Saving Rain

by Kelsey Kingsley

“Ten bucks only gets you one oxy,” Levi said, opening the bag. Oxy … There had to be fifty pills in that bag. Fifty pills that looked an awful lot like the ones Mom liked to take. The kind that made her drop onto the couch and stare at the TV until she passed out. Where was Levi getting them from? And why did Billy want one? “That’s okay,” Billy said. “We can split it.” Split it? Wait … what? Split it with who? Billy shot a grin in my direction. Is he talking about me? No way. He wouldn’t be … right? Levi dropped a pill into Billy’s hand. Billy thanked him and told me to follow. I did, uncomfortable and stunned, feeling like everything was suddenly even more messed up and wrong than before. What did Billy want with that pill? Why had he spent money on it? I had known him since preschool. He didn’t do that type of crap. Kids like him had nice moms and nice houses and no reason to want the pills my mom took. Yet he had one. “Dude, she was into you,” Billy whispered, both disbelieving and excited. “You should’ve—” “Why do you have that?” I cut him off, my voice urgent and hushed against the voices around us. “Because I saw Robbie take one last week and it looked like fun.” Last week, I hadn’t gone to The Pit with Billy and Robbie when they asked me to. Last week, I had been too scared to leave Mom alone. I had wondered what my friends were doing without me. I had felt jealous and left out, worried I was missing something crucial while I was too busy cleaning up Mom’s puke an...