Hearts on Fire | Jalex

17. Alex's POV

"Nope, no class today," Justin said from behind me, just before I went into the building.

"What do you mean?" I asked hesitantly. Gabe, Rian, Jaime, and Tony came out from around the corner.

"Sweet." I said, instantly understanding. I ditched my bag behind an empty trash, pulling on my trusty leather gloves.

"One more thing," Jaime said, and tossed me a bandana. "Hood up, put this on. Cops crack down around here, we can't be recognized." I nodded, smirking at the skull pattern on the bandana, then tied it around my face, flicking my hood upward.

"I feel like I should be carrying a gun," I joked. Tony reached into his bag and tossed me a handgun.

"Get that licensed to you and never leave home without it. This isn't a nice neighborhood," he said simply. I didn't question it. We fooled around with guns back home, just general target practice. We never really needed them, though, as muggings and robberies in our area happened once in a blue moon. This area was the exact opposite, I could tell.

"I've got one of my own, but for today, I'll take this." I said, tucking into the waistband of my jeans. Tony and Justin nodded at each other, then took off running, the rest of us right behind them. We stuck to the shadows, and I could see Jack and his other friends talking softly in a circle, but I ignored it. On a job, that was all I could think about. If I thought about anything else, the concentration broke and we would be screwed for life.

We stopped at the Administration building, and Justin stood by the door, gesturing for us all to file in, then he brought up the rear, closing the door silently behind him.

"Took you blokes long enough," a thickly accented voice said. I looked up. No way. He left years ago.. Yet, here he was. Oliver Sykes. He was a part of our crew back home for a while, then his parents' job transfer made him move. We didn't know where for the longest time, but it was pretty obvious now.

"Had to round up the rest of the crew," Justin said with a shrug.

"Oli. It's been a long time," I said in greeting. Even though the majority of his face was covered by a bandana, his eyes showed a grin.

"Alex, yea it has." He said, and pulled me into a hug.

"Where've you been?" I asked, honestly curious.

"Back to England for a while. Then here. We can catch up after, though. For now, we've got a job." I nodded.

"We've got three things we need done. One, five bottles of pure vodka, and three bottles of champagne. Two, get into the computers and change Ronnie Radke, Craig Mabbit, Jacky Vincent and Ryan Seamen's C's to A's. Three, smash every breakable thing you can find, and grab all the cash you find." Justin said orderly.

"Alex and Jaime, you take computers. Tony, Gabe, and Rian, you guys get the alcohol. Oli and I can break shit." We all instantly got to work. Oli produced a couple baseball bats from nowhere, and he and Justin got to smashing. It soon became background noise as Jaime and I started changing grades. It was surprisingly easy, especially as the principal was apparently quite forgetful and had his password written on a sticky note stuck to the monitor. Ten minutes later we were done.

"Alex, can you sign for us?" Oli asked, storing the bats in a bag I hadn't noticed before. I nodded, and he tossed me a can of paint. I was about to ask what to sign, but that's when I realized it was obvious. Disguising my handwriting admirably well, I scribbled our name across the empty brick wall.

WHITE SKULL

"We have two minutes to make ourselves scarce. Go." Oli said. We bolted out the door, tearing off our bandanas and hoods, my gloves whipping off my fingers as well. Justin and I ended up back at the building of my first class, and I was quick to store all my things, including the gun, in he back compartment of my backpack.

"Meet at my place after school," he breathed, and I just nodded, then took a deep breath, bolting into my first class, getting ready to act.

"I am so sorry I forgot to change my clocks after the time change I swear it won't happen again," I blurted out, looking as embarrassed as I knew how to be, trying to channel any persuasiveness I had in me. Luckily, the teacher was a young woman, who looked at me sympathetically.

"Did you run all the way here?" She asked, looking concerned. I nodded.

"From building 4," I said, which was not a full lie. That's where Jack's dorm was, and it was right around the Administration building.

"Well, sit down. It's your first day, I know a thing or two about jet lag. Just make sure you change your clocks to LA time," she said understandingly. I nodded, and slid into an open seat, high-fiving myself mentally. I could totally pull off this whole public school thing. Easily.