BROTHERS

Chapter 12

"What are you talking about?" I asked, taking a step back. "Well, everyone is in class... why don't we have some fun?" He said, licking his lips. "Are you kidding me? No. I don't feel like it."

"Really? That's a surprise. you're always feeling like it?" He said in a snarky tone. "Yeah, whatever. Fuck off!" I said, pushing him away. "You'll regret that, Penelope," he said from behind me. "Yeah, maybe," I said, walking out of the bathroom.

-KATHERINE'S POV- 

I sat in my classroom, pondering over the idea of a party. I felt, nervous. My first ever party... "just stop thinking about it!" I whispered to myself. "Katherine, what a surprise! didn't expect you'd make it here" I looked up, at Abby. Queen of hypocrisy and, you guessed it... everyone loves her. She thinks she is the best and she has a tendency to create drama. I'm not a big fan of her.

"H-hi Abby, I'm not sure what you mean but I'm glad to see you're here as well!" I said, smiling at her. "Hmm, aren't you just so cute... it makes me sick," she said, rolling her eyes. "I'm sorry-" I tried to say, but she had already made it to the end of the classroom, taking a seat with all her friends.

Why did college feel so much like high school?

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The rest of the day went by pretty quickly. Luckily, since we were in college, we were allowed to pick our schedule and when we would take certain classes. At least that was the only difference between High school and college. Penelope and I finished class around the same time, so I met up with her at the front of the campus. "How was the first day of college, Kitty?" Penelope asked, walking up to the car.

I opened the car door and took a seat. "It was... fun! We learned about Genetics!"

"And now I'm uninterested..." she said, twisting her key into the ignition. The car made an unusual screeching sound. "What's wrong?" I asked, looking at her. "The car won't start?" She said, pulling out the key and putting it back in the ignition. I looked around the car, and for some odd reason, I had the urgency to touch the light placed in the middle of the car roof.

I touched it and instantly pulled back, holding my fingers up to my chest. The light was hot, which only meant that it was probably turned on and the battery went out "I think the battery is out, you need to replace it." I said, looking at her. "What do you mean?" She asked, looking up at me. I pointed to the light; "touch it" I said, looking at the light. She brought her hand up to touch the light and instantly pulled back the same way I did. "damn... I must've left the light on or something"

"I can call my dad to have someone pick us up?" I suggested. "No, let's just walk. My place is only a ten-minute walk from the school." If there was one thing about Penelope, it was that she didn't like asking for favors. We're both quite alike in that aspect. But the difference was that she did it out of pride for herself. She never wanted to feel like she owed something to anyone. "Independence over dependence" as she used to say.

"But what about the car?" I asked. "We should still get it fixed!"

"Don't worry, Kitty. I know someone who knows someone." She said, caressing my cheek. "Come, let's walk. It's a beautiful day outside, too!" I smiled, grabbed my bag, and got out of the car. We walked towards the gate and onto the sidewalk. I felt a bit anxious about walking out in public with Penelope alone. My father had always said that a girl like me could easily get snatched up, so I always carried a bottle of pepper spray just in case.

Luckily, we were still in the populated area of the streets, many people were nearby at the local coffee shops and restaurants. College students were also in their cars driving back home. "Oh shit..." Penelope said, abruptly stopping. "What's wrong?" I said, looking around. "There's a car accident, all the roads are blocked." She said, slowly walking towards the scene.

"Oh no! I hope nobody is hurt..." I said, looking around.

"I don't think so, two men are standing outside the vehicles," she said, pointing over at them. I walked around, trying to take a better look. I saw the two men outside arguing, one of them was an old man, who was manically shouting at a blonde-haired guy. The guy only stood there, with a straight face. He wore a hat and a fitted black shirt.

"Well, it seems like one of them is angrier than the other," Penelope said, laughing. "Yeah..." I said, looking away. A police officer approached us, "Shit, cop incoming ahead" Penelope said, looking down towards her feet. "Hi ladies," the officer said, smiling at us.

"Hi, sir," I said, smiling at him. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience but the road is going to be closed, due to the accident. I suggest you find another route home or have someone pick you up." He said, staring at us. "No problem," Penelope said, grabbing me by the arm and walking back towards a street we had just walked past. "Penny...Where are we going?" I asked, looking around.

"There's a short cut I know, but... you might want to stay close to me. It's not exactly a good area to be walking by" One thing about Chicago, is that it has its pretty and not-so-pretty side. I'd like to say that any city has its pretty and not-so-pretty side, but recently a crime rate spiked in Chicago after it had seemed to die down. There were a lot of rumors flying around about a new... group of individuals but the police don't have any leads.

I wasn't completely naive to the crime that went around Chicago. My dad had made me recognize all the territories so I could stay away from them. He used to live around a high crime area, he knew what it was like and he didn't want anything bad to happen to me. "O-okay... but let's make it quick, my parents have my location..."

"Right..." she said, quickly walking down the alleyway of two strange buildings. Suddenly It was quiet and gloomy outside. It appeared like it was about to rain. I began to feel sick to my stomach, the nervousness in my body making me feel weak to my knees. I clutched my pepper spray, walking alongside Penelope.

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Penelope and I had been walking for around five minutes now. Everything seemed to be fine, besides the casual barking of a dog nearby. I decided to think about something else, focus on something that made me happy to make this endless walk home a little better. Lost in my thoughts, a car suddenly tore past us with lightning speed.

It was like a blur, but I managed to catch a glimpse of the driver through the window. He had an air of mystery and danger surrounding him, like a character from a thrilling movie. I couldn't see any definitive features of him, besides a lip piercing on the bottom left of his lip. Our eyes locked for a split second, and in that moment, I felt a chill run down my spine. It was as if I had crossed paths with someone who held secrets that could change everything.

In that split second, the tension in the air was palpable, leaving me with a sense of unease.