DOLLARS

5 - Stroll

I can't tell him I'm in the Dollars. He can't know I'm in a gang. He looks real concerned; kinda angry, too. It's best for me to not tell him about the text.

"You see, I was online.. on a.. on a forum! It was a location based forum so members from your area can socialize online! These people were talking about an online gang called the Dollars and I was just curious! That's all there is to it, Matt!"

I'm such a terrible liar. Matt stares at me in the eye as if he's making sure I'm not lying. I give a slight laugh and shove a hash brown in my mouth.

"Well, I guess it's all cool! I thought you were part of the Dollars for a moment. That would've been pretty rad. But you are Aaron.. So there's no way YOU'RE part of the almighty, super-cool Dollars!"

"Wh-what are you trying to say, buddy?!"

As soon as we finished our breakfast, we made our way to Oasis Academy.

"Hey, I'm glad that you decided to move here to New Haven City. Makes me think of the old times when we used to hang out back at Little Bench. That town was too quiet for me, and I craved the city life so I moved here to New Haven City."

"I'm kinda glad I moved here, too."

"By the way, Aaron. Did I ever tell you the list of people to avoid while living here?"

"Umm.."

"I didn't!? Woah! I'm such a horrible best friend!"

Matt checks his cellphone.

"Alright, little one. You need to avoid a few people here so listen up carefully! As you know, The Dollars are a gang that originated here in this dump called a city. I highly suggest staying away from them. Word on the street is that they severely beat up this other gang because of a turf war or something. That other gang is known as The Liberation Front. They supposedly had the same goals as the Dollars, but I dunno I guess they were more of a nuisance to the Dollars."

"Wow! The Dollars seem to be real powerful.."

"Yeah.. They are. The scary thing is that no one knows who they are because they don't stand out in a crowd. Anyone can be a Dollar! Heck, maybe I'm a Dollar!"

"Hey, don't scare me like that!"

Matt chuckles and pats me on the shoulder.

"You should also stay away from Ace Matsumura. He has a bad rep here in New Haven City. He's this information broker that loooves causing trouble like riots and gang wars all for his entertainment. I'm sure you'll meet him soon. Stay away from the Royal Pains, the Faceless, the Grim Reapers, basically every gang here in the city! So the Royal Pains are basically the normal-est gang here in New Haven City. They're always wearing gold/yellow colored clothing and carry weapons like bats and knives and brass knuckles. They're real dangerous because they have alot of men. The next are the Faceless. These creeps wear white masks and love causing terror. They don't like to kill, though. Well, at least that's what I heard. The Grim Reapers are known to be satanic as FUCK! Not much is known about them other than their mysterious dark robes and murders related to the gang. The murders are all related with slashing. Kinda weird, but cool!"

As Matt goes on and on about the dangers in the city, I notice a girl wearing our school uniform getting tormented by guys.

The thing is, they're wearing masks.

White masks.