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Chapter 24

"We are going to tell each other everything we need to know so there aren't any surprises. I'll start since it was my idea." I say breathing in and looking down. "I joined the gang when I was 14 after a incident at a party I needed to learn to protect myself. At the party a guy almost raped me" I say fiddling with my fingers. I feel a hand on my knee and follow it to be met with Ryder's eyes. I continue with "I only got away because this guy came in and stopped it and at the time I didn't know who the guy was. After Jackson found out he made me join the gang so it would never happen again. That's where I met Joey and found out he was the guy who saved me that night." I say shaking a little. "After that I helped the gang to save girls who were in a situation like me but then they started to think they could do what ever they wanted because they were the "heros" of the neighborhood. They decided to do something for theirselves, so they robbed a rich man but that guy earned all the money he had. That's when I realized I couldn't be in the gang anymore. I went to the leader and told him that and we got into an argument over it that it lead to a physical fight. I didn't try to hurt him because I knew at one point he was a good guy but at that moment he wasn't" I lift my shirt and show a scar on my side. "He decided I need to have a permanent mark to remember that I am just a woman and he was a man" I say looking at my lap again and a single tear rolled down my face. "That's when I left because I couldn't be surrounded by people who thought they were automatically better because of the way they were born. Then I met Kyle and decided I would never turn back to the gang" I say looking at them. They all looked stunned even Vanessa and Morgan who knew part of the story. "Who's next?" I say wiping my tears and looking at them.

We have gone through Vanessa,Morgan and Cole. Vanessa lost her mom to cancer and her dad was never home to be a parent for her. Morgan lived with her aunt and uncle because her parents left to go who knows where. Cole's secret is he was in the foster system his whole life and some of those foster parents did thing to him I wish I could change but I can't. That's why he's in the gang to have a family. Next is Ryder's turn.

RYDER'S POV
It's my turn and my palms are sweating I've never shared this story with anyone except Jackson. I look at everyone and start to freak out until I see those eyes. I look into Chloe's eyes and breath. I can do this. I think she noticed my breakdown because she grabbed my hand and held it in hers. It felt so relaxing. "Okay, my brother was the only family I had that gave a damn about me. He was in a gang out in San Francisco and I joined with him as a family thing. It wasn't a good type of gang but that was my life then. I did things I regret but my brother knew this was the only way to provide for us. The leader at the time sent my brother out to get some money from a woman who had 3 kids. My brother refused and that didn't make the leader very happy, so he shot my brother. Without any remorse he shot my brother right in front of me. That's when I left and never looked back I came here and met Jackson and he offered me a place to stay. He was the first person I ever met other than my brother who cared for me. When I learned he was a leader in a gang I flipped but then he told me what they did. I still didn't feel comfortable until he told me about his cousin who went through something with another gang. That story gave me hope and that's when I joined the gang" I say looking around. They all look shocked. I look at Chloe to see her already looking at me. I feel tears falling from my face and she noticed and squeezed my hand. I felt happy she knew the real me now. She looked at me and smiled. Then she got a call and looked at her phone and frowned. This isn't going to be good.
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