Second Chance

Chapter 6

We stood awkwardly in Morgan's room, as she prowled the house, making sure no one  was awake. She had two other sisters and two brothers. That's five kids all together, and four who could catch us doing questionable things. I was pretty sure Morgan was the oldest, being eighteen. Then there was Serena, who was sixteen, Bethany, who was fourteen, and the twins; Thomas and Charlie, who were both ten. I could be wrong though, since I was trying to drag back memories from many moons ago.

I was never overly close with Morgan's siblings, since even before shit hit the fan they were scared of me. I guess I always had that threatening bad boy aura floating around me, which unfortunately only attracted gangs and sluts. The only thing that brought me close to Morgan was that we were around the same age and we had a fair amount of classes together in grade school. Once high school started though, I was completely cut off from this side of the family, which was my mom's side. I didn't even know who's on my dad's side honestly, probably a bunch of drunk abusive pricks. So, I basically had no family for the past five years. I have to make my own family, and now I'm pretty sure ninety percent of that family is gone too, because I doubt my gang would want to do anything risky again.

I glanced at Riley, who kept looking over at Morgan's bed as if he was wondering if he was allowed to sit on it or not. "You know that it's not going to explode or anything, right?" I asked in an amused tone.

"You don't know that. It could be guy proof, where it might electrocute me if I touch it." He pointed out, giving the bed a wary look.

"Riley, it's a bed." I sighed in exasperation. A moment of silence passed, then I added. "You know, you should ask her out."

Riley looked absolutely alarmed and horrified, as if I just set a kitten on fire right in front of him. "Who? Morgan? Ask her out? On a date? Me? Really?"

"Well, I'm not going to ask her out, that would be weird." I said slowly, with a small laugh. "I think she likes you though. It's worth a shot at least."

"What makes you think she likes me?" Riley questioned, giving me a suspicious look.

"The way she looks at you, man. The way you two interact. It's obvious that you like her, and I think she's starting to reciprocate it as well." I explained, starting to feel like a love therapist.

Riley laughed, then said sarcastically. "Right, because the king of one night stands knows how to detect love reciprocation."

"Hey, I'm just trying to help." I held my hands up in mock surrender, although it hurt a bit that Riley didn't think I was capable of loving someone, I didn't tell him that though.

Before either of us could say anything else, Morgan crept back into her room and closed the door behind her. "So, what happened? I want the whole story." She demanded, whirling around to face us.

"I already told you." I sighed. "We were dealing drugs, I broke a guy's jaw, then we got arrested. End of story."

"You broke someone's jaw?" Morgan echoed, raising her eyebrows at me.

"He deserved it." I growled. "He totally fucked us over, and if I had the chance I would have killed him."

"You don't mean that. I know you, Justin. You're not a killer." Morgan said quietly.

Did I mean it? I wasn't sure. Would I even have the balls for it? Under the right circumstance, maybe. Instead of answering, I changed the topic. "So, how did you even find out that I got arrested?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"You're dad called me, told me that if I didn't bail you out, no one would. He also told me to tell you that you're not allowed to go home, so you have to find somewhere else to stay." She informed me.

"Well, uh, I was hoping I could stay with you." I admitted, hoping desperately that she would take pity on me.

"No, Justin. I can't hide you forever. One night. That's all I'm giving you. After that you're on your own." She said firmly, shaking her head.

I then looked at Riley, but he gave me a regretful look. "Sorry, man. My parents hate you, and you know that."

Shit. They were both right. I had nowhere to go. I would have to sneak into public places like stores or maybe even my school. All my money was back in my house, plus, I wanted to save up. So staying at a motel was kind of out of the question.

"Alright," I sighed. "I guess I'm stuck camping out in my school."