10 points

I

Note; thank you to my good friend Emma for coming up with the idea and look of Vivienne!!

Bzzt bzzt bzzt...

The sound of the ringing mixed with the vibrations echoed through the small room, the sun shined through the curtains, lighting the room up with this peachy orange hue. The phone made a click noise and the room fell silent. Edie swung her legs over the edge of her bed and stretched before hoping down, making a thud noise as her feet hit the wooden floor. Her bed was raised above the floor, it was like a bunk bed, but a desk was under it instead of another bed. She walked with a daze to her mirror and rubbed her eyes, yawning. Her blue hair was all over the place, sticking up in every direction possible. Grabbing her brush, she started to pull it through, making the wild mane more presentable. The stands all fell in a uniformed place until she grabbed a chunk and made two low pigtails, her usual style. Tracking over to her closet, she shuffled through her clothes options.

T-shirt....sweater...hoodie....long sleeve...t-shirt...

She frowned a bit, too many options. It took her a bit until she settled on something. A red long sleeve with a black t-shirt pulled over it. Throwing on a pair of high waisted light blue jeans she grabbed her bright yellow boots and pulled them over her feet. Opening her bedroom door, she grabbed her book bag and headed down the stairs into the kitchen. She walked in where she saw her father and her cousin sitting there, conversing as they ate breakfast. Vivienne, her cousin, was taller compared to Edie, but not as lanky. Her body was the shape of an hourglass, wearing a purple sweater tucked into a plaid skirt. Leggings underneath the skirt, cream socks pulled up over the think black leggings and a pair of boots. Vivienne's hair was two-toned, one side the natural dark brown while the other was a dirty bleached blonde. Her complexion was clean, besides the freckles that littered her face and most of her body, her lips were full with some black lipstick added on. As soon as her father looked up from the newspaper, a grin spread across his square face.

"Edie, pumpkin! How'd ya sleep?" his voice had the heavy stereotypical mob-boss accent, like the ones people would see on T.V. Her father was a tall man, his overall physique was blocky, a square head, a slightly larger body, that was more round, but his hands were huge. On his knuckles were stars, one on each, on both hands. It was to signify who he was. The leader of 10 Points, the gang that ran the city. Both she and her cousin had the stars tattooed under their eyes, one under each.

With a smile Edie walked over to him and kissed his cheek, taking a glimpse at the newspaper. The headline caught her eye more than anything else. 'Another Gang Conflict Leaving Four Dead.'

Having to pry her eyes away she walked to the counter and opened some cupboards, grabbing the loaf of bread. "I slept pretty good," she replied as she stuck two pieces of bread in the slits of the toaster, pressing down on the leaver, they submerged into the box, a heat radiating off of it as a faint orange glow came from inside. "So, what's the paper about?"

Her father didn't answer her at first, it took him a bit, but he took off his small glasses and sighed. "Ya' know I want you to run the business when I retire, darlin," he was always calling his gang, the 'business' like it was some family job, this legacy, and he wanted Edie to take over when he retired. "But, until then, I don't think you should have to worry about this sort of stuff until then."

As he finished his sentence, the toaster sprung up the bread with a pop and a ding, leaving it now with a golden brown and crispy look. She grabbed the slices and put them down, getting the butter and a knife. She opened the butter container and gently scraped the knife against it, getting some butter on the silver object. Picking up one of the pieces of toast, she smoothly pressed the butted side of the knife against the crispy grains. Spreading it out, she repeated the process with the other piece.

"You know you can tell me what's going on." She said with a mouthful of toast, wiping the crumbs that were left with her sleeve.

"Maybe some other time sweetheart," her dad sighed and he folded the paper up. "Aren't you two going to be late?"

"We should be good if we leave right now," Vivienne piped into the conversation and stood up, pushing her chair in. "Come on Edie, bye Uncle Po."

Edie hurried up and shoved the remainder of her breakfast into her mouth, picking up her bookbag. Waving a good-bye to her dad she trailed after her cousin. The two of them trotted down the stairs and walked out of their apartment complex. The two of them continued in silence down the sidewalk, on their way to their school. It was about 5 minutes in when flashing lights grabbed Edie's eyes, making her head turn.

"Whoa, what's going on there?" she asked and grabbed Vivienne's arm, dragging her across the street to the other side of the road.

Police tape, the police, a body bag. Edie walked up to one of the blockers and stood up on her tippy toes to try to see. An officer walked over and she looked at him.

"What happened?"

"Just another gang shooting, nothing big," he spoke until he looked at the two, seeing the stars on his face he instantly regretted his words. "Sorry, but, got two of them this time." with that he walked away from them.

Edie and Vivienne pushed through the small crowd and continued on their way to the local high school, in silence. Just them, the sound of the city, and the noise of their feet hitting the pavement.

"Vivienne," Edie finally spoke, "What's going on around here?"