In Lakewood, a small town with a reputation of crime, gangs, outcasts and violence, Lana Takumi is an orphan and a gang member disguised in ripped jeans of her late mother and old flannels of her late father. She feels stuck in an endless cycle of b...
"Let's go," I murmured, but I was already way ahead of him as I rapidly peddled down the street.
"What? Lana that's cheating!" He yelled from behind, hurriedly.
I continued down the street but he was surprisingly quick to catch up and we ended up racing towards my apartment building. The trees stood tall but dead and leafless on both sides of the steep, narrow path that we raced down on. The heavy downpour this morning had left a moist and soaked scent encircling the air while the sharp breeze stung the tip of my nose.
When we had slowed and were peddling through the last part of the path, Everett picked up an attempted conversation. "I like your backpack. It's cool. The key chains are nice, too. It's Pokémon and Zelda, right?"
I nodded. My dad bought me the panda backpack and I had been collecting they key chains since middle school.
"So where do you live?" He continued as we passed the end of the leaf carpeted path and turned to the neighborhood I had been living in for the past three years. The tall building that used to be red but had over the years turned into a mix of faded pink while also have been coated with graffiti.
He didn't seem surprised when his eyes caught the sight of the shady building looming ahead. He was probably familiar with the crooked houses and buildings of this town by now.
"Oh, cool. I think I live on the other side from here. I always forget the way from here. Should I go straight ahead or to the left now?"
I had a choice here. Either I could be the bad guy and point in the direction that led to The Doom, a shortcut but a deadly one that was hard to come out alive from. That's where most of the gangs had their bases located. Or, I could be the good guy and point towards the route straight ahead, which was a long one but much safer.
Everyone would love it if I sent him down through The Doom, and Arjun would get his revenge when he would cross paths with him down there. But I had already enough enemies. Did I feel like adding another one to the list? I mentally sighed.
On the other hand, Everett messed with Arjun and Jada. I had a feeling they wouldn't be very pleased with me if I had all the "fun" with him by myself.
On the third hand, if I sent him towards The Doom, maybe some of the bad blood between The Sirens and The Lions would go away...
"Lana?"
I blinked once, twice. When I was jerked out of my jumbled thoughts, I caught Everett staring at me. "You okay? You've been thinking for a while now? Don't you know the way from here?"
Without thought, I rapidly nodded in the direction straight ahead.
A smile touched his lips. "Okay. Thanks. Let's race again sometime. Bye, Lana. See you tomorrow."
His politeness was starting to crawl on my skin like spiders. I didn't like it. I wanted it to stop. I want to rip out the kindness in him and toss it away. If he held on it for too long in this town, people were going to take advantage of him in the most crucial ways. Naive, nice people with big dreams and ambitions were the easiest ones to trick around here.
My shabby apartment was located in an old building at the very end of the highly shady street in the farthest part of the town. I pushed the heavy door open, letting the smell of tiles and rusty paint consume me. I took the elevator up the third floor and unlocked the door to my apartment.
After safely escaping my landlord's shadow by the bottom stairs and the dirty dust lingering in the air, I let myself in my apartment on the third floor and locked the door. Leaning against the door, I inhaled a deep breath.
Despite cramming this place with the necessary furniture Jada bought me, the voids were still there. However, I had gradually gotten used to living with them now.
Today, I didn't feel like eating, brushing my teeth, or changing my clothes. Instead, I pulled off my Uggs and coat and dropped them on my double-sized bed along with my backpack before letting my aching body crash against the soft bedsheets, my face buried in my pillow.
My eyelids felt heavier and heavier for every second but before sleep pulled me completely in, the sudden vibration against my hip made my eyes snap open and I lazily drew my phone out of my jeans pocket.
I blinked twice at the enlightened screen. A single Facebook notification caught my attention.
Everett Grace Weston sent you a friend request.
I stared at his name and that unfamiliar dorky smile he had on his profile pic on my broken screen as long as my eyes could possibly pull it off.
"Baka, Baka, Baka," I muttered.
Deleting the notification, I tossed my phone aside and buried my face under my pillow, sleep crashing into me as my eyelids slipped close.
****
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Authors note: Here is chapter 7! Everett and Lana's story has officially begun. Hope you all are excited for more.
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