The Maroon Gang

Four - Time For School

I'm in love with someone. My friends hate him. What can I do?

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"Guys! Time to go!" We gathered everything we got and ran to a dark alleyway near ours. We were looting some clothes at Casualties. We spotted two men. They were talking so loud we could hear them.

"So. What will happen when we get them robbers?" One of them asked.

"Well, you see Smith my man, if we get them, we get money, and if we get money we get rich!" The other guy said.

"But what do we do after we catch the robbers?" Smith asked.

"We are Smith and Johnson! We can do anythin! Now come on, help lock this and place these cameras." Johnson said.

We looked at each other and left.

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I decided to wander around the street. While walking, I came across the McLaughlin car. I saw Connor waiting outside the store. He turned around and saw me.

"Oh hey!" He smiled. I smiled back. "Hey there! So what are you doing here?" He seemed nervous. "Oh uh well my parents said they have to deal with something. But I don't know what it is." Then he flinched. I knew he was lying. "So. What school do you go to?" He asked. I didn't know what to say. I was a street kid! I stopped going to school when I left home! "Uh...well, I used to go in Warden Elementary in Dallas." He looked at me. "Oh you used to live Dallas?" I nodded. "Why'd you leave?" I couldn't tell him about me leaving home! So I sort of changed it. "My mom and I moved here when my dad died. We couldn't afford anything back in Dallas. But here Clarkwood, there are some amazingly cheap places." Then his parents came out. "Oh we're sorry, were we disturbing something here?" We smiled. "Umm..no Mr and Mrs. McLaughlin. I better go now." I smiled and started to walk away. Then someone grabbed my hand. It was Connor. "I can walk you home." He smiled. He looked at his parents and they nodded. Soon, the car left and I was alone with Connor.

We decided to take a walk in the park. "So, where do you go to school?" I wanted to know more about him. "Well, I got to Newton High. You should try it there. You can take your friends! I'll pay for the tuition!" I loved that idea! We could go to school and learn and make more friends!! But what will the others say? I said goodbye to him after a while.

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"Hey guys!!" I wanted to tell them that we could go to school! "I was invited by someone to go to school! And the person said he'll pay for the tuition!! There's free food and free stuff! All that! What do you say?" They looked at the invitation. Zac was the first to say something. "I think it's a good idea. We could learn more stuff and find more friends! But the Maroon Gang will never reveal their true identity. And no one can be part of the Maroon Gang anymore. Five is enough." He smiled and left. Jordi was excited. Hanna seemed worried. Seth was casual about it. Maybe he used to go to school before he became a street kid.

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Today, we decided to go to school. We walked there. We got kind of lost but we asked people for directions.

We got there fifteen minutes before school began. "Alright guys, we're in school. So we just follow schedules and meet up at lunch. Okay?" Zac still acted like our leader even though we weren't in the streets anymore. "Okay." We all said. We got our schedules and headed to our first class.

Lunchtime. The only time of the day where everyone is happy. We met up and picked a table. "So how was school?" I asked them.

"It was fun. I learned Calculus!" Hanna said.

"It was okay. Most of the girls in my class were wearing makeup. Gross." Jordi said.

"Meh. It was cool." Seth said.

"Great." Zac said.

I stood up and went to the bathroom. On my way back, I bumped into Connor. "Oh hey! You're here!" He said. He hugged me. Things were awkward for me. "Uhm...yeah I'm here. And I brought my friends! Hope it's fine." He smiled. "Of course it's fine." Then he left and went back to his table. I went back to mine.

"Who was that?" Jordi asked. "Oh that's Connor McLaughlin." Jordi smirked. "You like him?" My eyes widened. "No! Of course not!" Then she laughed. "He's the dude from the party right?" I nodded. We went back to our classes afterwards.

At the end of the day, we barely made friends. It was only our first day. We were committed to making friends. And we couldn't wait for the next day of school.

But, little did we know that school was about to get worse.