Eighty Days White Read Online Free

should have made a run for it, right then, and I knew that I was the responsible one of the two of us and that, as headstrong as Liana was, she would have come with me if I’d got up and left. She was reckless, but loyal to a fault.
    But it didn’t seem like my business who Liana flirted with. She wasn’t drunk and clearly liked the guy.
    ‘Do you girls smoke?’ he asked.
    I could tell that he wasn’t talking about cigarettes by the way that he rolled the ‘o’ in his mouth.
    Liana grinned at him. ‘Why not? More fun than taking an aspirin.’
    Nick gave her leg one last stroke and then stood up and rummaged in a nearby cabinet.
    ‘Just enough left for the three of us, I reckon,’ he said, tossing a small foil packet and a square of cigarette papers over to Liana. ‘You know how to roll?’
    She nodded, and carefully dog-eared the sides of the foil open, exposing the flakes of dry green bud within. The smell was sweet, cloying and unmistakable. I had never actually smoked pot before, but I’d often caught a whiff of it on campus.
    ‘Another first time, my sweet, innocent Lily?’ she said to me, taking a liberal pinch of green in her fingers and sprinkling it over the paper. I nodded. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll show you how it’s done.’
    ‘No need to be smug about it,’ I answered. The wine was beginning to go to my head and I was feeling feistier than usual. Liana just laughed.
    She lit the smoke and took a long drag, then gestured frantically for me to bring my face closer to hers.
    ‘Not as harsh if you take it from me,’ she mouthed, still holding the smoke in. She took hold of my shoulders gently and leaned forward, resting her lips against mine. I realised that she was blowing the smoke into my mouth rather than snogging me just in time to catch her exhalation.
    ‘Hold it,’ she gasped, quickly catching a breath as our mouths parted. Her lips were impossibly soft and tasted like wine, and I was surprised to find myself disappointed when she pulled away.
    ‘Ooh, I like that,’ said Nick, who had gone in search of more booze and returned just in time to watch our exchange. ‘My turn.’
    He took the joint from Liana between his thumb and forefinger and sucked the end liberally, then bent down and clasped her chin, raising her face to his. His hand strayed down to her exposed throat and for a moment I panicked and prepared to lunge forward and push his arm away. Her neck seemed so alarmingly fragile clutched in his palm.
    But instead of an expression of fright or fear, I watched in shock as she arched her back and lifted her mouth eagerly to meet his. He squeezed her neck tighter, holding her in place firmly as the smoke passed from his mouth to hers. He released her abruptly and as she sank back into the sofa, a look of blissful calm spread across her face.
    The image of his hand around her neck and the way that she had responded to it replayed again and again in my mind and I bizarrely began to giggle.
    ‘I think I need the bathroom,’ I whispered, when I finally found my voice.
    Nick pointed down the hall. ‘Second door,’ he said, without looking up. His gaze was fixed on Liana. Neither of them had responded to my uncontrolled laughter. It was as if they hadn’t noticed that I was there at all, as if they were finally seeing each other for the first time.
    I rose unsteadily to my feet, unaware of what I’d just witnessed, and set off down the hall, leaning against the wall to find my way. My head spun as I tried to make sense of what was happening between Liana and Nick and the drug began to take over my senses.
    In the mirror my face was red-eyed and distorted by the presence of the tattoo that decorated only one cheek. It was as if I had cut myself in half, and there were now two Lilys: the old, respectable me and the new rock ’n’ roll version. I looked like a clown and the bandage itched. I wanted to tear it off and scratch at my skin, but I forced myself to leave it, and just