Disclaimer: Story and characters belong to Wendy Raimi. Do not use without permission. Do not archive unless without author's permission.

Rating: PG-13 for drug use

   We'd been smoking joints in the parking lot, but Keith had a habit of smoking way more than I did. I'd limit myself to just one before class, but Keith, he'd have at least three. How he ever manage to get through a day I'm not quite sure, but he'd been doing this longer than I ever had.
   We were walking pass the 600 building, we had English in maybe fifteen minutes, and no matter what, we were always late. I always blamed Keith.
   He stopped by the vending machine that sat near the stairs of the two-story math building. He looked at the different colored selections and began to dig in his pockets, pulling out coins and chucking them into the machine one by one at a quick pace.
   "Dude, what are you doing?" I asked through the swimming haze inside my brain, "You don't have time to eat." I explained, or so I thought. But Keith, as always, ignored me as he pressed the two buttons and something from the bottom shelf fell off. He bent over to pick it up and then smiled as he turned towards me and began to unwrap the plastic around the two yellow food object.
   "We got the world Jesse, all right? The world. Besides, I haven't had Twinkies since...like..." he trailed off here, looking up towards the sky with his hands stuck on the Twinkies plastic wrap, as if he couldn't finish opening them. We were like that for a few moments, him staring at the sky with his fingers glued to the partially opened snack, and me staring at him, wondering if he'd continue.
   "Keith?" I finally had to ask.
   "Dude, what was I talking about?"
   "The Twinkies Keith. When was the last time you had them, and you're opening them right now." Keith looked confused as I told him this, blinking at me a few times before looking down at his hands and giving off a goof ball grin, like he'd just spotted himself holding a Barbie doll that was some sort of prank.
   "Dude man, my mom used to freeze these," he explained as he finished opening the packages and began to look at the Twinkie he pulled out, "I remember the creme inside being frozen and how great they were in like, the middle of July after being outside and playing baseball for like, hours on end." I watched as Keith continued to examine the Twinkie, as if expecting it to be frozen at any moment. He finally took his first bite of the snack food. In between his chewing, we began to walk again and he became 'enlightened' as he always called it when he began to spout off stuff like, "Have you ever looked at a Twinkie? Why are they golden yellow on the outside and have creme on the inside? What really separates them from the Chocodiles?" To Keith, this was Philosophy. This, I believe, is why he got high. To make himself sound smarter.
   "I dunno Keith," I replied, walking, concentrating on getting the fuzziness out of my head before we walked into English 201, Beginning writing for the College Student. We still had most of the quad to walk through, and I knew walking it with Keith would not be in silence.
   "Chocodiles. Dude, those things are great. You know, some other guy thought them up, the whole putting creme inside a round chocolate log, and then Hostess or whoever stole the idea. You know that Jesse?"
   "Nah Keith, I don't know anything." I replied. At least, I thought in the back of my mind, we were using proper English before going to class.

   "Jesse," and it was at this point Keith finished off the first Twinkie and while he held the remaining Twinkie in his left hand, he put his right arm around my neck, hanging his wrist off my collar bone, "You are like, the greatest friend. The bestest fucking friend, you know that Jesse? And you've gotta like, know as much as me, cause you know why Jesse?" he didn't give me time to respond. I wasn't sure I wanted to. "Because you can keep up with me, and I don't mean ...like, running wise Jesse, cause we know you suck at that, but I mean like...with the whole smart thing. Dude, you know so much more than me. What you been makin' in English? Huh Jesse? You tell your buddy Keith."
   We were mid way in the quad now, a few more minutes and we'd be to the 800 English building smelling of weed and car exhaust, and Keith with his eyes red, mostly from the joints and some from the crying he was doing now. I always thanked the heavens that I was partially stoned during these times; that I couldn't quite make out the faces of the other students that I know were looking at us. We just kept walking, Keith with his arm around me, and me walking with my hands in my pockets.
   "I dunno Keith, look, we're almost to English class, can you get off me?" I tried to sober him up before we walked into the building. He still clutched the Twinkie in his left hand, although by this time part of the middle was crushed. Keith took his arm from around me and stuffed his hand in his pocket while he looked at the Twinkie in his left hand.
   "You know Jesse, I've always liked yellow." Keith said, his voice still soft and hazy, his mind still in the fog of not quite having his bearings.
   "That's fine Keith. Just fine. I've always liked white." I explained to him, not really knowing what I was saying as I began to open the door to our classroom.

Keith replied softly before we entered the silent classroom,
   "Put it that way, you're the creme in my golden outside."