I Am Trouble

18~ Alone

"I didn't know you vaped." A male voice echoed through the lot. Colton's voice, to be exact.

I didn't hear his voice very often, so it was a bit of a shock to me when it suddenly travelled throughout the quiet lot.

I turned to face him-where the voice came from,

"Only do it when I feel I need to."

He gestured his head, as if he was saying 'come here'. I wasn't exactly sure why he did that or what he wanted. But I walked closer to him anyways.

He turned back around and I followed him out of the entrance.

The night was cold, but I wore a hoodie this time. Jamie's hoodie, actually. Nobody was going to see me walking around the streets at two in the morning anyways. And, with the snow on the ground, just makes everything seem even colder.

Colton stopped walking and pulled something out of his pocket, its was a USB lookin' stick.

He pulled the cap off and moved it up to his lips-taking a long breath before exhaling. A white puff of smoke escaping between his lips.

"There's still smoke alarms in there. Didn't want to get rained on by those sprinklers." He told me.

I slightly chuckled,

"Thanks. You vape, too?"

He nodded, as I moved my vape up to my lips once again and breathed in. It's just so calming, breathing in the smoke. Then exhaling, watching it disappear into the clear air.

The faint sound of feet slapping against pavement was able to be heard from where me and Colton were standing.

I glanced over at him, he clearly could hear the slapping just as I could. But, it's whatever, probably just some drunk teens on a Friday night, goofing around.

But two faces came into view as they ran under the streetlight.

"Charlie?" I called.

"Kade?" Colton called immediately after me.

The two runners rushed closer to us, then came to a halt once they were close enough.

"Woah, what happened?" Colton asks, gesturing to the small trail of blood dripping down Kades face.

"Those son of a bitches from another gang!" He exclaimed, wiping the blood with his sleeve.

I put my hand on Charlie's shoulder,

"Did they hurt you? Are you okay?"

She nodded,

"I'm fine."

She didn't seem as if she was in any pain, just a little shaken up.

"Alright, we need to have a squad meeting. I'll call Alexa." Kade stated. Colton and Charlie nodded in agreement.

"I'll call Jamie." I offered.

Colton nodded.

I walked back into the lot, stuffing my vape and trading it for my phone.

I opened my phone with my thumbprint and went directly into contacts. Then clicked on Jamie's. I raised my phone to my ear.

It rung a couple of time before Jamie's groggy voice that was telling me 'you just woke me up' answered,

"Blair? Is everything okay?"

"Just come to the lot." I hesitantly said. I didn't want him to worry too much-since it would make him rush here quicker than ever.

"Why-is everything okay?" He immediately asks.

I almost let out a breath of relief, it brought he was gonna yell at me for walking by myself. I didn't plan on Colton, Charlie and Kade showing up, they just did,

"Charlie and Kade just ran into a problem. They came right to the lot where me and Colton are. Now all four of us are here, and we just need you and Alexa to come out here so we can all talk."

"You were with Colton, alone?" He questions, almost completely ignoring my explanation.

"Yeah, quit asking questions." I snapped, but no too harshly.

"Alright, I'm comin'." He stated before the like went dead.

~~~

"That's final. No more walkin' alone. What happened to Kade will not happen to any of you." Colton demanded. We all nodded in agreement.

Charlie stood beside me to my right, Alexa on my other side.

So, when an elbow nudged me from my right side, I knew who it was.

"What?" I asked, just above a whisper.

"Your eye. It's bloodshot and swollen." Charlie told me.

I froze, I didn't think anyone would notice if my parents didn't.

She raised her eyebrows, I sighed and began speaking in the same whisper as before,

"Someone from another gang..."

"Colton?" Charlie asked loudly.

"What?" He replied.

She glanced at me before continuing,

"It's now happened to both Kade and Blair."

Colton looked at me, but Jamie spoke first,

"You got hurt?"

"Didn't hurt that bad?" I stated.

They all let out a sigh, except for Jamie, he seemed pissed,

"Why didn't you say anything? Who did it?"

I shook my head,

"I didn't think it was import-,"

"Right now, everyone put your hands on top of mine." Kade interrupted me.

He held his hand out, his palm facing down. Alexa hesitantly put her hand on top of his. Followed by Charlie. I then placed my hand on top of hers. Colton went to put his hand on top of mine, but Jamie quickly put his hand there instead. So Colton's ended up on top.

"No more lies. We all tell each other the truth. Alexa, do you promise to do that?" Kade asks, looking at Alexa.

She nods,

"Y-yeah."

"Charlie, do you promise?" Kade then questions her.

She then nodded,

"Yes, I promise."

He moved his gaze to me,

"Blair, do you promise?"

I hesitated before nodding,

"Yeah."

Kade moves his eyes to Jamie, who stood across from me,

"Jamie? How about you?"

His Adams Apple moved in his throat,

"Yeah, I promise."

"Colton, promise us that you'll tell the truth no matter what." Kade demands.

He didn't speak, just kept his eyes on the ground for a few moments before surprising us all,

"I promise."

"Alright! Now, Blair, who did this to you?" Jamie said, changing the topic-kinda-while pointing to my eye.

I hesitated before speaking quietly,

"Male, don't know the name. He looked around our age. Maybe older, though."

They all nodded, understanding. Then Colton spoke up,

"Nobody does anything alone, we brought up history. We brought up drama and things that were clearly not meant to be brought up. So, staying safe is our first priority, finding out how the hell our families got into gang drama is second."

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