Ella Stolen

2: Zach

Have you ever had that moment when you see someone that you used to know but no matter what you say they just don't remember you. It's like you're just another blade of grass in some old, long forgotten memory. Take that feeling of being invisible and times it by a million and take that person and replace them with the one person you love. It hurts. It's burns. It drives you to desperation and you act on impulse. You act in ways that you later regret but you can't help it because all you want is to be looked at with that smile that you used to get. Bottom line is I miss her. More than anything.

I'm going crazy. I am crazy. I already was crazy. I passed Ella as I drove to pick up a shipment with Alec. I made eye contact with her. Eye contact! And she just looked away as if she never saw me. I hate the silent treatment. I HATE it. Ella knows that for sure. I know she's pissed at me and has a right to be but she's never acted this way before... It's like she's never met me... Like I am nothing.

I live in the shadows but I am far from nothing. I'm twenty-two and the successful leader of the Northern California zone 12 of the Z-38, the most powerful gang on the west coast. We're the largest gang in terms of territory. Don't ask how I got here. And don't ask how someone as fucked up as me was with someone as incredible as Ella. I don't know. I'm part of the reason she got hurt and it kills me everyday.

Ella is brave as anyone I've known. When there's conflict, she directly says what she feels. This game of silent treatment isn't like her. And it isn't going to last.

"Yo, Zack. That Ella over there?" Alec asks pointing out the window.

"Guess so. She looked right at me and blew me off!" I growl. Alec looks slightly intimidated.

"Wait... Who's that guy with her?"

"There's no guy wi---," I cut myself off as I saw some skater type guy wrap an arm around Ella. "WHO THE FUCK DOES HE THINK HE IS!"

"Dude, chill. Don't do somethimg stupid. Let it go. I'm sure this will all blow over soon,"

"It better..." I reply more to myself than to Alec.

Alec is like my wing man. I met him in middle school and we've been friends since. I have an entire gang around me but I keep my personal life far away from them. Instead I have a group of friends from high school who I hang with. We are our own family since none of us got one. When I'm with the group, I feel like a kid again and that's a rare feeling in a world like mine.

I turn away from Ella just as the light at the intersection turns green. I step on the gas and my prized escalade accelerates downtown the road and as far away from Ella as possible. She gets this round but next round is mine. Maybe I should try and talk to her when she's alone. As much as it stings, it's probably for the better that none of her friends see me. When she's with our group, her real friends, she can be seen with me without all the risks. Starting with the fact that Ella is seventeen and I'm twenty-two. Then there's the part about her being a cool, but still innocent, high schooler while I'm a gang leader and smuggler of various merchandise. Our woulds don't mix. I'm just afraid Ella started to care about that.

She could want more. She could want a guy who kisses her in the hallways, walks her to class, takes her to dances... That guy could never be me no matter how much we both wish it. I need to protect her from my world and currently I'm doing a shit job with that.