penny.

23; Blank Face

The first time Eli and I kissed, there was fire and heat and everything fast you could think of, and that's how I always pictured kissing someone would be, but this was different. It was soft and tender and everything good. The party around us was still raging, bodies moving fast and erratic, but here, in our little bubble nothing was bothering us, nothing was keeping us apart.

    "Woah." Eli pulled away as we ran out of breath. His forehead rested against mine, lips a little red and wet, and that somehow made me want to go all in all over again. The darkness in his eyes was replaced with a different kind of brightness. Happy.

    "Isa, we've gotta go." The smile slips off my face as Jay pulls me out of the crowd. Eli follows close behind, weaving in and out of the grinding bodies. The rest of our group is already gathered around Jay's truck.

    "What's going on?" I ask. Ruby shoves her phone into my hand, Kaydence's name reading at the top of the warning text.

    Get to the compound, emergency training and meeting in ten minutes.

    My eyebrows crease together as we all pile in the truck, Jay throwing a duffel of clothes at Ruby and I so we can change. The last time we had one of these meetings was before I even got initiated, when The Pit got closed the first time.

    "Izzy what's happening?" Owen asks as I slip one of Jay's t-shirts over my head. There isn't really a way to answer considering I have no clue either.

    "I don't know but it's not good." I slip basketball shorts on under my dress before slipping it off and stuffing it into the now empty duffel.  Mario's house isn't far from the compound, but even as we arrive at the building the faint sound of music can be heard.

    The parking lot is full of cars, each one with our sign stuck on the bumper of the back window. People are crowding outside while my heart practically beats out of my chest.  There doesn't seem to be a shortage of members piling through the front doors when we park, and I know that something really really bad is about to happen.

    "Say nothing, okay? If anyone looks at you don't make eye contact and for god sakes don't breathe a word of this to anyone." I say before slipping the gun out of the duffel and into my waistband, my dress getting thrown into it with Ruby's.

    The trio of boys nods at me before we head in, a couple people dapping me up as we move in. Kaydence is standing in the middle of the ring as usual, his face blank as he waits for the crowd to get quiet.

    "Nothing about the situation I'm about to tell you is good," He pauses and makes eye contact with me. He looks scared, terrified even. "We're gearing up for war." Jay's hand grabs onto mine and squeezes instinctively.

    Everyone knew this was the biggest possible consequence of being in a gang and living in Ridgecrest, it just wasn't something we ever thought we would see in our time here. Gang wars were brutal, more blood was spilt than necessary and it was usually over territorial disputes. Basically, most gangbangers were huge babies.

    "The Kings are pissed, after Mateo died and we retaliated we all knew this could happen, but they're out for blood." Kaydence cringed before continuing, "More specifically, they're out for Isa's blood."

    Jay's arm went around me protectively, his grip on me tighter than anything I've felt before. I saw it coming, I beat Reece, backtalked Sosa, and not to mention I was involved with the retaliation.

    "You all know what this means, no one leaves Ridgecrest or you're out of the gang, and it won't be the usual process for getting jumped out." He means there was no possible way they would get out alive. "Minors sleep, eat, and do online school here and only on our property. Watch sheets are posted on the wall and I expect everyone training in the gym and the range. There is no room for mistakes, no room for laziness, not now. They're coming after one of us, which means we don't stop until the threat is eliminated, understood?"