The Sparrows

four

I meet Nic by the stop sign today as usual. I'm wearing the same tank top with my newly 'ripped jeans' and have to balance my bag on my other shoulder, forgetting about the cut.

He runs up to me, his long black curls bouncing. I can easily recognize him with his usual black jeans and old thrifted tees, but he's especially noticeable today with the new beenie I gave him and his annoyingly cheeky smile. "And she is in fact alive."

I give him his due punches and one final pinch as he yelps. It all this hazel-eyed pretty boy's fault. "You know I met the Sparrows last night because of you."

"The Sparrows?" he pauses. "Holy shit! That was them?"

We walk down the street, keeping up our tradition of not stepping on the cracks. "This one kid is crazy, I'm telling you. He pulled out a gun on me!"

"And he didn't pull the trigger?" he laughs, a playful glint in his eyes. I roll my eyes but he puts his arm around me as we quickly finish our walk to school. "You better be thanking me, Serena."

"Thanking you? For getting me almost killed?"

We walk to the school get as the buses empty with students at the front. He smiles, putting on his letterman, not of course without flexing first. "Who do you think rang the doorbell?"

Okay, well that does make sense; he wasn't completely mean then. We walk to the doors as I fix my boring brown hair into a low bun. "Well I just hope I don't run into them." I didn't know who they were were, but I knew they did go to our school. We lived in a small town and this was the only school. I could avoid them outside of school but inside?

Let's just hope my luck was done sucking the devil's dick.

"See you later." I start to scratch the tip of my nose but he slaps my hand away. "You too, ugly. Stop—don't touch your nose." He leans closer, running one hand through my hair before yanking it lightly and walking away. "I didn't forget. You owe me."

Oh yeah, the flash drive. I'd forgotten about it, but immediately recall as down the hall he puts his fingers together to represent the size of the flash drive. It's what started the whole stupid runaway thing. Being as how we had two very different schedules, I didn't see him except at the beginning and end of the day, and even then only sometimes.

Yesterday, he'd told me to meet him for coffee and advice on a girl. When he wouldn't show me what was on the drive, I snatched it up as a tease, somehow actually ending up biking away from him with it in my cardigan pocket. It obviously didn't end well, and now I realize that the drive must have felt out at the Sparrow's because it wasn't on me when I got home.

I don't know how I was going to get it back. I'm praying something invaluable and replaceable was stored on there.

I make my way through my first four class periods, three cores and athletics (through which I skipped in the locker room.) My luck's been good so far today; I haven't run into any of them and I hope it stays that way. I'd started paying attention around class more, taking note of my classmates that I hadn't before.