The Gang

When Jack runs into a gang of reckless teenage boys, he thinks they’re mean, dangerous, and that he ought to stay away. But as time goes by, he decides to join. When he finally does, he learns they’re not as bad as he thought. He also learns the leader, Sam, has some secrets, and some of those secrets are better left buried... where no one can find them...

Sam is not Jack’s only problem. He is also interested with multiple people. Jack feels he has a connection with them, but he can’t place a finger on what it may be...

I was in a dark room. The window above me almost reaching where the wall met the ceiling had cracked glass and was shining an eerie, green glow down on my body. I was hunched up, slouching against the wall. I was so cold.

Suddenly, a figure turned around the corner of the wall, the light slowly letting me see who it was.

Sam.

“S-” I tried to call his name, but I realized blood was flooding my mouth. I tried to wipe it away, but more and more of the red goo kept on pouring.

To my surprise, Sam walked away from me and across the room, heading out the door.

“N-N” I tried to speak. To say he had to stay. I stood up and bolted across the room, trying to grab Sam’s shoulder.

Suddenly, the door disappeared when Sam walked out, turning into wall. I slammed into it, backing off and banging against it.

The blood washed out of my mouth, allowing me to speak.

“Sam!!!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “Don’t go!!! I love you!!!”

Chapter One:

“I’m so happy practice is over,” I sighed, slinging my backpack over my shoulder.

My friend, Alfonso, nodded in agreement. “Yeah, dude, I thought it’d never end,” he said.

“Will you walk with me?” I asked.

He laughed playfully. “I always do. Why do you keep asking?”

I shrugged. “Just the way I am, I guess.”

He pulled his T-Shirt over his burly body and picked up his bag. “Well, if we’re gonna get home by sunset, we might as well leave now.”

I zipped up my black jacket and fixed my skateboard on the sidewalk. Alfonso did the same and we headed off.

“What time is it?” I asked him as wind slapped at our faces.

He looked at his watch. “Almost six,” he replied.

As we headed into downtown, we knew time was going too fast.

“I think we ought to take the shortcut,” I suggested, halting at a red light for a walking sign.

The light turned to a little walking man and we zoomed across, our pants being lit by the headlight of cars.

“Should we go through the alley?” Alfonso said, pointing down a long trench.

“Yeah, we should,” I said. “It’ll be over fast.”

Our wheels growled over the gravel as we slowly rolled along, jumping at the slightest sound or movement. “It’s a mouse,” I kept on having to say or, “It’s the wind.”

“Man, I don’t like it in here,” Alfonso whispered.

“Neither do I,” I agreed, “but we’re almost to the other side.”

“I’m too shaky to go fast,” he whimpered.

“Me too, dude.”

Suddenly, six boys jumped out of nowhere, stopping us in our tracks. One of the boys landed a foot on the front of my skate board, making it impossible to roll it away.

“Well, well, well,” a boy with medium brown hair, dark brown eyes, brown skin, a black leather jacket, black pants, and black leather boots running up to his knees stepped forward, “what do we have here? Two rats coming through our territory?”

Out of all the boys to meet us, I thought, it has to be a gang?!

“We don’t want any trouble,” I growled, yanking my skateboard away from the boy, who bared his teeth.

The boy took a cigarette out of his mouth, surprising me they actually smoked. “If you didn’t want any trouble, you wouldn’t have rolled through here.”

Alfonso whispered, “Leave us alone.”

The boy smiled in a cold way and scoffed. “Sorry, I know you’re trying to show off and all, but I’m not afraid of little runts like you.”

“Would you leave him alone?” I was surprised I wasn’t as afraid of them as Alfonso was.

The boy stared at me. He walked up to me, blowing smoke in my face. I noticed he had a tattoo of a bear covered with blood and scars on the bottom of his neck. “Back off,” he growled.

“You don’t scare me,” I snapped.

“Oh, my, I’m so scared,” the boy threw up his hands. “I clearly can’t take this tough kid on.”

We fell into a death stare. He wasn’t scared, and neither was I. By the second, I was gaining bravery.

“Boys,” the boy smiled, “get the little one on the floor.”

All of the boys immediately jumped on Alfonso, throwing him onto the floor with a surprisingly large amount of power.

“Leave him alone,” I growled, keeping my stare.

“How you gonna make me?” The boy growled back, keeping his stare. “You know you can’t take me on.”

Then, I remembered the knife I had snuck into school to cut a cord which had been stuck on my P.E. locker. “Yes, I can,” I said coolly.

Before I said can, the boy grabbed a blade out of his pocket and held it up to my neck, all without taking his stare off me.

I couldn’t get into my backpack faster, but my pocket was loose, so I grabbed my knife.

The boy burst into laughter. He was laughing at my knife. “Ha, ha, ha, I’ll tell you, kid, you really don’t know how to be tough. I bet you don’t even know how to use that knife of yours. It came out of your mommy’s kitchen, didn’t it?”

Before I could stop myself, I threw the bottom of my palms against his hard chest, actually knocking him back a step.

“You little brat!” The boy yelled. “You’re gonna learn how to use that knife now!” He punched me square on the jaw, throwing me to the floor. I felt blood leaking out of my mouth.

He tried to jump on me, and I quickly raised my feet, throwing him off. I was actually getting in a fight, and it felt great.

“You’re gonna go home with scars you’ll have for years if you don’t scat right now!” The boy fixed his jacket.

“Please, Jack? Let’s get out of here!” Alfonso whimpered behind me.

I finally looked away from the boy, baring my teeth covered in blood.

“Boys, give them back their skate boards.” The boy sighed. “If I ever see you two punks in my territory again, you won’t be going home alive.”

Before we left, I stopped and asked, “Who are you guys, anyway?”

A boy with dark red hair fixed his jacket. “I’m Fernando.”

“I’m Anthony,” said a boy with light blonde hair.

“Estevan.” A boy stepped out of the shadows.

“Juan,” the last boy with brown hair running down to his shoulders growled.

“I’m Sam,” said the boy who had attacked me. “Now scat.”

We quickly zoomed away.

When I reached home, I said bye to Alfonso, wiped the extra blood off my face, brushed the dirt off my clothes, and opened the front door, walking inside.

“Young man,” my Stepmother exclaimed, “where have you been?!”

“I got lost,” I replied. This was totally a lie because I already knew the town so well after moving here from Mexico, but she seemed to buy it.

She sighed, “well, I’m just glad you’re alright. How was practice?”

“Great,” I said, sitting down at the table.

My Stepfather came to the table, sitting down. “Where you been?” he growled.

“Lost,” I said, biting into my chicken.

He knew I was lying, but he didn’t tell it to stepmother because she’d freak out. “I’m happy you found your way home,” he said. We’ll talk later, his eyes said.

While we were eating, I couldn’t stop thinking about Sam and his gang. For some odd reason I didn’t quite know yet, I wanted to see Sam again.

And join his gang.

Chapter Two

Alfonso nearly choked on his yogurt when he heard my idea of finding Sam’s gang. I hadn’t mentioned that I wanted to join his gang, though. “W-What?!” he coughed. “Are you mad?!”

“You know I naturally am,” I said.

Alfonso asked, “Why do you want to, anyway?”

I replied, “I want to find him again because I want to make sure he doesn’t beat us up again.” A lie.

“Two things, Jack. One, he won’t listen, and two, why go through the trouble when we can just steer away from him?” Alfonso sighed with stress.

“Common, dude,” I whined.

“You saw what they did to me and you!”

“If I talk to him, that won’t happen again!”

Alfonso thought about this for a moment. “I’m sorry, dude, but I don’t want to see them again.”

I took my yogurt cup and stood up to throw it away. “Okay, dude, but when I get beat up, I’m telling the cops it was your fault.”

“What?!”

“I’m joking, man, I’m joking.”

“Whew. You had me going for a second there!”

I headed out the door, a bell ringing. “I’ll see you later,” I said.

“Wait!” Alfonso called after me.

I stopped walking.

He caught up to me, handing me a small, shiny knife. “Take this,” he said, “for protection. I don’t want my only friend killed.”

I took the knife and slipped it in my back pocket. “Wish me luck,” I sighed. I grabbed my skateboard, jumped onto it, and zoomed away.

I decided to head to the alley we had first seen Sam. I was a little nervous because it was “his territory”. What if he attacked? What if he won? What if I passed out and woke up in the hospital? What if they broke a leg? I felt a flutter of anxiety.

I finally reached the alley.

The gang was hanging out against the wall, smoking cigarettes. Sam was the first to notice, then the others and they stood up behind Sam.

“What you doing here?” Sam asked.

I replied, “Uh, well, I was -” I was lost for words.

“Spit it out!”

“I want to join your gang!”

Chapter Three

Sam chuckled. He walked over to me, looking at me from head to toe. He looked at my hair, my muscles, my skin, and everything else. “Do you work out?” he asked. “You have a start of a build.”

“I don’t work out,” I replied.

“Do you fight?”

“No.”

“Have you had training to fight?”

“No.”

“Do you box?”

“No.”

“Do you know karate?”

“No.”

“Kung Fu?”

“No.”

The boys were snickering behind us.

“Shut up!” Sam yelled. The boys immediately went quiet. He turned back to me. “You’re a weak little kid,” he said.

“I’m as old as you,” I scoffed. “Fourteen.”

“So? I call people ‘kid’.” Sam looked at me again. “If you want to join my gang, you have to learn how to fight, you have to change your style, you have to hang out with us alot, you have to put up with fights, you have to deal with us being ridiculously wild, and you have to help us get in trouble, because that’s what we do.”

“What will my new style be like?” I asked.

Sam replied, “Well, what are we wearing?”

“Leather,” I said.

“There’s your answer.”

“I don’t have switchblades like you guys do.”

“Get one.”

“They’re expensive.”

Sam stared at me. “You don’t make the money,” he growled.

“Neither do you,” I growled back.

Sam chuckled. “Man, I’ll tell you, I haven’t seen a kid in a long time who stands up like you do. If I didn’t enjoy you, you’d be dead by now.”

“What do you mean by ‘enjoy’?”

Sam froze. “That’s not important,” he whispered. “Are you very sure you want to join this gang? You’ll be putting up with a lot and best bets your personality will change.”

The personality thing made me think. We stood in silence for a moment. The only sound was my heavy breathing. I wasn’t expecting Sam to take me in so easily. To be honest, I was expecting to put up with a fight.

The truth was I thought being a gang might be pretty cool. No one at my school liked me, only Alfonso, and I wanted to show them I was tougher than they thought. The kid I hated most at my school was Timothy, who just despises me. A month ago, he had hung my boxers up in the cafeteria and had placed melted chocolate in the inside. He had also written “These boxers belong to Jack” on the front. Everyone had laughed and me so much, I had locked myself up in the boys bathroom, and the janitor had to come get me out. I’m not very brave, and to be honest, I felt standing up to Sam last night was the most gallant thing I’d ever done.

But showing off to school was not the only reason to join Sam’s gang. The second reason was I had heard stories from kids. They had said being in a gang let you be who you really are. If you’re wild, they’re the type of people you’re alright to be wild around.

“Yes,” I whispered, “I do.”

“Good choice, kid,” Sam murmured, pulling another cigarette out of his pocket. “You want a cigarette?” he asked.

I shook my head. “No, thank you. Why do you kids even smoke?”

Sam was silent for a moment. “We smoke because we can,” he said. He turned towards the rest of the gang, then turned back to me. “Why don’t we go shopping for some new clothes for you and chat?” he offered.

“Sounds great,” I replied.

“You boys can meet us behind the Pink Rhino Arcade,” Sam ordered.

The boys nodded and ran off, howling as they bounded off.

“They always do that,” Sam chuckled. “Come on, kid, let’s go.”

We quietly walked along the sidewalk, my jacket flapping in the wind and his leather boots squeaking.

“Can I ask a question?” I asked.

Sam nodded, taking a cigarette out of his mouth and blowing a ring of smoke into the air.

“Why do you have a gang?” I asked. “Why don’t they run off?”

Sam looked at me, putting the cigarette back in his mouth. “I have a gang because I feel almost insecure without them. I also want to let them be themselves. It makes us tough and get all the chicks. They don’t run off ‘cuz they know they can’t let their wild side out anywhere else or with anyone else. They know they can curse, smoke, and get high around me because they know I won’t rat on them. Why would I, anyway? I probably do it more than they could dream of.”

“Why do you smoke and everything?” I asked.

Sam was silent for a moment like he was judging if he should answer that or not. “Can I trust you not to tell anyone else like that wimp friend of yours?”

I nodded.

“My Stepfather whips me,” Sam whispered. “I don’t know why he does it. I guess it’s because he murdered my stepmother. I watched the entire thing. One night he came home ridiculously drunk, got in a fight with her, unknowing I was watching and listening, and stabbed her. I remember the dark red blood slapping at my shoes. That’s when I realized I was going to be tough to wear the pain off. Smoking takes the stress off, and it helps so much. I curse because it lets me know I have the freedom of speech. I do drugs because getting high takes your mind of everything, and all you can think of is gummy bears and stars.”

I wanted to laugh, but I knew it wasn’t funny. “What’s smoking like?” I asked.

“I just told you,” Sam laughed. He held a cigarette up to me. “Want to try it out?” he asked.

I was silent.

“It’s a choice,” he said. “I’m not forcing you. Feel free to say no.”

I took it out of his hand. He smiled, got a lighter out of his pocket with an Ed Hardy picture, and lit the small white roll.

I immediately coughed.

Sam laughed so hard, he held his stomach. “Ha! Ha! Ha! Boy, I ain’t seen a guy cough so hard. You’ll get used to it. Other than that, how does it feel?”

I thought about it for a moment. “I-I feel a lot of emotions.”

He gave me a confused look. “That’s odd. I didn’t feel that when I tried my first cigarette. I felt like I was being calmed and powered at the same time.”

“How do you get these cigarettes?” I asked. “And how do I blow smoke?”

Sam laughed and replied, “Just pull it out and blow. It feels weird as first. There you go. Anyway, I know a kid named Zach who's in college, which means he’s an adult. He’s really messed up so I take advantage of him, by paying him to get us cigarettes. He’ll get us a bunch. About twenty packs.”

“Twenty packs?!” I was amazed. I put the cigarette back in my mouth.

“Yeah,” Sam sighed. “You should see how fast I go through a pack.”

I laughed. The feeling loosened up.

“We’re here,” Sam said, holding open a glass door for me.

I fell silent for a moment when I saw the store. “Billy’s leather clothing” was spray painted all over the walls. Racks upon racks of leather clothing filled the store, its smell hanging in the air.

A man at the counter looked up. When he saw Sam, he smiled. “Hey, my youngest gang leader. What can I do for you?”

Sam jerked a thumb back at me. “This is the newest member. He doesn’t own any leather, so I thought I’d come over here and fill him up.”

The man looked back down at his notebook. “Sounds awesome. Let me know if you guys need any help, although with you, that won’t happen.”

Sam smiled and walked towards the back of the store where the jackets were. I followed him.

“Do you like black, dark brown, medium brown, light brown, or tan?” Sam asked, picking through the hangers.

“Black,” I replied without hesitation.

He smiled, “Glad you do. So do I.” He was quiet. He turned back to look at me. “Can I ask something?”

I nodded.

“Do you ever copycat or agree to fit in?”

“No.”

Sam whipped back to the jackets. “Good. Ooh! This one’s good! Stand by the mirror against the wall.”

The mirror was cracked, but it would do. I turned towards it and stared into my own dark brown eyes.

Sam pulled a jacket off a hanger and brought it over to me. When he slipped it on, he seemed to be standing real close. I almost felt uncomfortable. He scowled. “This one isn’t for you.”

In the next five minutes, Sam had picked out thirty jackets. By the time he had finished putting them on me, my arms were so sore, I would flop them down every time he hauled a jacket off. “Are we done yet?” I whined.

“Yes, sweetie,” Sam growled. “Let me pick out the right one for you.”

I walked behind him, smelling the cologne and dirt coming off his body.

“Which one do you like the most?” Sam asked.

I studied each one, searching for tears or broken buttons. One called to me. I walked over to it. It had three pockets: two on each side of the bottom and one on the right chest side.

“I like this one,” I said.

He picked it up and said, “Yeah, it looks tough. Wait until the gang sees you.”

We hung all the jackets up, Sam brought the jacket to the counter, and the man took a small white device off the sleeve.

“What are you going to trade for this one?” The man asked.

“My old switchblade,” Sam replied. He dug in his pocket and placed an old, tan blade on the counter.

The man seemed amazed. “Are you serious, Sam?! Heck! Go get two more jackets!”

Sam smiled at me and hauled me back to the back of the store. I picked out two more that I liked and Sam traded the items. The man put the extra two jackets in a bag, Sam ripped off my jacket sending color to my cheeks which I’m sure he didn’t see, and helped me slip on the new leather jacket.

“You look tough, kid,” the man smiled.

“Thank you.” I nodded, grabbed my bag, and we headed out.

Sam looked closely at my hair. He suddenly jumped in and pulled out three bobby pins. My hair fell longer, the ends reaching my jaw. My hair, to me, seems “anime”.

“You look better like that,” Sam complemented.

“T-Thanks.” I was surprised he had seen the pins.

Sam grabbed my sleeve. “Common. I don’t want the gang wondering where I am.”

I raced after him down the sidewalk.

Chapter Four

Before I reached home, I stripped off my new jacket, threw my old one back on, and finished the way home. Sam waved and ran off with the rest of the gang. I threw the bag in my room window and walked around to the front of the house, walking inside.

“Were you hanging out with Alfonso?” Stepfather asked.

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“That kid’s smart,” Stepfather said.

I turned towards him. “Do you have a switchblade?”

Stepfather gave me a horrified look. “Why on earth would I have a switchblade?! Do you know what your Stepmother would think?! She’d have a heart attack!”

“I was just curious,” I said. “You seem all tough, that’s all.”

Stepfather’s expression softened a bit. “Thanks, son. Now go do your homework. You have school tomorrow.”

I nodded and walked off, my heart racing. I didn’t know what had taken over me to ask if he had a switchblade. I guess I just wanted to fit in now that I was in Sam’s gang.

I sat down at my desk, picking up a pen. I looked at the bag of jackets behind me. I got up, picked it up, picked out the two other jackets, and walked over to the mirror on the wall. I slipped both of them on, taking a good look at myself. Both times, I pointed a finger gun towards my reflection and smiled, like I was in front of girls.

A knock on my window brought me back to reality. Alfonso was outside, pounding on the glass.

I walked over and opened it, moving my curtains to the side. “What are you doing here, man?”

He was out of breath, his chest heaving. “S-Sam’s gang... they... attacked...”

“Whoa, dude, slow down. Come in,” I said.

Alfonso crawled through. I saw cuts on his face and his shirt was ripped.

“What did they do to you?” I asked.

Alfonso replied, “I was walking along the street back home. Mom had told me to go out and get some eggs because we were making a cake for dad who just got home from the army. Sam’s gang jumped me and beat me up, telling me you were theirs now,” he noticed my leather jacket. “W-What are you wearing?”

“Leather,” I whispered.

He slapped his hands against his hips. “So, they were right?! You have become part of their gang! You said you were going to find them and ask them to leave us alone! What’s going on?!”

I sighed. I felt guilty. “The truth is, I wanted to find them and ask if I could join their gang. I thought they’d let you join too.”

Alfonso whipped away from me, arms crossed. “Why didn’t you tell me the truth when you first told me the idea?”

“I lied because I know you’re afraid of them.”

“You’re my only friend. I would think I can trust you!”

“You’ve lied to me before!”

“Oh?! When?!”

“Two months ago.”

“Oh, that was about five bucks, not our friendship, Jack!”

I felt anger rising in my chest. “Shut up!” I screamed.

Alfonso looked at me again, tears pouring out of his eyes.

After he had scoffed, jumped out the window, and tore down the street into the sunset, I realized how much I’d hurt him. I slowly slid to the floor, tears biting my own eyes...

Chapter Five

I rolled over and moaned when Bruce Jeffreys weather report blared on my alarm clock. I gave up, opening my eyes, and slowly slid off, heading for my closet.

After I pulled on a black T-Shirt, black pants, black converse, and a black jacket, I stuffed my leather jacket in the second pocket of my backpack, secretly hoping I could wear it later today when I hung out with the gang.

“Did you sleep well?” Stepmother asked as I slinked down the stairs, plopping down at the table.

“Not really,” I replied. Because I got in a fight with my best friend, I thought.

“Isn’t your geography test today?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Curious.” She carried pancakes to the table and placed them down in front of me, handing me syrup.

“Thanks,” I smiled, biting in.

What will Alfonso be like today? Will he talk to me?

I looked at the clock on the yellow kitchen wall. “Oh, I need to go. I’ll see you later.”

plate to the fridge. “I need to go grocery shopping this afternoon and your father will be at work, so when you come home, just relax and do your homework. If you want, you can go out to hang out with Alfonso, but be back at six sharp.”

“Thanks, step mom,” I said, rushing out the door. I never called her mom because she wasn’t my real mother. In fact, I didn’t even know who was. I had lived in a boarding school in Mexico and had been brought straight to my step parents by a man I’d never gotten to know.

Ten seconds after I sat down on the old, rusty bench by the road, the yellow school bus rolled to a stop, so I hopped on.

I would normally sit next to Alfonso, but after last night, I decided not to. He was sitting in seat three, looking out the opposite window, away from the hallway where I was standing.

“Go on and sit down,” the driver growled. “I don’t have all day.”

I politely nodded and went to seat twelve, where I plopped down and pulled out my book.

When we finally rolled into the parking lot of my school, Raindrop Prep, every kid immediately hopped out, except for Alfonso and I. We were both upset, which made us quiet.

I was the last one to get off. When I finally did, I slowly walked inside and upstairs to my locker, where I was amazed to find Sam.

“Hey, kid,” he said.

“Hey, Sam,” I said. “What are you doing here?”

“I used to be home schooled. My step dad said I need to get some real education, even though the truth is he fired my personal teacher for some stupid reason, so I was sent here.” Sam sighed and fixed his black backpack on his shoulder.

I was quiet.

“You alright?” Sam asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I replied.

“You’re lying.”

“I... I just got in a fight with my friend, that’s all.”

“You mean that wimp Alfonso? He sucks, anyway.”

“He’s my friend.”

Sam stopped, sending me a glare. “You’re too brave for me to like.”

I turned back to my locker, taking out textbooks and shoving them inside my backpack.

Sam asked, “What’s this school like?”

“Loud, obnoxious, and wild,” I replied. I was right. When you have middle scholars mixed with high scholars, it’s a monkey cage which teaches stuff.

He chuckled dangerously. “Just my type. Is the education here, like, the stuff you learn, hard?”

I shook my head. “No, not really.”

Sam fixed his leather jacket. “I’ve already gotten some looks from some chicks. The chicks here are smokin’ hot.”

I didn’t know how to reply, so I nodded.

He asked, “Do you have a girlfriend?”

“No,” I replied, “I don’t. Besides, no girl would like me.”

Sam gave me a weird look, and I was about to ask what it meant, but the bell rang, cutting off my voice.

“Let me see your schedule,” I said.

Sam handed me his paper. “What do you want with it?”

“You have all of your classes except computer with me,” I said. “Come on.”

When we reached the classroom, I held the door open for Sam and he ambled in. He seemed way more comfortable than I was when I got here at the beginning of my freshman year.

Five girls’ eyes turned to look at him. Sam shot them a dangerous look and sat down a table. I rolled my eyes smiling and sat down next to him.

“You’re dangerous,” I laughed.

He laughed, too. “You just noticed that?”

The teacher walked in, going through papers. He stopped when he noticed Sam. “Hello,” he said in a polite tone. “Are you the new kid?”

Sam nodded. “Yes, sir.”

The teacher smiled. “Good, a boy with manners. It’s about time.” He threw a playful look towards me.

I smiled and threw my hands up. “What?!”

After four classes, the lunch bell finally rang and Sam hopped up, hurrying like it was the last class of the day.

He asked, “Is there a place I can smoke?”

I replied, “No, there isn’t, and the teachers would kill you if they caught you smoking.”

Sam’s shoulders hung. “Aw, dang. I’m gonna go to my locker and hide my pack.”

After he did that, we walked to the cafeteria. We walked to the lunch line.

“My gang is going to come, too,” Sam said.

“Is going to come?” I was confused.

He smiled. “They’re gonna come here. I convinced their parents with a few lies.”

“You’re clever,” I smiled back.

Sam was silent for a moment, staring at me calmly. “Thanks, kid.”

After I ordered, Sam and I chose a table, sitting down.

I noticed he didn’t have any food. “Aren’t you going to eat?” I asked. “I can lend you some cash if you don’t have some on your account.”

He was quiet. “I’m... I’m not very hungry,” he replied.

I felt he was lying, but I kept quiet, biting into my pasta.

Sam changed the subject quickly by asking, “I didn’t ask about your personality yesterday. Whats your hobbies, interests, and other stuff?”

“Stuff?” I laughed. “Well, I like to read or draw. That’s all I am, really. What about you?”

“I like to smoke, of course. I like to dance and listen to music. I also like to beat up other gangs.”

“There are other gangs?”

“Oh, all over the country! They may be quiet, but they’re out there. Some of them gave me scars.”

“Where?”

“Regular places. Arms, legs, you know.”

“Oh.” I continued to eat my pasta. “Can we meet them?”

Sam raised one eyebrow. “You want to meet other gangs? Didn’t I just tell you they’re dangerous?”

“How?” I asked.

Sam replied, “They’re just dangerous, dude. They beat up each other, get in gang fights, and very rarely, set fires. You don’t want to run into them.”

“You’re brave.”

“Yes, we’re wild and brave, but some things are better left alone.”

I was a little disappointed, but I didn’t show it. I really wanted to see what being in a gang was like, and what others were like. I wanted to see if they were like us or like a butterfly compared to a beetle.

Sam noticed I was upset. “Cheer up, kid. If you’re really lucky, I may take you to see a gang fight.”

“When?!” I blurted out like a child.

“Calm down,” Sam laughed. “Maybe for your birthday or something.”

When school finally let out, Sam grabbed his backpack and we walked out. I stopped in the middle of the hallway to switch jackets.

“You look better,” Sam complemented.

“Thanks,” I said. “Where are we going?”

“The Pink Rhino Arcade,” Sam said. “It’s normally where we hang out. I know the name seems girly, but the place isn’t. Once, a guy got stabbed.”

Wonderful, I thought, feeling sick to my stomach.

The second we walked off campus, Sam flipped out his lighter and a cigarette, lighting it and popping it in his mouth. “Want one?” he offered.

I took one out of the pack. “Why not?”

We stopped so Sam could light it. He lit it and we continued.

“Why didn’t you eat during lunch?” I asked.

He was silent. “Because I wasn’t hungry.”

“You seemed really excited to finally be let out for lunch.”

“Class sucks.”

“Yeah...”

When we reached the arcade, Sam held the door for me and we headed inside.

The five other boys ran up. “Hey, Sam.”

“Hey,” Sam said. “Let’s go get some snacks. Juan, go take Jack to the Pool tables in the back.”

They walked off and Juan stormed off. I followed him.

As we walked along, I started to realize why Sam said it was crazy. Sware words and pictures were painted all over the walls, people were screaming, some were making out, and others were giving us dirty looks, polishing their knives and blades.

We finally reached the pool tables. Juan and I had an awkward silence.

“Sam ain’t yours,” he whispered after a moment.

I turned towards him. “What do you mean?” I asked.

Juan growled and replied, “You know exactly what I’m talking about. Sam is our leader, not yours. You don’t count as a member, and you never will. You’re just one of those kids who wants to be all cool. You’re not one of my favorites, and I hate you.”

I was taken aback. I growled back, “Well, you’re not my favorite either. If Sam isn’t mine, explain why he hung out with me during the entire day.”

Juan was silent for a minute. “Sam hung out with you today because that’s what he does when he wants to gain trust in someone. Then, when you’re least expecting it, he gives up on you and lets you fall.”

I scowled at him. “I trust Sam! If you hate him, why do you act so jealous?!”

“Jealous?!” Juan took a step closer, brushing against my temper.

“Why are you being so irritable?!”

Juan suddenly flipped out a switchblade.

There was a huge thud! and Juan was thrown against the pool table, rolling across and falling off the other end.

“Cut it out, both of you!” Sam yelled, his teeth baring.

“He started it!” I growled, pointing toward Juan who was slowly getting up.

Sam glared at me, “Yes, he may have, but you agreed to fight! What were you two arguing about, anyway?”

“I don’t like him being in our gang,” Juan growled. “In fact, I hate him being in this gang!”

“Shut up!” Sam screamed.

Juan fell quiet.

“Now, what else did Juan say?” Sam asked me.

After a long, painful silence I replied, “He told me you’re not to be trusted. He told me you gain trust in someone then when they least expect it, you give up on them and lets them fall. He said you’re doing that to me.”

Fire lit in Sam’s eyes. He turned to Juan, teeth baring, eyes burning, and chest heaving. “You little rat!” He screamed.

Juan realized what he had done. He stared back at Sam, fear in his eyes.

Sam grabbed Juan’s collar, dragged him back across the pool table, and punched him square in the jaw, skidding him across the floor.

People realized they were fighting. They started to come, gathering in a circle.

I stepped forward to stop it, but Fernando gripped my shoulder. “Leave them be,” he warned in a calm voice. “They’ll sort it out.”

Juan got up, holding his jaw. Sam immediately ran to Juan, kicking him in his stomach and punching his jaw multiple times. Juan was knocked down again. He got back up surprisingly fast and kicked Sam in the leg, making him back off. Now that Juan had an opening, he immediately took it, punching Sam in the stomach, making him back off more.

“Oh,” Sam yelled, “now you’ve done it!”

He tore at Juan, ripping at his hair, tearing at his clothes, and punching and kicking where ever he could reach. Blood splattered onto the pool table and walls.

“I-I’m sorry!” Juan cried, curling up into a ball of pain.

Sam stopped, backing up and leaning on the pool table. “If you ever say anything like that about me again, you’ll be killed, and I mean it. You hear me?”

“Y-Yes, S-Sir,” Juan cried.

Sam kicked Juan in the stomach. “Get up, pussy,” he growled.

Juan scrambled to his feet, crying, his tears mixing with fresh blood.

I noticed Sam was staring at Juan’s blood, not with surprise or sympathy, but hunger...

I stared.

Chapter Six:

The next day, when I was switching books during lunch, the only thing I could think of was the fight Sam had had with Juan last night. I had never known Sam was that powerful. I mean, he was amazing, tearing, punching, and kicking everywhere he could. I now understood why he was the leader of the gang, and not the others. If he had that power, why didn’t he just take on his father?

“Hey,” a quiet voice said, snapping me back to reality.

Sam was leaning against the locker next to mine, looking down at his feet.

“You alright?” I asked.

He was silent. After a moment, he replied, “No. I’m really upset from last night. I’m sorry you had to see me like that.”

I turned towards him. “It’s alright, Sam. I would’ve beat him up too if he had said those mean things about me.”

Sam nodded in agreement.

I slowly walked toward him, taking him in my arms. The second my arms closed around him, he grabbed me, pulling me close. I was surprised at all the affection he had towards me.

Later, when I walked into computer class, the first thing I noticed was a boy talking to the teacher. I hadn’t seen him before, so I knew he must be new. I sat down in the back row to get a better look at him.

He had shining black hair running down to his jaw which was anime like mine. One side was covered by hair. He had dark green eyes, light tan hair, a black long sleeve shirt, black pants, black sneakers, and a gold necklace around his neck.

“Why don’t you sit next to Jack over here?” The teacher suggested, pulling out a seat for the boy.

“Thank you,” he smiled. He sat down, taking a look at me for a split second then looking towards the front of the class.

I said, “I’m Jack.”

The boy said, “I’m James.”

We fell silent again. James seemed surprised at my name.

“Y-Your name,” he whispered, “seems familiar. Have I met you before?”

Before I could answer, I felt a flicker of memory, too, but before I could study it, it disappeared, leaving my brain blank. “I-I don’t know,” I said. “Your name sounds familiar, also.”

The teacher walked up to the front of the class. “Turn on your monitors and continue working on your projects,” he ordered.

James leaned back on his chair, crossed his arms, and placed with his feet. I was surprised how calm he was, like Sam.

After class, James stopped me. “Can you give me a hand with my schedule?” he asked. “I don’t know the buildings too well and today is my first class.”

I took his schedule. “You have six classes with me out of eight, including the next one. Come with me.”

We slowly walked to Science.

“So, where’d you come from?” I asked.

He gave me a confused look.

“Where did you go or live before you came here,” I explained.

“Oh, I moved here from France,” James replied.

“Do you know Sam?” I asked.

He stopped, “Uh, yeah, he’s the kid who tripped me making me drop all my books.” He scowled.

“You may want to steer away from him.”

“No kidding.”

“He’s the leader of my gang.”

“You’re his friend?”

“N-Not really.”

Suddenly, Sam whipped around the corner, joining us. When he saw James, he bared his teeth. “Oh, you’re the french wimp,” he growled.

“Back off,” James growled. “What did I ever do to you?”

“You were born.” Sam stormed off, kicking the door open, making it slam against the wall.

“Is he always like that?” James scoffed.

I felt protective. “Not always. He’s not that bad.”

“To you.”

I saw pure hatred for Sam flash through James’s eyes. I knew nothing good was going to come of this.

Chapter Seven:

The moment I stepped into Science, I stopped dead, and so did James.

We were both staring at a girl sitting in the back row. She was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen. She had light brown, almost tan hair, light blue eyes, weak, light tan skin, a dark green spaghetti strap, jeans, and blue converse.

When we ran to sit next to her and sat down, she jumped, her face as white as a ghost.

“S-Sorry,” she whispered, “you two surprised me.”

“I’m sorry,” James and I both said at the same time.

I flashed him a look, and he returned it. I knew he liked her too, which meant it was a battle to see who could impress and win her, like animals in nature.

“James,” the teacher said, “come here for a moment. I want to introduce you to our topics.”

James reluctantly got up and walked to the front desk. The girl’s eyes followed him.

“I’m Jack,” I said.

She snapped back to me. “I’m Molly,” she said.

“You have a bit of an accent. What do you have in you?” I asked.

“German,” she smiled. The sight took my breath away. “I just moved here.”

“I moved here from Mexico at the start of the year,” I said.

She said, “I can tell you have its blood from the look of your skin.”

“Is that a good thing?” I looked down at my arms.

She giggled. “I don’t know. Is it?”

“I... I guess.”

When James came back to sit down, Molly turned to him, asking him what his name was and if he had moved here from anywhere.

I was a little disappointed. Molly seemed to have more interest in James than she did in me. She’s a new girl, I thought. Give her time and she’ll be at your feet in no time.

“Hey, hey, Jack,” Sam interrupted.

I turned to him. “Yeah?”

“You have a dangerous look in your eyes,” he chuckled. One side of his smile was perked at the left.

I made sure Molly was distracted and leaned over. “She’s sexy!” I whispered.

He took a look at her. “Meh, to you. I mean, she’s cute, but not sexy.”

I sighed in surprise and leaned back against my chair, taking out my Science binder and a pencil.

After class, I packed up, slung my backpack over my shoulder, and walked with Sam to Social Studies.

“Do you like her?” Sam asked. I heard a hint of disappointment in his voice.

“Well, if I said she’s sexy, yes,” I replied. “Why? Do you?”

“No,” Sam paused. “She’s, uh, not my type.”

I gave him a weird look, but said nothing.

Chapter Eight:

While I was packing up for home, I saw Alfonso walk along the other side of the hallway.

“Hi,” I whispered after a moment.

He stopped and looked at me. “Hi.”

“I’m really sorry we got in a fight. I would never fight with you if I could totally control my anger. I’m so sorry.”

“I’m sorry, too. I’ve been sad all day long.”

“Truce?”

“Truce.”

We fell quiet.

A smile lit up on his face. “I saw a girl who’s right up your alley! Come!” He grabbed my sleeve, dragging me with him. I grabbed my backpack, stumbling behind him.

“Since when did you become Match.com?” I asked, laughing.

“Since you told me you wanted a girlfriend,” Alfonso replied, hauling me up the stairs.

I coughed. “When did I tell you I wanted a girlfriend?”

Suddenly, Alfonso stopped, letting me go. I slammed into someone. I immediately gained my balance. “I’m so sorry!” I said, picking the person’s bag up and handing it to them.

The person laughed in a feminine way, so I realized it was a girl. “It was my fault. I should have known high scholars like me roam these hallways.”

When I looked at her face, color rushed to my cheeks, and I froze.

She had dark brown hair a little lighter than mine, medium brown eyes, light brown skin, a black T-Shirt, jeans, and flip flops.

“This is Jack,” said Alfonso, jumping in.

“Do you really need to help?” I whispered.

The girl heard and she giggled, fixing her hair. “I like that name. I’m Victoria,” she said. “Where are you leaving?”

“The front parking lot.”

“Me too. I’ll walk with you. Is that alright?”

“Of course.”

Alfonso yawned. “Well, I’ll see you two later.”

“Bye,” I said.

Victoria turned to me, smiling. “So, was that your friend?”

I nodded. “Yeah, sadly.” I laughed.

We started walking down the hallway.

“What was he doing?” Victoria asked.

“What do you mean?”

“He ran up to me, asked me if I knew you, and ran off to find you. I didn’t even have time to say anything.”

“Oh, I guess it’s because he was just trying to help,” I replied. “He said I was looking for a girlfriend and-” I stopped, realizing what I had said. Color rushed to my cheeks.

Victoria stopped to look at me. She laughed, her hair bouncing. “Well,” she whispered, “I am flattered.”

I turned away, covering my cheeks with my hands.

“It’s okay,” she smiled. “Do you like me? I wouldn’t be hurt nor surprised if you said no.”

I didn’t look at her. “I’m feeling a lot of emotions right now, to be honest.”

“You’re pretty brave for a boy,” Victoria complemented.

“Jack!” A voice echoed through the hallway. Sam climbed up the stairs, running to us. When he saw Victoria, he stopped. He scoffed. “Who’s this?”

Victoria seemed surprised.

“This is Victoria,” I replied.

Sam asked, “Why are you hanging out with her?”

I wasn’t quite sure how to answer. “Uh... I guess because Alfonso just threw me at her.”

“I can leave,” Victoria whispered, throwing a weird look at Sam. “You know, if he’s your boyfriend.”

Sam scoffed, standing up to her. She was so tiny, she only went up to his bottom lip and we were in the same grade. “What’s your problem?” Sam growled. “All I asked was what Jack is doing with you.”

“I wouldn’t mess with Sam if I were you,” I said.

Victoria looked away from Sam to me. “No kidding. I’ll see you later, Jack.” She stormed off, her heels tapping loudly against the tile.

Sam turned back to me. “W-What?”

“I don’t know,” I sighed. “Let’s go.”

We headed outside, running down the stairs. As we walked down the stairs, I asked myself if I really did or didn’t like Victoria. She was pretty, nice, and brave, but that was all I knew for now. I sighed and slipped on my leather jacket, taking a cigarette from Sam.

“You alright?” Sam asked. He blew smoke out of his mouth.

“No,” I replied, “I just have a lot of thoughts on my mind.”

Sam was quiet for a moment. “Do you like them?”

“Who’s them?”

“Molly and Victoria.”

I felt myself smile a bit at the mention of Molly’s name. I liked Molly for sure, but I was still judging if I liked Victoria. “I definitely like Molly, but I’m unsure about Victoria.”

Sam seemed disappointed I liked either girls.

I smiled playfully. “Why do you seem to jealous? Do you like me?”

Sam scoffed, looking at me. “Shut up,” he growled. He stormed off in a huff.

You didn’t argue, I thought, awkward color rushing to my cheeks.

Chapter Nine:

“So, any luck with Victoria?” Alfonso asked. He playfully bumped my shoulder.

“Um, not really,” I replied, looking at the paintings on the cafeteria wall.

“You’re a ladies’ man,” Alfonso said. “I don’t see why she isn’t at your knees by now.”

“I’m not a ladies’ man,” I argued. “If I was, I’d have quite a group by now.”

Alfonso bit into his apple, laughing. “Oh, Jack.”

“What?” I smiled. I stripped my banana, throwing the peel at him.

Alfonso shook his head, smiling. “Nothing.”

We fell into a silence, eating.

“Do you like anyone?” I asked.

“No,” he replied, “besides, no girls would ever like me.”

I shrugged. “If I was a girl, I’d like you.”

Alfonso gave me a wild look.

“Just saying,” I winked. I finished my banana, threw it in the trash can by our table, and looked back at Alfonso.

“Are you still in Sam’s gang?” Alfonso asked. His face had a sliver of pain.

“Yeah,” I replied. “I know you think it’s bad, but you haven’t gotten to know them. I wish they would let you join.”

“If they gave me the option, I’d say no. I don’t trust those rats. They worry me. I guess I’m just worried for you. I mean, what if you get hurt because or them or killed? You know how common killing is in this city.”

I looked out the window, the gentle rain tapping the glass. “I guess you’re right. They do seem dangerous, but I also think they’re very protective.”

“Wait, slow down. you think they’re protective? What if they’re so protective, one night, you come around the corner, they think you’re someone else, and stab you? After all, they do have history of killing.”

“You don’t know them well,” I said.

Once again, we fell into silence. Alfonso looked down at his food, picking at it with a plastic fork.

“I guess I just worry about you,” he whispered.

I looked at him, grief filling my heart. “Thanks, dude,” I said, “I guess I worry about you, too.”

“Do you want to go outside?” Alfonso offered. “The rain is so nice.”

I nodded. “That sounds nice.

Outside, I say Victoria walked out of the library.

“Hey, Victoria!” I yelled.

She stopped to search for the source of the sound. When she saw me, she smiled. “Oh, hey, Jeffrey!” She ran over, skidding to a halt on her keels.

“How are you?” I asked.

Victoria replied, “Good, a little tired, you?”

I shrugged. “Fine, I guess. Can you hang out with us?”

Victoria nodded. “Yeah that’d be nice. Isn’t the rain wonderful?”

Not really,” a voice growled.

Sam walked up, cracking his knuckles. “It smells like wet dog, but I think that’s just Alfonso here.”

Alfonso bared his teeth, but they went away and he stepped back.

“Wow,” Sam scoffed, “you’re really brave.”

“Sam,” I mumbled.

Sam jerked to me. “What?!”

“Nothing,” I sighed, “I just don’t want you to get in trouble.”

“Than stay out of it,” Sam growled. “I have the right to say what I want.”

James suddenly ran up with Molly. “Hey, Jack, how are you?”

“Uh, good,” I said, “you?”

James shrugged. “Fifty fifty.”

Molly noticed Sam. “Aren't you the leader of that gang?”

Sam nodded. “You bet, babe.”

Molly seemed to be surprised Sam had called her babe. She looked away, blushing.

James noticed this and when Molly wasn’t looking, he bared his teeth at Sam. Sam returned with a glare.

“What’s your problem?” Sam growled.

“Nothing,” James growled back. She’s mine, his eyes said.

“I’m not even flirting with her,” Sam scoffed.

“Oh, right.” James rolled his eyes.

Sam stepped up to James, face to face. He was as tall as James, and they both looked like they could take on each other.

“Ladies,” I said, “calm down.”

Sam snapped to me. “Is it really your business to break this up?”

I was silent.

“That’s what I thought.” Sam turned back to James. “As I was saying, what’s your problem? You’re so grouchy!”

James rolled his eyes. “You really want to know what my problem is? Alright, it’s you. You’re always in my face, talking bad stuff about me when my back is turned, and you always show off like you’re so tough! I’m amazed you have friends!”

Molly suddenly jumped in, putting a hand on each boys’ chest. “I have a good question. Why do you guys have to make a scene?”

“It’s not hard to with your boyfriend being so annoying,” Sam growled.

James hesitated for a moment, then backed off.

Sam looked down at his feet, teeth baring and eyes burning.

“Um, well, I guess now that our mini hangout just got ruined, I guess we should separate,” Victoria sighed.

Molly nodded in agreement. “Good idea. See you guys later.” She mumbled something in James’s ear and they walked off.

Chapter Ten:

I stopped walking to look at a poster taped to the locker room wall. It read:

Want to learn how to defend yourself?

Want to learn self defence?

I thought you did.

to sign up, go to Mr. Esponsito’s room, 203, during high school or middle school lunch.

Hope to see you there!

Mr. Moretti

“You should sign up,” Sam said. He walking up to me, stripping off his shirt. “You need to know how to protect yourself or know how to fight to officially be in my gang.”

“That doesn’t seem like a bad idea,” I agreed.

“Do you know Mr. Moretti?” Sam asked.

I shook my head. I replied, “Nope, but I will soon.”

“I do,” Sam said, “he’s that dude who keeps watch over the gym while kids play sports.”

I pulled on my P.E. shirt and sighed.

“You alright?”

“Yeah, just deciding if I want to sign up.”

“You should.”

We finished changing, the other members of the gang joined us, and we headed out to P.E..

Outside, the rain pattered against our black and white clothing.

“We’re doing P.E..outside?” Fernando scoffed to the coach.

She glared at him. “No, in Narnia. Yes, clearly. Go line up so we can play soccer.”

“I don’t see why we have to play soccer on muddy grass,” I murmured to Sam when we were out of the coach’s hearing range.

“It’s fine,” Sam said.

We stood next to Victoria in the long line of kids.

“Sleep well?” she asked.

I shook my head. “Barely.”

“Why? Were you having bad dreams or were you stressed about something?”

I wasn’t going to tell her I hadn’t slept because I had been thinking of her, so I sighed. “I had a nightmare about death.”

“Death sounds wonderful,” Sam smiled, popping in. “So does dreaming about girls.”

I rolled my eyes, playfully jumped on him, and tackled him to the ground. He grabbed my shoulders and we rolled around in the mud, play fighting until coach yelled at us, then, we quickly got up and brushed grass off our clothes.

“Worth it,” Sam whispered as coach walked away.

“Alright,” coach snapped, “Molly, Jack, come pick your teams.”

Molly and I stepped up to face the line. I noticed how weak she really was. There was barely any muscle on her bones and she was shaking, her arms crossed.

“Sam,” I said.

“James,” she said.

“Alfonso.”

“Marcie.”

“Juan.”

“Samantha.”

“Fernando.”

It went on like this until the last two kids were chosen.

“So, we’re playing soccer, as you know, but I’m going to set some rules because I know how wild this particular class can be,” coach murmured, her eyes flashing to Sam for a second.

I sniffled a laugh to receive a slap on the arm from Sam, who laughed.

As coach listed the endless rules, Molly snuck a look at me. I gave her a “game on” face, and she returned it, hands on her hips.

“I have more quick, clever girls on my team,” she whispered.

“I have more powerful, burly boys on my team,” I whispered back.

She laughed. “I have James.”

“I have Sam.”

Then, we remembered yesterday’s fight and we fell silent. I noticed Sam and James were throwing each other dirty looks, and I think Sam had flipped James the bird once.

“I’m gonna smash your face into the mud,” Sam growled.

“I’m gonna punch your teeth out,” James growled.

“Sam,” I whispered.

Sam shut up, playfully kicking me on the back of my sneaker. “Oh, come on, I can take him on,” he chuckled.

“Yes, I know you can, just not in front of the coach.”

Once the game was started, we were playing fair, no kicking, no hair ripping, no punching, and no tripping. I thought it was going to go fine, until coach announced, “I have to go get jerseys so we don’t get mixed up. No killing each other.”

No, please don’t go! I thought, looking at Sam and James.

They were playing fair enough, but they were both thinking the same thoughts. Fight.

“Please don’t,” I groaned to Sam.

His face was serious. “I need to,” he growled. “He’s got to back off, and he won’t until he gets some bruises.”

“Do it and I’ll never forgive you, Sam,” I said.

“Oh,” he scoffed, “I’m sure.”

I watched him run off, stealing the ball from one of the girls on Molly’s team.

Things started to calm down again, then, I heard a foot, a yell, and a thud. I snapped back to the game. James was laying in the mud, chest heaving.

“You brat!” he screamed. “Why’d you trip me?!”

Sam kicked James’s back. “Come on, get up.”

I bit my lip, running over.

“Get off me!” James said. He grabbed Sam’s sneaker, yanking Sam onto the ground.

People were starting to notice, gathering around and making a circle.

“Don’t hurt him!” Molly whimpered.

“Don’t hurt him?” Sam laughed. “That must be a joke. Have you noticed how upset and rude your boyfriend is?”

“He’s not my boyfriend!” Molly screamed.

When James heard that, his eyebrow raised, frowning. He suddenly threw himself at Sam, grabbing his P.E. shirt and yanking him into a stand.

Sam threw a fist at James, throwing him to the side. James immediately recovered, punching Sam in the jaw. Sam was knocked onto the ground.

“BOYS!” a voice shrieked. Coach ran up, dragging the two off each other. She stared at both of their faces, scowling. “What is the meaning of this?!” she demanded.

Instead of doing that old school “he/she did it!”, they stayed calm. While James whipped blood off his cheek, Sam got up and held his jaw, opening and closing it to make sure James hadn’t broken it.

“I want a side from both kids,” coach ordered.

“James here has been rude to me ever since he started school,” Sam explained. “He started the fight.”

“What?! No, ma’am. He has been the rude on ever since I started school. He started the fight by tripping me,” James argued.

“Well, you’re both going to the the Principal's office,” coach growled.

As she lead them away, an image flashed through my mind for five seconds. It went by fast, but it was enough time for me to see what it was about.

It was Sam on the grass, baring his teeth at James. It was his teeth that was what grabbed my attention.

They were in the front, glowing in the grey sun.

Fangs.

Chapter Eleven:

While I walked through the office hallway to get to Mr. Esponsito’s room, James slowly walked out of the Principal’s office, twiddling with his thumbs.

“Who do you think started the fight?” he asked.

I looked around us to see if anyone was around. “Sam,” I replied.

He sighed, looking down at his feet. “I hate fights.”

“Me too,” I said.

He sighed again and headed down the hallway to the lockers. I continued to walk the other way and read the signs on the doors, naming whose office is was. When I saw the one saying it was Mr. Esponsito’s, I walked inside, leaning against the doorway.

“Hello,” he smiled. He had a grey and black plaid shirt, black pants, sneakers, red hair, and tan skin. “How may I help you?”

“I’m here to sign up for the self defence classes,” I said.

“Good to hear. Come sit. You’re the first person to sign up, but that isn’t a surprise because I just put the posters up before the first bell rang.”

He slid a white sheet of paper to me, handing me a pen.

I scribbled down my name and handed it back. There, Sam, I’ve signed up. “So, when are these classes?” I asked.

Mr. Esponsito replied, “During your empty period. You know, the days when kids can sign up for activities, hang out, or take private classes and stuff.”

“That doesn’t sound bad,” I said. “What days are they?” I asked.

He replied, “A, D, and H days. The other two are all yours.”

I got up. “Thanks.”

He smiled. “I’m happy you signed up.”

As I walked out of the office, Juan walked in, throwing me a nasty look. I grit my teeth, ignored it, and ran to my locker. There, I slid down to the floor, wondering why Juan wanted to sign up for self defence. Did he want to do it for fun? He already knew how to fight. I had seen him fight Sam. Did Juan want to be in self defense just to be with me? He probably wanted to fight me without Sam watching or knowing. A knot in my stomach tightened.

“Hey, Jack,” a voice whispered.

Molly was walking up the stairs. She sat down next to me. “You alright?” she asked. “You seem... nervous.”

I remembered how pretty she was. “Uh, I’m sort of alright. I feel overwhelmed,” I replied.

“Is it because of the fight James and Sam had yesterday?”

Then, I remembered Sam’s teeth. They were pointed. How? Was it a trick of the sun? Was it something he was born with? Was it just naturally like that? Or was it... real? Was he a vampire. “Yeah,” I mumbled, “the fight.”

We fell into silence, the awkward feeling seeping in.

To break the silence, I looked at her. “Do... do you know if we have homework in Science?”

Idiot.

She looked away. “No, we don’t.”

“I-I’m sorry,” I mumbled, “I know I’m quite an idiot.”

“Oh,” Molly whispered, “oh, Jack, you’re not an idiot.” She put a small hand on the right side of my face and turned it to look at her light blue eyes.

“If I’m not, why do I act so dumb around girls?” I looked away, fixing my shirt.

“You’re not acting dumb,” Molly argued, “you’re just feeling awkward. I know the feeling. I have those moments with James a lot.”

I felt my face scrunch up with anger and hurt. “Do you like James?” I asked.

Molly was silent before replying, “A little bit, yes. Do you like Victoria?”

“Yes,” I said.

She looked away, hand on her hip. “Do... Do you like me?”

I turned to her. “What?”

“Nothing, you just seem jealous. I wouldn’t be surprised if you said you didn’t.”

I thought about it for a second, color flooding my cheeks. “Yeah, I do like you.”

Molly looked at me, a dangerous smile on her face. “For how long?”

“Why?” I laughed.

“I’m a girl that likes attention, that’s all.”

“In that case, since I first saw you.”

She stopped smiling. “All men say that. Did you say it to impress or are you telling the truth?”

“Why would I lie to you?”

Molly’s smile returned and she looked into my dark brown eyes. “To be honest, I think you’d lie because you’re in Sam’s gang, a gang filled with dangerous and violent boys.”

Ouch.

I growled, “So, just because I’m in Sam’s gang means I’m bad?”

Molly’s eyebrows raised. “What? No, Jack, it was a joke. You’re not bad.”

I felt a rush of anger. I got up, grabbed my backpack, and stormed off, leaving Molly behind me, thinking only of how much that had hurt me.

Chapter Twelve:

“What?” Sam was surprised. He stopped trying to light his cigarette. “She really said that to you?”

“Yep,” I growled. I took a cigarette out of Sam’s pack and held it up to my mouth so he could light it. “I can’t believe she was so rude.”

Sam asked, “Did it sound like she was joking?”

I replied, “If she was joking, she would’ve had that playful tone in her voice.”

“You’ve got a point.”

“I always do.”

Sam chuckled, hitting me on the shoulder. “Yeah.”

Fernando sighed and leaned against the metal fence. “Josefina got mad at me today. I think we’re on the verge of breaking up.”

“That sucks,” Sam said. “Maybe something that resembles pranks or clubs would cheer you up?”

“I’m not up for dancing. I want to slash her parents’ car tires,” Fernando said.

“Than do it,” Sam said. “We’ll keep watch for you.”

Fernando bared his teeth, his fists clenching. “You know what? Let’s do it!”

We walked off, Sam in the front.

“Have you guys heard about the new gang in this town?” Estevan asked.

Sam replied, “No. Where do they live?”

“I don’t know, but somewhere away from Josefina's place.”

Just as we turned the corner into Josefina's neighborhood, a group of seven boys bumped into us.

“Watch were you’re going!” the one in front snapped.

“Wow,” Sam rolled his eyes, “I haven’t used that sentence since first grade.”

The one in front scoffed. “What the...? Who are you guys?”

“I’m Sam, and this is my gang,” Sam said, jerking a thumb back to us. “Who are you guys?”

“I’m Damien, and this is my gang,” Damien said.

Sam scoffed.

“What?”

“Nothing, that’s just a girly name.”

“Yes, said the person who owns a multi gender name.”

Sam growled, pushed up to Damien, and flipped out his blade. “Look, punk, I don’t know where you’re getting your wannabe courage, but you should cut it out before you get hurt. You don’t know how tough we are, and I don’t think you want to find out.”

Damien looked back at his gang, then back at Sam. “Maybe we do,” he said coolly.

“You don’t.”

“Do.”

Sam raised his eyebrows, quickly flipped out a switchblade, kicked Damian in the chest making him fall onto the sidewalk, and held the knife up to his neck. “I don’t think you do, because Simon’s children always win.”

Damian growled, “No, you’ve got it wrong, Troy’s children are the ones who win!”

Who’s Troy and Simon? I thought. Why does the names ring a bell?

Chapter Thirteen:

“Jack,” a voice whispered, “wake up.”

I grumbled, “No... go away...”

The blankets were yanked off me and my eyes flashed open.

“Wake up!” Sam said.

“Why are you here?” I asked. “Do my parents know you’re here?”

“No,” Sam replied, ‘they don’t. Get dressed.”

I tiredly crawled out of bed like a slug, my eyes half closed. “Do we need to go to school?” I mumbled.

“I know. No one wants to go, but we need to.” Sam lit a cigarette and sighed.

After stripping off my pjs and throwing on regular clothes, I grabbed my back pack.

“You need to go outside,” I said. “I always go through the front door.”

Sam shrugged and hopped out the window, closing it behind him. “I’ll be at the bus stop,” he said with his hands.

I nodded, walked to the kitchen, and strolled through to the front door.

“You’re not going to eat?” Stepmother asked.

I quickly threw together some lies. “Um, no, I would, but I have a test today and I want to review just to be on the safe side.”

Mother sighed and nodded. “That’s fine. Have a nice day at school. I love you.”

I walked out the front door and sprinted to the bus stop, where Sam was leaning against the white fence, blowing smoke out of his mouth.

“Want one?” he asked.

“No, thanks,” I replied, “besides, the bus driver would kill us.”

“Oh, dang, really?” Sam growled and put his cigarette out on the fence, then throwing it onto the sidewalk and crushing in with his foot. “That stinks.”

I asked, “Have you ever been on a school bus before, Sam?”

Sam replied, “Once, on the first day of school, but other than that, dad just makes me walk home or hang out with ‘friends’.”

“He calls ‘em friends?”

“No, he calls them kids.”

“Oh.”

Sam sighed with such sadness, I had to turn around to look at him. He leaned against the fence again. “He doesn’t care about me. If I come home late, he either whips me or ignores me. If I come home early, he ignores me. It’s like I’m just a speck of dust that can only be seen when he right light shines on me.”

I paused, reflecting on Sam’s affection towards me. “I don’t think you’re a speck of dust,” I said, “I think you’re the size of Godzilla.”

Sam chuckled sadly. “Thanks, kid.”

As I smiled with sympathy, the yellow school bus crawled along the corner, stopping where we stop and opening its two small doors.

“Good morning,” I said to the bus driver, making him smile.

“Good morning,” he said back.

Sam was quiet. He just followed me to the back of the bus. As we walked along the tiny hall way, I noticed some kids were staring at Sam, either at his arms or the way he hung low and silent. He said, “What’re you looking at?” at the boys and just winked at the girls. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes and smile.

“Well, from what I can see, you definitely have some magic with the ladies,” I said as we plopped down onto the seats.

Sam smiled, “Why? Are you jealous?”

I quickly threw together a lie. “No, because I got girls lining up!”

Sam burst into laughter, making two kids look back at us. “Riiight.”

“I’m serious!” I laughed.

“Stop showing off,” Sam laughed. He playfully kicked me in the knee.

We fell into silence as the bus rolled to school, softly rocking from side to side like a train car.

“Can I ask a weird, weird question?” I looked at Sam.

“Sure.” He was staring out the window.

I judged if I should ask him this. After a moment of tension, I decided. “Are your teeth naturally pointy or... are they... not?”

Sam snapped back at me, concern and nervousness written all over his face. “Why? Where did you see this? Why are you so curious.”

“Calm down.” I tried to figure out another way to ask this. “Open your mouth.”

When I leaned towards Sam, he jerked away, almost hitting the glass with the back of his head. “Get off of me!” he yelled.

I scoffed. “Sam, I’m not trying to hurt you! Calm down!”

“Why should I? You’re all jumping in my mouth and digging for my secrets!”

I pushed away from him, sighing and leaned back against the seat.

We were silent.

“It’s my turn to ask a question,” Sam said.

I nodded, but I didn’t look at him. “What is it?”

He was quiet, so quiet, I almost didn’t hear him. “Why do you want to know about my teeth? Don’t lie.”

I remembered the picture in my mind. It made me shudder. Vampires don’t exist, I thought. “I want to know about your teeth because after you and James fought, a picture flashed through my mind. Your mouth was open and I saw...” I wondered if I should really say it “... fangs.”

Instead of laughing, scoffing, or hitting me in the nose, Sam was quiet, leaning over with his elbows on his knees. “Maybe it was the light,” he whispered.

“Maybe, but what if it isn’t?”

Sam looked at me. “Why would you worry? It’s not like I’m a vampire.” He flinched at the word vampire.

I smiled, thinking about how stupid the conversation was. Before I could say anything, green flooded through the bus windows. We were driving through the deep part of the forest, in my opinion, the most beautiful part of the forest. I noticed Sam, staring at me instead of outside. In his eyes, I saw affection... and something... more. It snapped me back to reality.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” I stuttered.

Sam looked away. “I’m not,” he said.

I felt color flooding my cheeks. “Y-Yeah, you were before. You had affection in your eyes.”

“No!” Sam growled. I saw color rushing to his cheeks. “I wasn’t!”

“Do you like me?” I blurted out. I felt like an idiot.

He stared at me, blushing. “W-Why?”

“I... I don’t know.” This was the most awkward moment I’d ever had with anyone.

“Victoria likes you,” Sam whispered, “and to be honest...” He was silent.

I wanted this to end. “L-Lets stop talking about this, shall we?”

“Yes, please!” Sam leaned against his seat.

God, I thought, never let that happen to me again. I’ll die under all that awkwardness. I snuck a look at Sam. His cheeks were as red as fresh blood, stretching from the bridge of his nose to the end of his cheeks. I sniffled a laugh.

He snuck a look at me and our eyes met.

We didn’t look away.

The message going through our eyes... I didn’t know...

Chapter Fourteen:

“Guess what I got for my birthday!” Victoria ran up to me, jumping up and down.

I snapped back to reality, still dizzy from the stare Sam and I had. I studied her. “Uh... new shoes?”

She stopped jumping, and for a moment, I thought I had broken her feelings. “How did you know?” A smile spread across her face.

I smiled back. “Dunno. Come on, let’s go to class.”

When Victoria and I separated into the locker rooms, I plopped down on the bench, holding my T-Shirt.

Sam was changing into his P.E. clothes, but he didn’t look at me. I didn’t look at him, either, so I got up and started to change.

“That was weird,” Sam whispered.

I looked back at him. “What was?”

“That look we gave each other,” Sam said. “The stare.”

I was quiet. “Yeah, it was awkward.”

Sam looked confused. “It was awkward to you?”

“You’ve done that before?” I fixed my hair up with bobby pins. “I sure haven’t.”

“No, I haven’t before.” Sam got up. “It just didn’t feel as awkward for me as it did for you.”

“Oh.” I put on some deodorant, color rushing to my cheeks again.

In the gym, coach told us to run eight laps around the gym without walking. There were groans from the bleachers, but after a yell from coach, everyone shut up and started running.

Fernando caught up with me. “I heard you signed up for self defence classes,” he said.

“How’d you find out?” I asked.

“From Juan,” Fernando replied. “He told me during lunch.”

I rolled my eyes and looked down at my sneakers. “I don’t think he likes me.”

“What makes you think that?”

“I just don’t.”

Fernando sighed. “Well, that sucks, but I like you.”

I smiled. “Thanks, Fernando.”

Fernando smiled.

An idea hit me. “Hey, can I ask a weird question?”

He nodded. “Hit me with your best shot.”

I was silent before asking, “Does Sam like me? Like, more than friends.”

Fernando’s eyebrows raised and he smiled again. “I don’t know, but he does seem to have affection towards you, and a lot more than he has for us. Why?”

I decided not to tell him anymore because we were in the same gang. “Uh, just curious, that’s all.”

After P.E., everyone changed and headed off to their next class.

James ran up to me as I was walking out of the locker room. “Molly says hello,” he said.

“That’s random, but tell her I said hello back.” I squinted.

“I was just being nice.” James looked away.

“I know.” I laughed sarcastically. “I’m not trying to be rude.”

James and I grabbed our backpacks.

“Molly sure has a thing for you,” James mumbled.

I almost spit out my Gatorade. “What?!” I exclaimed. “She does?!”

James shrugged. “I don’t know, she just talks about you a lot. She even asked for your number once.”

“From you?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s... surprising.”

“Very.” James looked like he wanted to drop the subject, so I did.

“What did you dream about?” I asked.

James rolled his eyes. “Unicorns and marshmallows.”

“Sounds manly,” I said.

“Speaking of manly,” a voice growled, “James isn’t.”

“Hello, Sam,” James growled.

“Hello, brat.”

“Rat.”

“White trash.”

“Immigrant.”

“American!”

“I’m French, you idiot!”

“All white people look the same.”

James threw his hands up in the air, scoffed, and stormed off.

“Wow,” Sam said, “what an idiot.”

You’re not too different yourself, I thought. “Are you worried we’ll run into Damian’s gang again?” I asked.

“No, why would I be?” Sam replied. “We can take them on, anyway.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know why.”

Sam smiled. “It wasn’t a question.”

“You don’t say.”

Sam’s eyebrows furrowed. “You alright?”

“Yes,” I snapped. I felt a rush of anger or protectiveness over... James.

“Dude, calm down.” Sam kicked me on the back of my shoe.

“Get off!” I kicked him back.

Sam shoved me in the chest, knocking me onto the floor.

I stared up at him.

He stared back at me. “I-I’m sorry, J-Jack,” he whispered. “I didn’t mean to-”

Before I could stop myself, I threw my foot up as hard as I could.

Sam fell onto the ground, holding his stomach.

I looked at his face.

His mouth was open.

In the front of his mouth.

There they were.

Fangs.

“You have fangs!” I exclaimed.

“So what?” Sam groaned and slowly sat up.

I sat up too. “So what?! Oh, yeah, so what if you’re a vampire?!”

“I’m not a vampire!”

“Prove it!”

Sam scoffed. “How?!”

I stopped yelling and thought about how stupid this fight was. I suddenly felt like an idiot, accusing Sam of being a vampire. Color flooded my cheeks. “Never mind,” I said, “let’s drop it.”

“Please.” Sam stood up, holding out a hand for me.

I took it and stood up, rubbing my back “I’m sorry I was so dumb.”

Sam looked to the floor, his eyes squinted and fists clenched. “No...”

I looked up at him.

He closed his eyes. “You’re not dumb. You’re more right than you think.”

Suddenly, he sprinted away, bolting around the corner and disappearing into the quad.

Chapter Fifteen:

I lay in the dark, thoughts flooding my head.

The silver moon lit my face, making me glow in my dim room. The ceiling fan slowly turned, barely helping me calm down.

I felt dizzy from so many thoughts and words.

Victoria.

The gang doesn’t like you.

Grades.

Future.

College.

Love.

Death.

James.

Molly.

Vampires.

Sam.

I shuddered at Sam’s name. Sighing, I tried to let the thought go.

He wasn’t a vampire, and I knew it. Vampires don’t exist. Vampires exist in children stories. Vampires are Dracula, not Sam. Sam was just a normal kid who lead a gang. He ate food, not blood.

I pulled the blankets over my chin, gritting my teeth at the scary thought.

Slowly but surely, sleep embraced me, calming me down and making my body relax...

My eyes flashed open. My body snapped up, making me stand. I made out my surroundings quickly: I was in a forest, filled with trees, bushes, and dead leaves. The downpour of rain didn’t even touch my clothes. They went through me.

A boy was passed out on the ground, wet mud soaking his clothes. He suddenly gasped and snapped up, coughing and choking. “Leave me to be!” he screamed into the night.

A man jumped out of nowhere, grabbing the boy by the collar and dragging him to stand. “Shut up, you! I have just done you a huge favor!”

“What did you do to me?” the boy sobbed, slipping on the mud.

The man stopped. He calmed down and threw the boy to the ground. “I have made you stronger. You were a very weak, timid boy. You could not even take on a fly. You will thank me soon.”

“I don’t even know you,” the boy sobbed.

“Oh, no, you don’t,” the man whispered, “but we have a strong connection.”

“What did you make me?” The boy coughed up blood. “Why am I coughing up so much blood?!”

This was frightening. I had never had a dream so clear or detailed.

“You’ll find out, Sam.” The man started to walk away, disappearing into the night...

When my eyes flashed open again, I realized I had fallen onto the floor and my blankets were thrown across the room.

I had to talk to Sam.

Chapter Sixteen:

On the fourth ring, Fernando picked up. “Hey, Jack!” he said.

“No time to talk,” I said. “What is Sam’s number?”

I heard shuffling on the other line. “Sorry, you caught me while I was waking up in bed. H-Here it is.”

I snatched a piece of paper and a pen. As Fernando read me the numbers, I quickly scribbled them down. The moment he was done, I said, “Thanks, see ya!” and hung up, punching in Sam’s number.

On the sixth ring, a rough voice asked, “Who is this?”

“This is Jack, a friend from school,” I replied. “May I talk with Sam?”

There was a booming scream so loud I had to pull my ear away.

“Hello?” a quiet voice whispered.

“Sam?”

“Speaking.”

“Are you around anyone?”

There was noise on the other line. “Yes. What is it?”

“I had a dream.”

“Oh, please. I don’t want to listen to that long speech again!”

“No, it was about... about you.”

Sam was silent.

“I need to ask you some questions,” I said.

I could tell he was judging if he should say this or not. “Alright,” he sighed, “what are they? Wait, no, first tell me about your dream. How did it go?”

“I was in a forest, and you and a man were there. It was raining. You were gasping on the ground and the man grabbed you and hauled you up. You were really scared and you asked what he had made you and he said you’ll find out. Then he walked away. What did he make you? Did you ever find out?” I tried to make it as detailed as possible, but because I was so rushed, I couldn’t remember all of it.

I could feel Sam shaking on the other line. He finally whispered, “J-Jack, my fa-father says I-I ha-have to g-go. B-B-Bye.”

“You’re lying!” I blurted out.

I felt Sam grit his teeth.

The line was cut.

Suddenly, Stepmother walked down the stairs. “Jack!” She exclaimed. “What on earth are you doing on the phone this early? Go get ready for school!” She walked back up the stairs.

I slowly hung up the phone, my entire body shaking. My breath came in short gasps.

As I stumbled up the stairs, Stepmother blocked me. “I just looked on the school website. You have a snow day. Look outside. It’s so beautiful!”

What a day to have a snow day, I thought. “Wait, isn’t it almost spring?”

“Yes, but the weather is always weird here.” Stepmother walked back into her room. “Why would a kid want to go to school, anyway?”

“I had a weird dream,” I sighed. “I wanted to tell my friend about it.”

“You can tomorrow.” Stepmother closed the door behind her.

I walked into my room, closing my door. Outside, white flakes fell gently down, landing softly at the end of their destination.

Why did Sam have to go? He was probably lying. The idea of him being a vampire is messed up.

I walked over to my bookcase and read the spines, searching for anything that would have to do with vampires. I was hopeless. I walked to Stepmother’s room and knocked on the door.

“Come in,” she beckoned.

I opened the door. I asked, “May I go to the library?”

She laughed. “You really want some education, don’t you?”

I nodded. “Yes, I do.”

Stepmother smiled. “Yes, you may. You have to walk, though. I don’t want you slipping.”

I walked back to my room, slipped on my leather jacket, and headed outside.

As I walked to the library, millions upon millions of snowflakes landed on my body, either melting or making piles which I had to shake off once in awhile.

Walking through the library doors, I shook off my jacket, slinging it over my shoulder. A cat lifted its head from its nap and purred, liking its paw.

I walked upstairs to the fifth floor and plopped down in one of the chairs by a table, placing my jacket behind me. Wondering why I sat down, I got back up and looked for a computer where I could look up books about vampires. When I found one, I logged on and pulled up the website where I typed in the word “Vampires”.

“Vampires?” I heard someone whisper.

I snapped around to see Sam behind me, hands in his pockets.

“Uh...” I stumbled for words, trying to block the screen with my body.

“What are you doing?” Sam asked. “Why are you looking up vampires?”

“I-I’m doing a re-report,” I replied.

Sam frowned. “No, you’re not.”

We were silent.

“Tell me the truth,” Sam whispered. “Tell me what you’re really doing.”

I took a deep breath. “Okay, I’ll tell you. I’m thinking you may be a vampire. I’m looking up how to remember or find one. You won’t tell me so I’m doing this. I know it sounds ridiculous and stupid.”

“It doesn’t,” Sam sighed. He looked at his feet and stepped closer to me. “If I may, why are you so interested?”

I shrugged. “I guess because it’s interesting. I don’t have a lot of excitement in my life.”

Sam suddenly leaned forward, placing his hands on either side of my body on the table. I had to lean back a little.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Enjoying you,” Sam replied.

I felt color rush to my cheeks. Did Sam... Did Sam have a crush on me? “Can I ask something?”

“Sure, but please don’t make it about vampires.”

I paused. “Do you like me?”

Sam looked at me, staring into my dark brown eyes. “Why?”

“You seem to have a lot of affection towards me.”

“Why do you think that is?”

“Because you like me.”

Sam quietly chuckled, a little color on his cheeks. “To be honest...” He trailed off.

I stared at him. “So, you do?”

Sam suddenly pushed away, furious and frustrated. “Why do you even want to know this?”

I wasn’t quite sure how to answer this. “You’ve already asked me that, and I’ve already answered.”

Sam looked at me again, eyebrows raised and sad.

Walking over, I touched his shoulder, trying not to think about taking his hand. “We don’t need to talk about this.”

Sam sighed and nodded. “I would like that.”

We broke apart. Sam sat on the golden table and I returned to the computer. I felt Sam’s eyes burning into my back as I picked out three books to look at.

Sam sighed. “Jack...”

“Look, I just want to see,” I moaned. “Besides, I know you won’t tell me the truth.”

Sam didn’t argue, so I logged off and wrote down the titles and authors. Just as I was walking away, I paused. “Can I ask something?”

Sam groaned. “Fine, but make it the last one.”

“What’s with the tattoo of the bear on your neck?” I asked.

He pulled off his leather jacket, pointing to his neck. “You mean this one?”

I nodded. “Yeah. What’s it all about?”

Sam frowned like he didn’t want to answer. “I... I was born with it.”

I raised my eyebrows and pulled my sleeve up to my shoulder to uncover my tattoo of a Mexican flag.. “I have this one. I was born with it, too.”

He stood up and walked over, touching my shoulder. “You haven’t mentioned this before,” he murmured.

“That’s because I don’t understand it,” I said. “Do you have any idea what it could mean?”

“W-Well...” Sam fixed his hair. “Does the name Simon ring a bell?”

I shook my head. “No, but I have heard you use the name before when you were fighting Damian.”

Sam coughed, suddenly nervous. “I should not have said the name. Forget it.”

I grabbed his arm when he tried to walk away. “No! Please tell me what the name means!”

“N-No...” He wrenched away and started to walk off.

I felt a pit of loneliness in my stomach. “Sam!”

He stopped walking.

“I-I’m sorry. Please don’t leave. Stay with me. We don’t have to talk about our tattoo or Simon, just stay,” I whispered.

Sam sighed. He clenched his fists once, then walked back.

Before I could stop myself, I took his hand, color rushing to my cheeks. “I’m sorry,” I said.

“It’s alright,” he said.

I sighed in relief and leaned against the table.

Suddenly, three boys rounded the corner. “Hey!” One of them yelled. “What’re you guys doin’ here?”

“We’re at the library,” Sam growled, “what do you think we’re doing here?”

“Bein’ dumb,” the same kid said.

I bared my teeth and stepped towards them, clenching my fists. “Who or what gave you the courage to talk like that to Sam?”

The boy threw his hands up. “Oh, I’m sorry!”

Sam suddenly kicked the poor sap in his stomach, throwing him onto the ground. “Shut up, you!”

Five other boys rounded the corner, arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed.

Oh, man, I thought, we can’t take these guys on!

Just as I thought that, Sam growled, “We can take you guys on.”

“Oh really?” Damian whipped around the corner, coolly walking up to Sam, head-to-head. “You sure?”

I looked around at the gang. One of them caught my eye, and I almost lost my breath.

James.

I gave him a Why?! look. He sighed and looked down at his shoes.

“James,” Damian whispered.

James looked back up at him, teeth baring. He clearly didn’t like Damian.

Just when Damian looked at James, Sam punched Damian under the jaw, throwing him up into the air and onto the ground.

“You little...!” Damian immediately snapped back up, throwing a fist at Sam. Amazingly, Sam caught the fist and kicked Damian in the stomach. Three boys suddenly pounced on me. I gasped and threw out as many fists and kicks as I could. Out of the three bodies, I saw the other members of the gang round the corner, grabbing for a member of Damian’s gang, howling and growling like animals. Fernando ran over to me and yanked two boys off me.

“T-Thanks,” I whispered, whipping blood off my face and throwing a foot at the last boy.

“No problem!” Fernando smiled, jumping to other boys.

As soon as the boy on me backed off, I ran to another, grabbing his collar and swinging him onto the ground. I realized it was James, biting at my neck. I threw my knee up into his stomach, making him cough and roll off.

“Why are you hurting me?!” He wheezed, holding his stomach.

“I-I didn’t know it was you!” I threw my elbow back at a boy who tried to grab me. He backed off and then grabbed my jacket, hauling me to the ground. I realized it was Damian, throwing every fist he could at me.

“Sam!” I called out as Damian punched me non-stop. I started to pass out.

Just as dark started to surround me, blurring my vision, I saw Sam leap over me and grab Damian. I saw Sam’s teeth literally sinking into Damian’s neck, blood dripping everywhere...

Chapter Seventeen:

When I opened my eyes again, I was in a dark tool shed. Someone was leaning over me, wrapping my arm. I tried to wrench away.

“Hey,” the person calmly soothed, “it’s alright.”

“S-Sam?” I stopped squirming.

“Yeah, it’s me.” Sam scooted into the light where I could see his face glowing in the moonlight.

I started to gather my memory of the past, trying to remember scenes of the fight. “Y-You’re a va-vampire,” I whispered.

Sam sighed. “Yeah.” He stopped wrapping my arm and looked at me.

“H-How...” I rubbed my head, slowly sitting up. “What do you do?”

“I don’t glitter, I run fast but not as fast as the rats in twilight, and I don’t have superman powers,” Sam said. “I’m not as exciting as you thought I was.”

“Does anyone else in the gang know?” I asked.

He shook his head, “No. I dragged Damian behind the bookshelf to bite him.”

I looked at him, my breathing heavy and shallow. “Is that why you don’t eat?”

Sam nodded. “Yeah.”

We were quiet.

“Please don’t tell anyone I’m a vampire,” he murmured.

“I promise I won’t,” I said.

Sam hugged me, holding me close to his chest. I took him in my arms, my heart rate picking up.

“So, you like me?” I asked, letting go but staying close to him. Our faces were an inch away from each other.

Sam slowly nodded. “I started to like you a little bit after you joined my gang.”

“Have you always liked boys?” I asked.

Sam replied, “Not before, but I do have more affection for them more than women.”

“Where is the rest of the gang, anyway?”

“They’re at the arcade.”

“I can’t believe you killed Damian.”

“It’s alright. I took care of the body.”

“How?”

“It’s not important.” Sam let out a sigh. “I just did.”

“Okay.” I decided to switch subjects. “What do you like about me? What makes you like me?”

Sam smiled, color in his cheeks stretching from the bridge of his nose to the side of his face. “Well, you have pretty skin, I love the shade of your eyes, you have a pretty good build, your lips are full, and... and the smell of you just draws me to you.”

I felt myself blushing. I had never had anyone say so many complements to me at the same time. I sighed and smiled.

“What?” Sam looked at me.

“Nothing,” I whispered, “I’m just flattered.”

Sam lowered his shoulders, looking up at the full moon outside. “They say the moon has powers of love,” he whispered.

I looked at Sam, my breathing offset. “S-Sam...”

“Am I making you nervous?” Sam asked.

I shrugged. “I guess I’ve never had anyone love me before.

Sam’s expression softened, and he dropped his arms off his knees.

“Bare your teeth,” I said, crawling up behind him and taking his jaw in my hand.

Sam bared his teeth and I studied his fangs. “A-Are you bleeding?” I asked.

“No,” Sam replied, “I don’t have any blood. That’s venom. I wouldn’t touch it if I were you.” He looked at some of the purple liquid and wiped it off on his pants.

“Why do you release venom?” I asked.

Sam replied, “I release venom when I need or want to bite someone. I won’t hurt you, though.”

I nervously looked away, rubbing my neck.

“Would you mind not doing that?” Sam asked. “Your smell is rubbed off.”

Immediately, I stopped and scooted to the left a little, away from Sam.

“You shouldn’t be afraid of me,” Sam said, “but I can see why you are nervous.” He brushed away more of the liquid. “Blasted venom. Always falling when I...” He trailed off, looking at me.

I slowly looked back at him, arms crossed and hunched over. “When I...?”

Sam shook his head. “Nothing.”

I stared at him, studying his looks and moves. Placing a hand by the front of his knees, I leaned forward, my face getting closer to his.

The last thing I remember was Sam pulling away, purple venom dripping from his fangs...

Chapter Eighteen:

“Jack, time to get up!”

My eyes flashed open, my pupils making out my surroundings: I was in my room. It was morning. Turning onto my side, I hoisted myself up with an elbow, rubbing my eyes with my free hand.

“Jack, are you getting up?! Breakfast is in ten minutes, sweetie!” I remembered the voice as Stepmother’s.

“Yeah! I’m getting up!” I called back down.

“Good to hear!”

Slowly slugging out of bed, I inched my way to the closet, flipping on the light switch and blinking from the change in light.

I heard a rustle behind me. I turned around and looked at my bed, searching for the source of the sound. A big blob rustled and sat up, the blankets falling off.

“Sam?” I lost my breath. “What on earth are you doing here?”

Sam fixed his hair and got off the bed, fixing the covers. “I wanted to see you. When I got here around three A.M, you were fast asleep and I couldn’t help but,” he nervously rubbed his arm, “crawl in bed with you.”

I asked, “W-What were you d-doing up at three A.M?”

Sam replied, “I’m a vampire. I don’t sleep.”

I squinted and shook my head, turning back to my closet and stepping inside. “Don’t look,” I said, stripping off my p.js. As I changed, however, I felt eyes burning into my back...

After I had finished my morning routine, I walked back into my room, where Sam was sitting on my bed and twiddling with his thumbs.

When he noticed me, he looked up at me. “I guess it’s time for me to go?” he whispered.

I slowly nodded. “I wish you could stay.”

Sam shrugged and flipped out a cigarette. “Whatever. I’ll see you later, anyway.”

“Can I ask something?”

“Sure, kid.”

“How do you smoke if you don’t breathe?”

Sam smiled. “It’s complicated.” With that, he lifted the window and hopped outside. “See you tomorrow.” He shut the window and ran off, throwing snow everywhere.

“How did you sleep?” Stepmother asked as I sat down at the table.

“Good,” I replied, “you?”

“Not as well as I normally do. I thought someone was in the house and that made me nervous,” Stepmother mumbled.

I clenched a fist under the table but said nothing, biting into my scrambled eggs.

Stepmother nervously laughed. “Who knows? Maybe it was a wolf or a bear.”

I heard stepfather quietly kick Stepmother under the table. Stepmother looked at him but said nothing.

“W-What’s wrong with talking about animals?” I moved to my waffles.

“Nothing you would understand,” Stepmother grunted.

I hated it when Stepmother or stepfather told me: “Nothing you would understand.” Even though I was just a teenager who didn’t understand everything in the world, it was still rude to say that instead of: “You’ll learn when you’re older.” I felt a flicker of disappointment in my throat but I swallowed it, finishing my food and carrying my plates to the sink.

Seeing my face’s reflection in the water of the sink reminded me of Sam. He had told me he had crawled into my bed because he’d wanted to see me, but something in my mind was telling me that he had crawled in for a different reason, and it wasn’t good. Pushing the thought away, I told myself I would just ask him when I saw him later today.

I turned to my step parents. I asked, “May I hang out with Alfonso today?”

Stepmother looked at me, “It’s alright with me.” She looked at Stepfather. “Ramone?”

Stepfather nodded. “Sure, but be back at six.”

I nodded and headed outside, where I whipped around the house and grabbed my leather jacket out of my room. I slipped it on and bolted away, enjoying the wind slapping against my face.

“Hey, Jack.” Fernando slapped me on the back as I ran up.

I rested my palms on my knees. “Where’s Sam?”

Fernando cocked his head to the side. “He’s inside. He’s been really quiet and snappy, like someone has found out a secret and they’re using it against him.”

I looked down at my feet, pretending to be out of breath. I hoped Sam wasn’t mad at me. “Let’s go see him.”

Inside The Pink Rhino Arcade, Sam was leaning against the wall and blowing smoke out of his mouth.

“Do you mind if I talk to Sam alone?” I looked at Fernando.

Fernando shook his head. “Have fun.” He walked off to the pool tables where the rest of the gang was.

I brushed up against Sam, an inch away from him. He smiled and popped his cigarette back in his mouth, looking up to the ceiling.

“Are you mad at me?” I asked, stopping and forcing myself to back off.

Sam chuckled, but I could tell something was wrong. “Not with you.”

“Than what are you mad at?”

Sam’s smile faded and he looked down at his boots. “That’s not important.” Looking to see if the gang was looking, he slipped a hand in mine.

I remembered what I had decided in the kitchen. I let his hand go, but not forcefully so he knew I wasn’t mad. “Can I ask something?”

“Sure.”

“Why did you crawl into bed with me? Tell me the truth.”

Sam’s eyebrows furrowed. “I’ll give you a hint, but you can’t dig for more, alright?”

I nodded.

“You were in danger.”

As he whipped around me and walked to the pool tables, I just stood there, staring at the wall. What did he mean? Who was putting me in danger? Who wanted to hurt or kill me? If the rest of the gang might have been in trouble, why did Sam think of me first?

“Jack,” Anthony called from the pool tables, “come play a game with us!”

I snapped back to reality, turning to look back at him. “S-Sure.” I headed over, leaning against the table and looking down at my feet.

Without the others noticing, Sam nudged me under the table, suggesting I try not to give anything away. I slowly nodded and looked at the paint on the walls.

After we hung out at the arcade, Anthony, Estevan, Fernando, and Rafael left to see a basketball game at school, leaving Sam, Juan, and I.

We quietly walked along the sidewalk, Sam in the front and Juan and I walking behind him across from each other.

It looked like Juan needed an excuse to get away from me, so he said, “I’m going to go watch the basketball game with the others. I don’t like being in a small group.” Before Sam could say anything, Juan whipped around and bolted away.

After I looked to make sure if he was totally gone, I walked up to Sam, playfully pushing against his shoulder. He pushed me back and we continued to stroll through the outskirts of town.

“Let’s go through here,” Sam suggested. “The guys by that sushi bar aren’t very fond of me.” He pushed me into an alley.

I suddenly felt nervous. “I don’t really like it in here.”

Without hesitation, Sam kicked me in the back of my shin. “Be a man,” he growled.

“Did I do something to upset you?” I asked.

Sam shook his head. “No, why would I be mad at you?”

I shrugged, looking at the opposite wall. “I’m sorry...”

Sam sighed. “I’m the one who should be sorry. I should not be so rough with you.”

I looked at Sam. He didn’t look back at me. He had stopped and was staring straight ahead. I followed his gaze and soon found out why he had stopped.

Damian’s gang was standing at the other side of the alley, only this time, James was in the front...

Chapter Nineteen:

“What do you want with us?” I growled, baring my teeth.

“What do you want with us?” James growled back, fists clenched.

Sam stepped forward, placing an arm on my stomach, holding me back. I stepped back one step, but held my glare with James.

James looked away and at Sam. “This isn’t your territory,” he said.

“I know, idiot,” Sam scoffed, “I was just walking with Jack.”

“How hard is it to take the bus and drive away before we see you?” James took a step forward.

Sam bared his teeth and stepped forward more. They walked up to each other, head-to-head.

“Why did you kill Damian?” James demanded.

Sam replied, “I killed him because he was hurting Jack.”

James shook his head. “No. You killed him for another reason.What is that reason?”

Sam stepped closer to James. “That is none of your business.”

“He was our leader,” James growled.

Sam looked back at me, his eyes saying: Up for a battle? He turned back to James, smiling a little.

“Why are you smiling?” James laughed dryly. “You look like an idiot.”

“Oh,” Sam laughed back, only this time with humor, “I’m the idiot? I beg to differ.”

While Sam was laughing, James punched Sam on the cheek, throwing him off a bit.

“You jerk!” Sam’s smile immediately faded and he bared his teeth, brushing against James’s chest.

“I’m the jerk? Says the person who attacks their own gang members,” James snapped.

Sam was silent. “How do you know I beat up Juan?”

“Oh, he told us,” James smiled coolly. As he said this, Juan stepped up from the back of his gang, taking away Sam and my breath.

“Juan?!” Sam exclaimed. “How could you betray us?!”

“You never liked me,” Juan snapped. “In this gang, I am respected and trusted.”

When Juan said trusted, Sam kneed James in the stomach as hard as he could, throwing James onto the floor. Jumping onto James, Sam punched him onto the face.

Half of the gang ran to James and Sam while the others ran to me, including Juan. I gasped and surprisingly ran, disappearing around the corner and into the daylight.

As I ran, I didn’t think about how they had ripped my jacket, how they were probably going to beat us up even more, how I had probably started a war, or even how mad Sam was going to be with me when he got out of the fight.

I was thinking about James.

What was the connection we had?

It was time to find out...

Chapter Twenty:

Sitting down next to the gang on the bleachers, I threw my palm to my face.

“What’s wrong?” Fernando asked, eating a sour patch.

I replied, “Not only has Juan betrayed us, but when Damian’s gang tried to attack me, I ran off, ditching Sam.”

Fernando gasped. “Juan has betrayed us?!” He stopped eating his candy. “W-Whoa, slow down. Sam is still out there?! Jack! Why did you run?!”

I threw my hands up in the air. “I don’t know! I freaked out!”

Estevan popped into our conversation. “Sam is a strong man. I’m sure he’ll get out and survive.”

Just as Estevan said survive, I saw Sam limp into the gym, staring at me. His eyes were full of pain, amazement and disappointment. He mouthed: Come here and hooked his finger. Then, he walked back out of the gym.

Fernando had seen this.

“Should I go?” I asked.

Fernando replied, “He’ll probably beat the life out of you, but he likes you, so he won’t hurt you too bad.”

Thanks, I thought. I stood up and walked off the bleachers, running out of the gym.

In the hallway, Sam was baring his teeth and holding his stomach. His jacket was torn, his shirt was ripped open, his pants were ripped, and his hair was messed up. “Why did you abandon me?!” He yelled at me.

The word abandon made me feel terrible. “Sam...”

He grabbed my collar, dragging me to his face. “Why?!”

I gripped his wrists, placing a foot on the wall so he couldn’t drag me any closer. “Sam, I’m sorry. I-I freaked out.”

Sam threw me off, hiding his face in his hands. “I thought I could trust you,” he whispered, his voice muffled.

I looked away. It was too painful to see his hurt face. “I’m sorry.”

He looked back at up at me, tears running down his face. “I’ve learned that sorry doesn’t mean anything,” he growled.

“Than what do I say to you?” I whispered. “What can I do to show you I’m sorry?”

Sam scoffed. “I’ll never forgive you.”

With that, he stormed off, kicking open the hallway doors and disappearing out into the daylight, the sun blinding his view from my eyes...

When I stumbled home, I threw myself down on the pillow, my body immediately falling into sleep...

I was in a dark room. The window above me almost reaching where the wall met the ceiling had cracked glass and was shining an eerie, green glow down on my body. I was hunched up, slouching against the wall. I was so cold.

Suddenly, a figure turned around the corner of the wall, the light slowly letting me see who it was.

Sam.

“S-” I tried to call his name, but I realized blood was flooding my mouth. I tried to wipe it away, but more and more of the red goo kept on pouring.

To my surprise, Sam walked away from me and across the room, heading out the door.

“N-N” I tried to speak. To say he had to stay. I stood up and bolted across the room, trying to grab Sam’s shoulder.

Suddenly, the door disappeared when Sam walked out, turning into wall. I slammed into it, backing off and banging against it.

The blood washed out of my mouth, allowing me to speak.

“Sam!!!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “Don’t go!!! I love you!!!”

Chapter Twenty-one:

For the next week, I hid in my room. No one could drag me out, even for food. My Stepmother buys anything really easily, so I told her I was vomiting everywhere. She let me miss school. I spent half the week lying on my bed, cursing at myself for ditching Sam and telling myself I was a wimp for not taking the gang up. I never told myself