The Streets

4. Tryouts And Alleyways

The rest of the school day went by quickly and I made my way to the locker room for football tryouts. But my mind was still on lunch.

What were their names? Why did they keep to themselves? Why did it seem like everyone was scared of them? Did people think they were bad or dangerous because they happened to be bad students? Did people think just because they were bad students they had to be bad outside of school? Why do the people at our school whisper or look away every time one of them is near? I had so many questions and no answers, so I asked the guys in the change room.

" What do you guys think about Kevin and those guys at lunch?" I asked casually.

"Rare for them to pick fights with kids in this school. It's normally other kids from other school's " Brett spoke. We had gym together and our love of football gave us an immediate friendship.

"Why is it rare?"

"Not sure. They all bother the teachers a lot and news of what they do outside of school gets passed around. That's why people think their dangerous and trouble. Rumors about vandalizing property was one of the things that went around. If they are true or not they don't bother to say anything to the rumors, which is a reason why people think the rumors are true".

I was going to ask another question when I realized I didn't ask the most obvious one of all.

"What are their names?" I asked as we walked onto the field.

"Trish Blake, Dakota Chiz, Thayer Brown, Theo Rush, Jacob and Paul Jackson."

"Who was the guy starting to fight Kevin?"

"That was Thayer. He's known for his temper."

I was going to ask another when Brett spoke again.

"Look Cole you're getting along with the people who matter in this school. The football team, the people who are popular and you're passing classes and you care about your future. You're becoming one of us fast so don't go and throw it away on curiosity." He scolded me.

"Okay, okay I'm new here. I'm sure you were curious about them."

"Hardly. I've known them since we were in elementary school, curiosity wore off a long time ago."

"Enough chit-chat there ladies get to practice!" Kevin yelled at us from the other side of the field.

I focused on practice as I tried not to think about lunch. I jogged to the back of the formation and grab a football. Everyone lines up in their positions as Brett yells,

"DOWN."

"SET."

"HUT."

Brett throws the ball between his legs and into my waiting hands. I watch as my team tries to get open. I finally saw a guy open and I threw the ball in a spiral and into his ready and waiting hands. I stop running and watch him maneuver through the defense team and into the end zone giving us a touchdown.

"Good throw Cole." I glanced up to see Kevin beside me.

"Thanks." I always had a good throwing arm.

"I'm going to try you out in other positions to see if there's a better fit. If not Quarterback is yours. " I nodded my head and went to the wide receiver position. I tried a few more positions and none of them fit more properly as QB. I was happy when Kevin came up to me and told me the position was mine.

"Thanks, Cap." I smiled.

"No problem, you earned it. You have a heck of an arm and good timing when it comes to throwing the ball." He praised me.

I quickly finished changing and then I walked to work. I didn't have to work, my Dad and I were fine enough but I wanted experience.

It was almost dark when I took the last shortcut to get to work when I realized I wasn't alone in the alleyway. There was seven people at the end of it. Six of them were surrounding the seventh who was on all fours on the ground. I ducked behind a dumpster so they wouldn't see me and peered around the edge to get a better look.

"Was it them??!" One of the boys screeched at the boy on the ground.

I recognized that voice. It was the same guy fighting with Kevin at lunch, Thayer. Meaning the others were the strangers from school. Trish, Dakota, Theo, Paul and Jacob.

"I-I don't know who you're talking about!" Thayer grimaced and pulled a blade out of his pocket. The boy cowered against the ground.

" He's going to keep doing that until he does stab you. Unless you give us what we want." cooed Dakota. The others were keeping watch while Trish was leaning against the wall smoke coming from her lips.

"OKAY OKAY IT WAS THEM!" the boy screamed loudly.

"Thanks for confirming it for us." With that Thayer gave him slice on his arm, making him screech. Trish walked up to him and spoke. "Tell The Raiders it's on and that fucking bullshit they pulled off last year won't happen again". She stood up and glanced up to where I was hiding.

"Who's there? If you're not with The Raiders you better come out now". She yelled, her voice echoing. Not knowing what to do or who The Raiders were I left my hiding spot and slowly started walking towards them.

"It's just some jock from school. I recognize him from the table where I was picking on his friend." Thayer huffed. The others gave me glares and glances.

"Listen here Jock boy, don't speak of what you saw here." One of the other boys said. Must be one of the Twins.

I mutely nodded my head. They all gave me one last evil glances and left, all besides Trish. She was slowly walking backwards as she was looking at me. Could that glance mean she was checking me out?

" Wait!" I called after her as she was near the end of the walkway. I stopped besides her, seeing that she was multiple inches smaller than me.

I reached into my pocket before I could lose my courage, wrote down my number and name before handed it to her.

When she realized what it was she cocked an eyebrow.

"Look I'm new at school and I'm still getting to know everybody. You and your friends seem pretty cool so if you want to chill some time, call me up." I said, sounding pathetic.

She gave me a blank look and slipped the paper into her pocket. Without another word she turned around and walked away.

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I've decided to do two chapters Trish's Pov and then two of Coles POV

-Taylor