The Aces

3 - Fight!

Lucie Blanc

Rain pours down as I shudder inside my blanket. I'm alone in my classroom doing homework. I flinch as thunder strikes, then laugh at my reaction.

"Hey..?" a boy's voice lets out. His voice is soft and low. I look at the owner of the voice to find a blonde-haired boy. His hair is incredibly fluffy making me want to touch it.

"Hi?" I reply back as the strange blonde smiles cheekily and walks over to me.

"I'm Jake. I recently moved here," he says, offering me a handshake. "Oh hi, I'm Lucie," I introduce myself as I shake his hand. "Can I sit..?" he asks, and I remove my bag from the seat beside me. "Go ahead!" I say, smiling.

For the next few hours, Jake and I talk and learn how we share many similarities. It's safe to say I've made a new friend. I'm beyond excited.

~

I walk towards home, listening to music as I stare at my phone when suddenly I bump into someone, causing me to yelp and fall back.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" a tall guy with a thick British accent let's out as he wipes a nonexistent particle of dust off his jacket. "Leave her alone," a familiar voice lets out. It's Kai.

I look towards him and my eyes meet his and once again, I'm frozen as I stare into those ocean eyes.

He motions with his head for me to come over. I shyly stand up and walk toward him with everyone staring at me.

"Boss! You got a girlfriend and you didn't tell us?!" the same tall guy I bumped into lets out. I stand beside Kai, blushing as I fumble with my school uniform. "Shut up," Kai says as he takes a puff of his cigarette. "Sorry, boss... anyways, I'm Louis," he introduces himself, and I nod. "Hey. I'm Lucie."

Before any further conversation can be made, I feel a hand wrap around my wrist, leading me out of the crowd. "What's wrong—"
"Are you hungry?" He asks, cutting me off as he takes another puff, looking around. "Kinda," I say, my stupid cheeks burning.

"C'mon," he says, throwing the cigarette butt before stepping on it. He grabs my wrist, making sure it doesn't agitate my wound as we walk across the road. "Choose." he says as we stand before numerous food shops. "Umm... are burgers okay with you?" He nods, walking into the fast food restaurant with me.

In comfortable silence, we eat our burgers. Kai texts someone with a dark glare in his blue eyes as I take a sip of my soda to digest the bite I just took.

Our eyes meet, and suddenly, we're the only people in the room. "You have mayo on your nose." He bluntly says in the most disinterested tone ever and I widen my eyes, breaking eye contact.

"Oh," I say, wiping the mayo off. "Why didn't you come to school today?" I ask. "I was busy," he simply replies.

"Kai?" I ask as he looks up at me. I look at him, the words stuck in my throat. I try to open my mouth but nothing comes out. "What is it?" He asks, staring at me with those laser eyes.

"Let's be friends?" I finally ask, lightly smiling as Kai stares at me, his feelings covered by a robotic expression.

"I don't do friendships."

~

I sit on the swing, swaying gently as I look at the floor. Did I do something wrong? I think. I wouldn't say that I was surprised that he said that, but I still feel sad as he declined my friendship. "Lucie??" Jake asks as he stands at the entrance of the quiet park, jogging towards me.

"What's up?" he asks as he takes a seat on the swing next to mine. "Nothing," I say. "You're a terrible liar," Jake replies as I smile. "You wanna talk about it?" he asks as he passes me a popsicle. "It's nothing, really," I say as I open the popsicle, sucking on it. "Someone rejected my friendship. That's all. I'm just acting like a baby."

"No, you're not," he replies with a comforting smile. "It's not your fault, and it's his loss for rejecting being a friend of someone as cool as you. Cheer up," he says, and I smile appreciatively. "Thanks, Jake," I say, smiling.

~

Over the last few days, Jake and I have become close friends and spent a lot of time with each other. I haven't seen Kai ever since.

I lay on my bed, my childhood teddy bear kept safely in my hands. I got the teddy bear when I was 2 as a gift from my favorite uncle Kim, and sadly, he passed away due to cancer when I was 12. Ever since then, Wuzzy the Teddy has been by my side.

"Lucie!" my mom screams as I stand up, putting Wuzzy on my bed before walking down the stairs to her. "Yep?" I ask. "Go get some ingredients, honey," my mom says as she hands some money to me.

I change into a pair of shorts and a hoodie. I tie my hair up messily in a bun before leaving the house with the money in my pocket.

~

The distant sound of cars and traffic fills my ears as I walk back home with the ingredients. I listen to music, lightly humming as I walk down the street. By mistake, I take the wrong turn but don't realize it until I find myself in the middle of a long street, all the shops around it closed.

The most terrifying part is that I may have stumbled into a gang war.

There are dozens of men, The Aces to my right and The Scoundrels to my left. I freeze on the spot as I feel the dozens of stares on me. I look to the left, my eyes meeting with the pervy ones of Jackson King, the leader of The Scoundrels. He is known to be a sick pervert. I look to the other side, and my eyes lock with Kai's.

Oh you've got to be kidding me.

His expression is something I've never seen before. It is a stone-cold expression, and his eyes are graciously terrifying. "Hello, sexy." Jackson lets out as he licks his lips. "Wanna join us tonight?" he asks as one of his men walk toward me. I look at Kai, my eyes begging for help as I slowly back away, internally cussing myself for not paying attention to where I was going.

"Don't touch her."

What?" Jackson replies, smirking. "Is this whore your girlfriend?" Jackson scoffs, signaling his men to continue. "If you touch her, The Aces will officially be your enemy and your worst nightmare." Kai says, his voice loud and emotionless.

"Fuck," Jackson scoffs as he calls his men back. Kai motions for me to come to him with his head. I quickly walk towards Kai but suddenly feel a sharp pain in my back. I gasp as I fall down, my voice choked due to the pain. Someone has stabbed me.

"HAH! Do you really think I'm scared of a school gang like yours? How dare you kids mess with an adult gang?" Jackson lets out. "FIGHT!" Mark, the third in command of The Aces, shouts. After those words, everything goes black for me.