Swayam.

At this, both Sharon and Rey burst into hysterical laughter.

"Aww! Come here!" said Sharon, wrapping her arms around Swayam's neck as he looked like he was about to cry.

"You know, now that I think of it, I'm not entirely sure he was a hamster. He could have been a guinea pig." Said Swayam, ponderously.

"Ok. In my experience, this is how it usually goes," said Rey. "When you start talking about your dead pets, it's time to call it a day and go to sleep."

*******

The following morning, Sharon woke up with a heavy head and the vague feeling of being smothered. She could hear faint jazz music and she could also taste, what felt like skin, on her lips. But it was the smell that caught her attention. That all too familiar smell of lemon meringue with just a hint of black p-

Sharon jerked her eyes open to find her entire body pressed up against Swayam's.

"Ahhh!" yelled Sharon, pushing Swayam off the bed.

"Oh God! What the hell is happening?" yelled Swayam, rubbing his shoulders.

"Why are you in my bed?" demanded Sharon.

"That's my bed." Pointed out Swayam.

"When I'm sleeping in it, it's my bed." Said Sharon, haughtily.

"Why the f**k are you guys arguing so early in the morning?" came a voice from the other side of the bed. Sharon turned around to see Rey rubbing his eyes and looking irritable.

"Ahhh!" this time both Swayam and Sharon yelled.

"Whatever happened to the concept of personal space." Complained Sharon, promptly pushing Rey out of the bed too.

"Ow. Geez Sharon. Thanks for that. I've been meaning to give myself head trauma." Said Rey, rubbing the back of his head.

At this point there was a knock on the door, followed by a shrill, little voice saying, "Swayam? Are you there?"

"Oh crap!" said Swayam, suddenly standing up. "It's Mary."

"Mary, as in your girlfriend Mary?" said Sharon.

"Yes. Why are you wearing my shirt?" asked Swayam.

"I don't know. But I like it." Said Sharon.

"Well, give it back." demanded Swayam.

"No thanks." Said Sharon, coolly.

"Why am I hearing Jazz music?" inquired Rey.

"Mrs. Summers next door likes to listen to Jazz in the morning." Replied Swayam. "Ok Sharon. Let me put it this way. My girlfriend is going to walk in any second and she's going to see me shirtless and then she is going to see you wearing my shirt. What do you think is going to happen?"

"Well, when you put it that way..." said Sharon, removing Swayam's shirt and tossing it to him.

"Thank you. Now you need to hide." Said Swayam, wearing his T-shirt.

"What? No, I'm not hiding." Said Sharon.

"Swayam, are you alright?" came Mary's voice from the other side of the door.

"Quick, under the bed!" said Swayam, panicking a bit.

"Yeah, cause that always ends well." Said Sharon. "And why am I the only one who is hiding? Shouldn't Rey be hiding as well?"

"Rey is a guy!" yelled Swayam.

"So? For all Mary knows you might be gay." Said Sharon.

"But I'm not!" yelled Swayam.

"Well, you could be." Said Sharon.

"Ok Sharon, this is not a good time to talk about my sexual preference." Said Swayam, clenching his teeth, in an effort to retain his patience.

"Oh, it's always a good time to talk about one's sexual preference." Debated Sharon.

"Sharon I-" began Swayam.

The door burst open and a nice, pleasant looking girl walked in.

"I had the keys." Said Mary, looking uncertainly at Swayam, then Sharon and then Rey. "What's going on?"

"Hey Mary!" said Swayam, all too cheerily kissing Mary on the cheek. "Let's go have breakfast outside."

"What is she doing in your bed?" asked Mary, pointing at Sharon.

"I was...trying to seduce Rey." Said Sharon.

"What?" asked Mary.

"Yep. I was trying to seduce him." Said Sharon, nodding fervently.

"Why is he sleeping on the floor?" asked Mary, suspiciously, looking at the now sleeping figure of Rey.

"Oh, I threw him there." Said Sharon. "I heard guys like that."

"You people are weird." Said Mary, turning towards the door. "Let's go Swayam."

"Yes, yes let's go!" said Swayam, enthusiastically, following Mary.

He turned back at the door, mouthed the words I owe you' to Sharon and then strode out after Mary.

Sharon glanced at Rey, who was snoring away to glory and then at the closed door and then she wiggled around in the bed, comfortably.

"That's more like it." She muttered, before going back to sleep.

*******