Line in the Sand

You're at your first real high school party — the kind with older kids, music turned up, and a table in the kitchen covered in plastic cups. Someone you don't…

Marisol and her friend Delphine are hanging out on Delphine's back porch after school, the way they do most Fridays. Delphine pulls a small vape pen out of her…

You're hanging out at a friend's older sibling's apartment — no parents, low light, five or six people on a couch that's too small for all of you. Someone's…

Kwame and his cousin Bram have tickets to a concert that turns out to be twenty-one-and-over at the door — a detail they somehow missed until they're standing…

You're the one in your friend group who's not drinking tonight — maybe you're driving, maybe you just don't feel like it — and it's become sort of a running…

Odalys finds her friend Sunniva sitting on the bathroom floor at a party, laughing too hard at nothing, words sliding into each other, one shoe missing.…

It's late, and the party has thinned out to just a few people crashing in the living room. Your friend Rafferty had a lot to drink earlier and has been asleep…

Teodoro made the varsity team this year as a sophomore, which means he's now in "hazing week" — a tradition the older guys treat as a rite of passage. Tonight…

You're stressed about finals and mention it out loud in the library, not really expecting an answer, and a classmate you're friendly with but don't know that…

Anouk opens her locker between classes and finds a vape pen sitting on top of her books that isn't hers — it must have slipped in from the locker next to hers,…

Your mom sits you down before parties season starts and makes you a deal: if you're ever anywhere that doesn't feel safe — drinking, drugs, a ride you don't…

Rosalind watches her friend Casimir get surrounded by a small group at a bonfire, all of them egging him on to climb onto the roof of a parked car and jump…

You're at a quarry with friends on a hot afternoon, and someone dares you to jump from the highest ledge — higher than anyone's jumped from today, high enough…

Yusuf's friend Wren just got a moped for her birthday, and she's offering rides around the neighborhood to anyone who wants one — no helmets, because she says…

Your friend's parents are out of town for the weekend, and what started as five people watching movies has turned into forty people you don't recognize,…

It's almost 1 a.m. and Esperanza's ride home fell through, and the only person offering is Idris, a guy from her class who had "just two beers, hours ago" and…

You realize somewhere around October that your friend group's weekends have quietly turned into the same routine every single time — someone's basement or…

At every party this fall, Priya has been the one holding a can of soda while everyone else holds something else. Tonight, someone notices and starts a bit…

You're looking for a phone charger in your older brother's room when you find a small stash tucked in a shoebox in his closet — vials of vape liquid and…

Amara's family doesn't drink — it's part of how they practice their faith, and she's never questioned it any more than she'd question any other family rule…

You're at a friend-of-a-friend's apartment after a concert, the kind of loose, half-familiar crowd where you don't know everyone's name. Someone holds…

Marisol started vaping about four months ago, mostly because her friend group did it together between classes and it felt more like a shared habit than…

At your cousin's wedding, your parents let you have a small sip of champagne during the toast — it's a one-time family thing, closely watched, over…

Kwame has heard some version of "you're going to try it eventually anyway, might as well be with us" from nearly everyone in his friend group over…

At a house party, you notice a girl from your chemistry class, Odalys, who's clearly had more to drink than she can handle — she's slurring, unsteady…

The ski trip is technically chaperoned — two teachers signed up to supervise the whole cabin of juniors — but by the second night, it's clear they're…

Your friend Delphine texts you Friday afternoon asking you to tell her mom, if it comes up, that she slept over at your house last night — she was…

Ingrid and her friends made a rule before they ever left the house: if anyone wants to leave a party, no questions asked, the group leaves together…

You're at a backyard party when an argument between two guys you sort of know escalates fast — voices rising, someone shoving someone else, and…

Briar has been vaping for almost a year, long enough that it doesn't feel like a big decision anymore, just part of the day. Lately, though, Briar's…

Before your friend group left for the party tonight, you all sat in Reza's car for five minutes and went over the plan out loud: everyone checks in…

Junie's older brother's friend, Cass, is over at the house for a barbecue, technically an adult, cracking open beers with the other grown-ups in…

Your friend Idris used to drink occasionally at parties, same as most people you know, but over the last couple of months it's become something…

Prom itself was exactly what Wren hoped for — photos, dancing, the whole night feeling a little unreal in a good way. Afterward, though, the plan…

You've noticed that at almost every party your friends go to lately, drinking or vaping shows up at some point — not as a huge deal, just a normal…

Marisol was refilling her water near the kitchen counter when she noticed her friend Soraya suddenly go quiet mid-sentence, blinking hard like…

You're at a small gathering at someone's house when you notice a guy named Kellan, who came with a friend of a friend, slumped in a corner chair…

Idris had promised his friend Bodhi he'd never tell anyone what he'd seen — a half-empty bottle hidden in a backpack, more than once, always on…

You get home from a party and try to act normal, but your mom is still up, and one look at your face tells her something's off. She doesn't yell…

Wren used to spend most weekends with the same group, the ones who always ended up at parties where drinking was the whole point of the night…

You're in the bathroom between classes when a teacher walks in right as you're putting your vape back in your pocket, and there's no pretending…

Every year, the swim team's season ends with the same unofficial tradition: a party at a senior's house where drinking has quietly been part of…

Your coach has started looking the other way when older teammates bring alcohol on longer away-game bus trips, treating it like a harmless…

Nadia's best friend Elowen decided, on her own, that she wanted to quit vaping after realizing she'd started reaching for it out of habit more…

A few months ago, at a party, you went along with something you knew was a bad idea — drinking more than you meant to after being egged on by a…

Cyrus found out almost by accident — a text thread he wasn't supposed to see, joking about how Ines's older brother Callum was "the guy" who…

You're at a team dinner when the older players start in on a freshman named Emeka, the same joke they've been repeating for weeks, this time…

Sena had been looking forward to the summer festival for months, three days of music with a group of friends and a few people she'd only met…

Two years ago you were the person who thought any drinking at all, ever, was an automatic no — a rule with no exceptions and no room for context…

Thandiwe is packing for her first semester away from home when she finds an old notebook from freshman year, the one where she'd once written…