Author: Tank
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my imagination in the creation of this story (and maybe some random characters later on).

Tara's wheels rode off the gravel as she hit the edge of Shelbyville. Even with the knowledge that her father was gone for a few weeks, she didn't want to be at home. Relieved at knowing where at least one of the girls would be, she cycled over to the plot of land where their tree house sat. Just as Roberta had done, Tara leaned over, read the note and headed for the house.

Tara meekly opened the door and ducked her head to climb into the mini living room. She smiled at the sight of her friends and as her nose adjusted to the room, her face fell in confusion.

"W-wha... oh! Oh, man." Tara squinted at the strength of the smell; it was highly potent and floated through every crevice possible.

"Taraaaa!!" She was greeted by a friendly yell from all four girls, who were sitting in a circle rocking back and forth with smiles up to their ears.

"Hi," she said quietly, a little mystified at the situation. She stepped further into the house to take a seat in the beanbag next to Sam. For about 30 seconds all of them just stared at her with the same smiles plastered on their faces. Tara was starting to get nervous; she was waiting for one of them to explain but there was silence. She could hear the swings blowing in their slow steady pace from the summer night breeze.

30 seconds later, they were still smiling.

"So, um," Tara said, coughing, "you guys got some, uh..."

"POT!!" they all yelled in unison and laughed, looking at each other in amazement.

"Did we just...? We did, didn't we?" Teeny widened her eyes, looking around at everyone.

"We just, like, spoke at the same time," Roberta concluded.

"Wow," was muttered through the room a few times.

"You sure did," Tara added, amused by how zoned her friends were.

Sam, her head now thrown back over the edge of her beanbag, stared up at the ceiling and seemed to be gargling. She threw a bag from her lap over to Tara without moving otherwise.

Tara fumbled around with it in her hands, unsure of what to do. She knew it was going to happen at some point, and all of her friends were... totally off their faces, so... She pushed her sensibility to the back of her mind, opened up the paper bag and pulled out the pre-rolled joint. She breathed out heavily, staring at it for a while, the smell of the room already causing her to slow down her movements. Roberta came and kneeled in front of her, merely inches apart, and flicked a lighter for her.

Tara breathed in, feeling the heavy smoke settle in her lungs, but it didn't faze her. She blew out slowly, watching the billows slowly rise and she smiled.

"Dude, you're like a pro!" Sam marveled, amazed that Tara wasn't coughing her lung out like she had done.

"This is what you get from a father smoking around you 24/7, for years," Tara said with some sadness.

Sam wrapped her arm around her shoulders and gave her a reassuring smile. "Just a small benefit from a crap thing," she giggled.

A while later, Tara was starfishing on the floor. The tree house had never looked so beautiful, and it was warm, too. Blankets were everywhere, making it feel like a giant bed. She was about to close her eyes and have another dream about her Willow but Chrissy interrupted.

"So, I would usually keep my mouth shut..."

Uh oh, Tara thought. Everything registered in her head at once, but nothing was making her panic, as much as she tried.

"The picture..."

Come on, Tara, interrupt her or something! She was yelling to herself, but Chrissy's words just kept coming and hers kept falling into the back of her throat without a whisper of protest being uttered.

"It's kind of odd, I mean, there it was, lying in a box, and then, boom, she's like, right there, real, in front of me, and I'm a little confused, you know."

"Uh huh," was all Tara could get out.

"So..." Chrissy begged Tara to continue.

"So... I'm not gay or anything..." Chrissy's eyes shot open, only now realizing they were closed earlier. All three girls, except Roberta, sat up within a second.

Bravo, Tara! Well done! Congratulations! Nice hole you're digging yourself there! The blonde sighed to herself.

Oops.