The Price of Falling Read Free Page A

‘What's up?’
    ‘Just playing a game,’ she smiled. ‘You thought you'd come down then?’
    ‘Yeah, well, I was looking for Jason.’
    ‘He'll be here,' she said. 'You wanna play me next?’
    ‘Sure, why not?’
    The girl, Natalie, took me to a new table and I played against her. It was different to what I was used to. A lot of my friend's houses had pool tables but this one was old, scuffed and stained with beer. At least I hoped that was beer. The air was so smoky in here it was starting to make my eyes water.
    During our second game some more of Natalie's friends arrived. These were the dedicated pot-head types; all their clothes were ripped, all of them had hair that was...interesting to say the least. As I stared up from my shot I saw with a thrill that Jason was with them. I made to shoot and unfortunately potted the black.
    ‘Bad luck!’ Natalie laughed.
    ‘Guess I lose,’ I grinned at her, placing the pool cue on the table. ‘Thanks for the game.’
    ‘Any time,’ she replied, smiling.
    She probably liked me I realized, but I didn't want to lead her on. I squeezed past the table and made my way over to Jason, who gave me a bemused look. As I neared him, my heart pounded with nerves.
    ‘Hey, jock,’ he greeted with a sly smile. ‘What d'you want?’
    I was pretty sure I could smell alcohol on him, which might explain why he was smiling. I took it as a good sign. ‘Can I talk to you?’ I asked quietly.
    ‘Hm, maybe. Buy me a drink and I'll think about it,’ Jason grinned and turned away from me. He watched his friends, who were starting to divide up on to two different tables to start playing.
    I blinked in surprise. I hadn't expected this reaction either.
    I stepped closer to him to ask, ‘What do you want?’
    ‘Shot of whiskey and a beer,’ he said over his shoulder.
    I nodded, more from sheer surprise, and did as he asked. I went up to the bar and ordered the drinks, hoping I looked twenty-one. I was pretty tall for my age and no-one knew me here so I should be alright.
    I got served and paid, leaving a big tip in the hope it would warm the bar-tender to me. She didn't even say thank you. Taking the glass with a shot of whiskey and the bottle of cold beer back to the table I looked for Jason.
    He was standing by the back wall with a dark haired boy, leaning in to talk to him. He  had even longer hair than Jason and wore several silver chains and necklaces around his neck. When they noticed me approach they stopped talking; I saw the other boy grinning as he turned away and pretended to talk to a girl. Jason looked up as I held the drinks out to him. The sly smile crept back onto his lips as he took one in each hand and swung back the shot of whiskey. He placed the empty glass in my hand and held onto the beer.
    ‘Thanks,’ he smiled, eyes dancing. Then he turned around, clearly about to ignore me and leave me standing there holding an empty glass.
    ‘Hey, hang on,’ I said, reaching out to grip his arm without even thinking. ‘I want to talk to you.’
    Jason turned back with a stern face. He looked me dead in the eye, then pointedly down at my hand on his arm. I swiftly released my grip, my hand retreating. Jason looked back up at me.
    ‘You're crowding me, jock. Get lost.’
    ‘No,’ I said, as a sudden determination took over. ‘I'm not leaving until you answer my question.’
    Jason frowned slightly in what seemed like genuine thought then asked, ‘What question?’
    I leaned in closer to him, not wanting his friends nearby to hear us. I could see a couple of them looking at me, talking behind their hands. Probably wondering what I was doing here.
    To Jason I repeated the question I asked a few days ago, ‘What do you do?’
    He rolled his eyes then gave a small laugh. ‘That's for me to know and you to find out, jock.’
    ‘Why won't you tell me?’ I pressed, starting to feel frustrated.
    Jason simply smiled again and glanced over at the pool game, making out like he