The Prankster

Chapter 15

"When did you found out? How did you found out?" Alex asked me, still stiff and looking at me in disbelief.

"When I was going around the city with my car, I turned to the not-so-secure neighbourhood and I almost hit a running boy. Tunrs out, that was Cole running from my ex-gang." I explained quiickly and without many details.

"Alana, I know you have this really big sense of humor-" Kathie chuckled forcefully and it just sounded fake.

"What? No, I am not kiddi-"

"But Cole isn't that kind of a guy." Kathie said, a fake brightness in her eyes, denying the truth. Her lips pursed and she pulled her lower lip into her mouth, but not without murmuring.

"He isn't like you."

"What?" I said, quite loudly, hurt by her words. I know what I did was beyond bad and if something like hell existed, I will definitely go there. I know that I was a bitch for not even hanging out with my friends, and ditching them to sell drugs.

"You can't deny it, Alana," She said, standing up. "You put all of us in danger. Gabe got closer to you, talked to you and he got killed!

You then pretend like nothing happened, you just click the delete button and that's all gone. Suddenly after months you want to hang out with us more. Suddenly, out of the blue, you want to get back to doing pranks.

And that's not even the worst part!

You want to make all of us forget. Well I can't Alana, I can't!" Kathie wiped a tear that escaped her eye.

"I can't forget Gabe."

Before Alex or I could say something, Kathie was already grabbing her jacket and exited the balcony, sliding open the doors. We hear her tudding steps on the stairs, my brother's deep voice and then finally the loud shutting of the door snapped us out of our silent transe.

"Ahem," Alex said awkwardly, shifting in his seat.

Me?

I was still frozen in time and space. Kathie's words were ringing in my brain and ears, every letter loud and clear. My eyes weren't glazed with tears- this time my eyes were dry.

It was like no feelings other than hurt were in me. The emotional pain is still fresh.

"Alana, I know you have problems-" Gabe tried saying, his voice trembling in the cold. His ears were red from the snow storm.

"Yeah, yeah, Gabe, whatever. I don't have time right now." I waved him and his petty begging off and continued rubbing my exposed fingers together to prevent them from turning blue just yet. If I'm going to be here standing all night, at least I should keep the cold away as long as possible.

Gabe shifted his weight on his other leg, his lips still shaking and his breath making a white smoke in front of his face. "Kathie and Alex are worried for you. You know we can help you, if you just-".

"You got the money?" I suddenly interrupted him with my greeting towards my latest narco. He had been the gang's client for about two months or so, so he's still a newbie in this. He usually takes cocaine, but he sometimes may even take some heroin for his "friends". The client's dilated pupils and pale skin clearly showed the first few physical symptoms of using cocaine.

"Yeah, the stuff?" He asked back, his fingers twitching a little. I'm not sure if it's from the cold or from the cocaine use.

It could be both.

"Safe and sound, man." I smirked at him and lightly tapped the bag around my shoulders.

He put his shaking fingers into his pocket and extracted a couple of crimpled hundred dollars. I carefully slid the bag from my shoulders and passed him one of the five-gram packs from the bottom. While passing it, he quickly pushed the money into my other hand, and I scanned over them to calculate that there are five hundred. This kid knows about our price increases.