First Punch ➟ Kellic

E I G H T

It had taken me hours to fall asleep last night, so when Carter bursts into my room at the crack of dawn, my confused outburst isn't surprising.

"Get up."

"What? Why are you-? What's going on?"

"I said get up," he tells me hastily, checking behind him. "You need to go. Like, now. Get up."

"Wh-" I'm cut off, my eyes going wide as I hear a gun shot.

"Bloods," he says simply. "Go. You need to run."

I immediately scramble to my feet, looking around for an escape route. They're clearly in the house already, so I'm forced to go out the window. I slide it open, looking down and feeling like I might throw up. My room's on the second floor, so it's a long way down.

"Cooper, go!" Carter yells, his own gun going off.

"Fuck," I mumble, too scared to jump, but I'm running out of time. I can't hesitate anymore. I crawl through, hanging onto the sill for as long as possible before dropping to the ground.

The second I hit dirt, my ankle stings like a motherfucker. I didn't have socks on let alone shoes. Luckily I land on the grass, somewhat breaking my fall. I hear another gun shot closeby and don't waste any more time before taking off into sprint.

I just keep running, not really thinking of where I'm going and ignoring the pain from the pebbles and sticks that dig into the soles my feet. My ankle hurts a little, but it's really not as bad as I expected. Maybe it's just the shock though.

As I keep running I decide I can't just wander around all morning. And I can't go into any stores or anything because a) they're not open yet, and b) I'm in just a t-shirt and boxers. There's only one other place that I know of, Jake's. Without even really thinking about it, I head in the direction of his house. Or, well, Mateo's I guess.

I get there quickly since he lives so close, and I'm so fucking happy about it because I'm already embarrassingly winded.

I make my way to the side of the house, taking a deep breath as I approach the window. I peer inside, shaking from the cold, fear, shock and nervousness. I'm surprised to see the lone lump in the bed, the bed-matt thing on the floor empty. I lift my hand, about to knock when I realize it could be Lucas in the bed. The lump rolls over, and I sigh in relief as I recognize Jake's face. My hovering hand knocks, still shaking. His face contorts into discomfort, rolling back over. I knock again, a little louder this time. He seems to finally hear it, sitting up in the bed. He looks around confused and tiredly before spotting me in the window. He looks even more confused now as he gets out of the bed and comes over, sliding the window open.

"Hey," he says, his voice all tired and eyes swollen. It's weird to see him without one of those hats he always wears. "What are you doing here? What time is it?"

"I...I...." My brain scrambles to find an answer, the gunshots still ringing in my head. The more I think about it the harder it is not to think about it. I wonder what's happening there. Who was shooting? Were the Bloods dead? Oh God...is Carter dead?

"Are you okay?" he asks, looking concerned. The question just throws me over the edge. My shaking only worsens as a lump forms in my throat.

"Th-the Bloods...what if..." my voice is shakey and it cuts out as I feel a wet drop slip down my face. I didn't even know I was going to cry. I mean, I had a lump in my throat, but my vision never blurred and I'm surprised to feel the wetness on my cheeks.

"Hey, hey," he says soothingly, reaching toward me. I jerk away, weirdly freaked out by the idea of physical contact. I probably look crazy. I'm in sleeping clothes, have no shoes on and grass stains on my hands and knees, plus I'm fucking crying.