ROMEO

28

R.O.M.E.O.

Nine days of awkward glances.

Nine days of forced conversation.

Nine fucking days.

"I cant do this anymore," I groan, standing.

Evie looks up at me. "Where are you going?"

"Somewhere away from this school."

She throws on her jacket, eyes cast down. "Yeah, guys, I'm gonna go too. Work this out."

Watson glares at us. "So you're gonna leave me with them while you go fuck?"

I tug on his hair. "Shut up."

"Ow!"

Zach sighs, a strand of blond hair slipping from his bun. "I have to go."

Evie grabs his arm. "Zach, stay."

"They don't want to talk, Eva."

"Nothing to talk about," Alex mumbles.

Malcolm shakes his head, eyes on Alex. "I want to talk, Zach."

"See?" Evie points, spinning around to us. "Lets get the hell out of here."

"Where are we going?" Watson questions.

Evie shrugs, pointing in my direction. "I don't know, I'm following him."

Heavy thoughts swarmed in my head, the drama throbbing against my skull.

"Whats wrong, Rome?"

"Nothing." Everything.

Watson scoffs. "Yeah, OK. Save the bullshit for someone else."

I analyze the ground, my brain coming up with ways to speak.

"I might want to go into the city and search for someone."

"Who?"

I turn around, facing them, tugging a hand through my tangled curls. "Some gang members."

"Some gang members? Are you out of your fucking mind?!" Watson exclaims.

Evie looks at the ground, eyes wide with understanding. "The gang members?"

I nod.

"Bad idea, bro. What if they fuck up this pretty face?"

"We have security, Watson."

"How do you know it's them?"

I shrug. "I looked up my brother and found a bunch of theories."

"And what did these theories consist of? Romeo, you have to have more information than that if you want to go track down a gang. A fucking gang, Rome."

"This gang has only three members, so it's not really a gang. Someone commented that they came in a store the same day he died, high as a kite, talking about little kids in the street. They were crying about how they didn't mean it."

Watson sighs. "And where can we find them?"

"I don't know. I was thinking we drive around and find out."

"Are we the fucking Scooby Gang?"

Evie shakes her head. "No, we're three teenagers going after three drug addicts."

"This isn't going to end well," Watson predicts.

I shrug. "Probably not."

***