Marcel's POV
I pressed snooze for the tenth time and got comfortable again. I was drifting off when The Sound by 1975 started playing loudly. I groaned and turned around, only to be met with a blinding light.
"Damn, I really need curtains," I muttered and picked my phone up. I opened my eyes slowly and I saw that it was Niall calling me. I debated whether or not I should answer him. Deciding, I slid my thumb to the right and brought the phone up to my ear.
"Hello?" I said, voice groggy, deep and dry.
"Finally!" His Irish accent boomed. I moved the phone away and decided to put him on speaker. I lay back down and dropped my phone on my chest.
"You're still in bed? It's almost nine, Marcel." He commented, surprised.
"I only got three hours of sleep," I replied harshly. "I'm freaking tired, man."
"Sorry, mate." He sighed, "Look, just get here. Oh, and you passed your history test."
I sighed heavily and sat up. "Really? How'd you do?" I rubbed harshly at my eyes.
He chuckled nervously. "Uh, let's just say that I passed. That's all that matters."
I chuckled. "Alright, whatever. I'll be there in, " I took a look at the time, 8:54, "Twenty minutes. Thirty tops."
"What? You're gonna miss all of first period!"
"Yeah, looks like it. I'll see you in Maths. Bye." I hung up before he could say anything. I threw my phone on the bed and plopped down on my chair. I rolled up to my desk and moved the mouse around. As soon as the computer turned on the screen turned blue.
Download Complete
I smirked and closed the computer. I grabbed the remote and pressed play. Highway To Hell started blasting from my speakers. I walked over to my closet, a little jump in my steps. I grabbed a simple white t-shirt and some black skinnies. I grabbed a towel before going to my bathroom. I stripped out of my loose pyjamas and jumped into the shower.
After brushing my teeth I changed into my clothes. It was going to be a bit chilly that day, so I threw a black sweater on and a blue beanie to hide my messy curls. I paused my music and sat on my bed, putting my black boots on.
I grabbed my bag and phone then made my way to the kitchen. I grabbed my keys and a banana before I left. I walked to the elevator, headphones in my ears. I was changing the song when I bumped into someone. I didn't look up but I muttered a "sorry" before entering the elevator. I leaned back and sang along to Echoes by Pink Floyd.
Alex's POV
"Calm down, Tess," I told my sister who was pacing and clutching her brunette hair.
"Calm down?! With dad gone, you're in charge, and that means it'll be on you if someone loses their share of the supply!" She practically yelled.
"Not so loud, Tess," I whispered, looking around to make sure none of them heard her. "Look, it's gonna be okay. Joe will do his job, we get our money, and nobody dies. It'll be alright."
She sighed and looked up at me, tears brimming her blue eyes. "Promise?" She asked, voice barely audible.
I smiled and hugged her tightly. "I promise." I gave her a small squeeze and a small kiss on her forehead before she had to go. I watched as she got into her car and drive towards the house. Dad is dead and I moved out a couple months ago, so now it's just her at the house. When she finally turned the corner I turned back and went over to the elevator. I travelled up to the fifth floor, making a stop on the third floor. I pulled out the phone that Harry once gave to me and went to the app that controlled the cameras that I had set up.
Harry was really smart and the things he could do with technology always amazed me. He could hack into everything and anything. He could tell you the model and the serial number of any computer. He could hack into cameras, security systems, and other electronics under a minute. The kid was seriously smart. It was one of the many things I loved about him.
I clicked on the camera set up in the hallway of the fifth floor. I saw Harry coming out of his flat and plugging his headphones in. I put the phone away and took the small tracker out of my pocket. Smirking, I stepped out of the elevator and walked towards Harry. I slid a little bit to my left and bumped into him, dropping the tracker into his bag. He didn't look up but I heard him mutter a "sorry" before walking away. I pulled out the phone again and turned the tracker on as I made my way to my apartment. I unlocked it and stepped in, the smell of dead bodies hitting me instantly, but I had gotten used to it. I turned around and locked all five locks. I walked over to the kitchen and took a beer out of the fridge. I popped it open and took a big gulp. I shrugged my hoodie off and tossed it onto the couch. I walked over to the spare bedroom and braced myself for the smell. I opened the door and saw him, limp on the bed. Dried blood coated his chest and most of the sheets. The room was barely lit, the only source of light was the lamp on the nightstand. I placed my beer down and circled around the bed, examining his state.
He had a tiny cut right above his eyebrow. His lips were red and swollen and had a black eye. I hadn't taken the knife out yet, it was still embedded in his chest.
I leaned down, propping my fists on the bed. "This is what you get," I growled. "Sooner or later, this was gonna happen to you. I'm just sad I couldn't do it myself. But, I gotta say, Harry did you pretty well." My jaw clenched and unclenched repeatedly. "I bet he enjoyed killing you, too." I spat out. I grabbed my beer and walked out. I pulled out my actual phone and dialled Matt's number.
He immediately picked up. "Boss. What can I do for you?" He greeted.
Still getting used to being called boss, I said, "Matt, just call me Alex. Anyway, I need your help burying a body.
I heard him sigh. "Fine. I'll be there in ten."
I hung up and went to my room. I changed into black jeans, black hoodie and black Adidas. I tamed my hair and went back to the kitchen. I grabbed a bag of chips and ate them as I waited for Matt.
*
"How did you even get his body?" Matt asked as he wrapped my dad in a long black tarp. He wiped some blood on his black jeans. At least this time he had the decency to wear black clothes. He was wearing a black shirt, black jeans and black fingerless gloves.
"I sneaked it out of the mourge." I shrugged, resting my shoulder on the door frame.
He froze, looked up at me, then continued wrapping my dad up. "I don't even wanna know." He muttered them picked the body up and swung it over his shoulder. "Okay, come on," Matt said and walked out of the room. I followed him out and lead him down the five flights of stairs and through the back door.
Once we were outside, we walked to where Matt's truck was parked and dumped my dad in the trunk. We climbed into his black Chevy pick up truck and started driving. We drove almost out of town, where a forest was. We parked right outside the forest. Matt and I grabbed our shovels and started digging.
**
"Do you, uh, want some time alone to, uh-"
"No." I quickly cut him off. "He got what he deserved." I stood there for a moment before laughing and slapping his back. "Come on! I'm starving! Burying a body sure does drain you." I walked back to his truck, threw my shovel in the trunk, then got in. Matt got in later and drove us to some Pizza joint nearby.
**
"Thanks, Matt. Say hi to David for me." I told him before getting out of his truck.
David is Matt's boyfriend. They've been together for two years. They were on the streets, I took pity on them and took them under my wing. I introduced them to the business and taught them the strings. I promised them, money, a home, and a family. They agreed quickly and they became the best in the business. They were like my right-hand men.
I opened the door to my apartment, locked it, then went to my room. I grabbed a towel and quickly stripped out of the dirt and blood covered clothes. I jumped into the shower and washed all the dirt, that had managed to get under my clothes, off.
I stepped out of the shower and dried myself. I threw the towel on my bed and changed into some boxers and sweats, leaving my torso naked. I plopped down on my bed and grabbed my laptop. I put in my password and connect to the tracker I placed on Harry. It took a while but it finally showed me where Harry was.
Huh.
Who knew Harry would be in school. And in the same school, I have people in.
***
"Alex Rhodes, babe," I told Janice. She smirked and licked her lips slowly, checking me out. She nodded and sat down, leaning forward, making her breasts pop out more.
"Ah, yes. We got an email saying we were gonna have an American transfer. Didn't say we were getting such a cute one, though." She flirted.
I chuckled. "Well, if I knew there was going to be a hot secretary, I might've transferred sooner." I flirted right back, winking. She giggled and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. A blush crept up to her cheeks as she typed the name I gave her into the computer.
Well, not my real last name. I wasn't stupid enough to tell her my real name. I'm wanted in New York, Colorado, Illinois, St. Louis, Kansas, and Missouri. Plus, it was pretty easy to send a fake email about a transfer student. And hacking into their system? I ain't Harry, but it was so easy. It was like they were begging for someone to hack into their systems. No codes or firewalls I had to get over.
"Alex Rhodes, you start next week," Janice said and got up to go get some papers she was printing. As she walked, I checked her out. She was wearing a nice dark blue blouse with a short white skirt, which was too long for my liking. I could still see some of her ass, though. And I could see every curve of her body. She turned around and I admired her front as she walked back to me. She had cute hazel eyes and her brown hair was up in a ponytail. She was hot.
She sat down and gave me the two papers. "Can't wait to see you, Alex."
I winked. "Can't wait to see you, too. How about we meet a little bit earlier? I don't know maybe around 9, at that club 'Empty Space' or something." I said as I remembered the club where I hooked up with two people already.
She smirked and nibbled on her bottom lip. "Sure. I'll see you there."
"Oh, and one more thing," I muttered and took out the picture from my pocket. "Have you seen this guy?" I handed her the picture.
She examined the photo then gave it back. "Uh, yeah. That's the new kid. He started here about a week ago. Just came from Chicago. His name is umm, Marcel? Yeah, Marcel Styles. Is he a friend of yours?"
"Yeah, you could say that. He and I go way back."
Marcel's POV
I got out of my car and Blank Space by Taylor Swift came on. I quickly skipped it, I didn't want to hear her. Her voice is annoying and to be honest, she's kind of a bitch. Photograph by Ed Sheeran started playing but it was quickly cut off by Charlie calling me. I took my headphones off and answered him.
"Hey, Charlie. What's going on?"
"Hey, kid. Don't forget to come by after school." He said and I heard some shuffling.
I rolled my eyes. "I know, Charlie. And stop taking your guns apart."
There was silence on his end before he muttered, "Shut up." He, assumingly, dropped the gun and sighed.
"Love you too."
"Yeah, yeah, you too. Bye." He hung up before I could say bye. I sighed and placed my phone back in my pocket. On my way to school, I had to stop for coffee. I could barely keep my eyes open. I got a large iced coffee and a doughnut to go with it. The barista gave me her number but I threw it away when she wasn't looking.
I walked through the school doors and slowly made my way to Maths. I really didn't want to deal with Janice so I decided on going to class without a tardy slip. I took the last chug of my ice coffee and threw the cup away. I groaned, still feeling exhausted. I looked around, making sure no one was around, then walked to the teacher's lounge. I looked through the window, nobody was inside. I opened my bag and took out my lockpick and quickly unlocked the door. I put my lockpick away and started making myself a coffee, this time black.
As my coffee brewed, I took a look around the room. It was really nice and...elegant. I always pictured the teachers lounge small, cramped and ugly. The room was lit up by multiple lamps, two of them hanging above a long, wooden, rectangular table. It had two bowls filled with various fruits on either side of a nice red vase. There were multiple chairs by the far left corner that had some magazines on top of them. To the right of the In the far right corner was a big fancy refrigerator. Right next to it was a coffee maker, where my coffee was currently being made, with a bunch of different creamers and sugars were stacked neatly alongside it. A few feet away from the table was a big black couch. There were two small tables on either side of it with more magazines and bowls with fruit.
The coffee machine made a little 'beep sound' which signalled that my coffee was ready. I poured it into a nice red cup that had some black flower designs. I grabbed a lid and carefully placed it in the cup. I walked over to the couch and grabbed my backpack. As I turned around to get my coffee, I bumped into the couch and bag fell out of the cushions. I picked it up and examined it. There was a white powder substance inside it. On the bag, there were some words- initials.
O.B.D
My eyes widened. No, there's no way. They couldn't be here. With Michael gone, they should've left. They don't have a leader. Without a leader, they can't go on with it. They're like a wolf pack, they need an Alpha. Who could poss-
My thoughts are cut short when I hear heels clicking towards the lounge. I clutched the bag and stuffed it in my bag. I quickly grabbed my coffee and ran out of there. Almost free, I bumped into Ms Wealchli.
"Oh, hi Marcel! Where were you this morning? And what are you doing here? You're supposed to be in class." Ms Wealchli said.
I quickly calmed down my breathing and smiled. "Oh, I, uh, overslept."
"I've been there multiple times." She chuckled. "Why are you out here, though?"
"Uh, bathroom." I had the whole school memorized, I knew that there was a boy's bathroom at the end of the hall. She believed me and nodded. "Well, I don't want to be any later than I already am so...."
"Oh yeah, of course! I'll see you tomorrow, Marcel." She cheered and patted me on the back.
I gave her one more last smile and walked away. I go up to the elevator and ride it up to the 2nd floor. I opened the door to Maths class and it was chaos. There was a substitute and she wasn't doing anything to stop the kids.
Some kids were snogging, some were taking videos, others were just talking loudly. Paper balls and pencils were just being thrown across the room. I manoeuvred around the hoard of kids and spotted Niall in the back corner. He had headphones on and his head was down, using his jacket as a pillow. I plopped down on my seat and ruffled his dyed blonde hair, waking him up. His head snapped up and muttered "five more minutes mum". I chuckled lightly, which brought his attention to me. He pulled out his headphones and rubbed at his eyes.
"Hey mate. When'd you get here?" He asked, voice deep and groggy. He's been asleep all period probably.
"Just now. It seems I came at the perfect time."
He sat up straight and stretched his limbs, some popping loudly. "Yeah, it's been crazy. Apparently, Ms Mickle got sick at the last minute."
"Well, isn't our lucky day," I said, sarcasm evident. He scoffed and put his jacket on. He strapped on his bag and got up.
I furrowed my eyebrows. "Where are you going?"
"Out of here. Wanna come?" He said, a mischevious glint in his eyes.
"Hell yeah," I muttered and got up. I followed him through the hoard of sweaty teenagers and out of the room. "So, where to?" I asked as soon as the door shut.
"Guitar room. Mr Edwards doesn't have a class right now and he always leaves to eat." Niall answered as he started walking.
I caught up with him, being careful of the coffee that was sloshing in the cup. "Isn't locked?"
Niall turned around, shaking a pair of keys. "It's really not that hard to pickpocket someone. I made myself a key a long time ago. I always go there when Ms Mickle was getting annoying."
"You mean more than she already is." I laughed and he joined in pretty quick. He unlocked the door then pulled me inside.
"This is where I play the guitar." He announced and did a spin in the middle of the room.
"It's nice. I didn't expect it to be so nice." I said and looked around the room. The walls were dark red, almost purple, with multiple guitars hanged. There were black music stands scattered around the room. At the front of the room was a big wooden desk with a bunch of papers.
"Are you working on anything at the moment?" I asked as I sat down on Mr Edwards chair and rolled over to Niall.
He bit the inside of his cheek. 'I'm not really allowed show you..."
"Fine, then I'll just see for myself. You're not really showing me." I said and grabbed a music sheet off the stand. A grin crept across my face when I saw the song they were doing.
"Angie by The Rolling Stones. Great song." I said and looked up at him. "Which one is your guitar?"
He got up and went to pick a guitar off the wall. He sat back down and propped it on his knees. "Do you know how to play?"
I nodded and he handed me the guitar. I carefully grabbed it and finally noticed what kind was it. "You play a Gallagher? I have one at my place."
"Nice. You know your guitars." He praised.
I shrugged and played a few chords. "A little."
"Go on. Play something." He encouraged. I hesitated but kept playing some chords. "Oh C'mon! You can't be that bad."
"I don't even know what to play!" I exclaimed.
He gave me a "really?" face. "I know you write songs in that little journal of yours."
I sighed, he's not gonna let this go. "FIne." I thought of all the bits and pieces of words that I always wrote down in that journal.
One specific verse came to mind. "Uh, I wrote this about a year ago. I never finished it, though. It's, uh, it's called 'Summer Love'." He grinned at me, encouraging me to go on. I let out a quick chuckle and started playing.
Can't believe you're packing your bag
Trying so hard not to cry
Had the best time and now it's the worst time
But we have to say goodbye
Don't promise that you're gonna write
Don't promise that you'll call
Just promise that you won't forget we had it all
'Cause you were mine for the summer
Now we know it's nearly over
Feels like snow in September
But I'll always remember
You were my summer love
You'll always be my summer love
I hold out the note and stopped playing. I opened my eyes and saw Niall, sitting crisscrossed on the chair, smiling.
"Go ahead. Laugh at me." I said and placed the guitar down.
"No. That was- that was amazing! You have a beautiful voice, Marcel." He complimented. I blushed and looked down, muttering a 'thanks'. "So who's the song about?" He asked.
My head snapped up, blush gone. "What? What makes you think the song is about anyone?"
"Oh C'mon! It's pretty obvious."
I sighed and spun on the chair. "There was this guy and things were going great." I smiled, remembering all the good memories that I had with Alex. Soon, my smile disappeared. "But he wasn't what I thought he was. Something happened and he left."
Flashback
"Michael. You know the drill. Who the hell lost them?!" Some drug dealer yelled at Michael.
"Come on, Christopher. They're kids. Can't you just-"
"Choose Michael! Alex or Ryan." The drug dealer, Christopher, yelled. Ryan was the name I was using at the moment. Michael looked back at us. Alex and I were tied up to chairs.
Alex had taken half of my supply and helped sell it, but he lost it. Christopher had paid Alex but he lost it before he could give it to Christopher. He was pissed and, desperately, wanted to know who lost his drugs.
Michael looked at me then at Alex. He knew that Alex was the one who lost the drugs. He nodded at Alex, who bowed his head. "It was Ryan," Michael announced.
My eyes widened. "What?! No! It wasn't me! It wasn't me!" I yelled but someone had put tape over my mouth to shut me up. I stared at Michael in pure shock and betrayal but he didn't dare look at me. He just walked over to Alex and untied his hands. Alex stood up and followed his dad out, not even sparing me a glance. Someone grabbed my face with their rough hand and made me look at them. It was Christopher.
"We are gonna have so much fun." He sneered as his men took out knives and smirked.
End of Flashback
"Marcel? Marcel!" Niall shook my shoulder.
I blinked the tears away and looked at Niall. "Sorry. Just remembering."
He smiled sympathetically. "You really liked this guy, huh?"
I chuckled bitterly. "Yeah, I did. In the end, I found out he never felt the same way about me."
"Well, whoever he is, he's stupid and a dick. He lost an incredible person."
I smiled, grateful I had a friend like him. "And I'm the sap."
He rolled his eyes but then smiled, remembering something. "You want something stronger than coffee?"
I furrowed my eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
I was scared he was tied up with the drugs I found. He waggled his eyebrows and got up. He went to the back and moved a broken music stand out of the way then squatted down. He grunted a little then pulled one of the floor tiles out. He reached down into the hole and pulled something out. He hid it behind his back and walked back to me. He sat back down and motioned for me to give him my cup of coffee. I hesitated but I gave him my cup. He pulled out a flask and I felt myself releasing a breath I didn't know I was holding. Niall wasn't involved with drugs, well as far as I knew.
He opened both my cup and the flask then poured some of the alcohol into my coffee. "I have hiding places all over the school, mate!"
I laughed, shaking my head. "Do you just get drunk all the time?"
He handed me my cup and took a big sip of the flask. "I'm Irish. I live to get drunk, but no. Sometimes I just come here and play some guitar. It calms me down." I nodded and took a sip of my now spiked coffee. I swallow it and scrunched my face up.
"Wow," I muttered before coughing a bit. "Woah. That is strong. What- what is that?" I asked and taking another sip, now used to the taste.
"It's my own secret drink. I was dared and I made it and it was so good." He replied and took another chug of it. The bell rung and multiple loud and muffled voices were heard.
"Well, thanks for the 'secret drink'. Hopefully, I won't get tipsy." I said and got up, swinging my bag over my shoulder.
"You're welcome and don't worry. It strong but I didn't put much in it."
"So reassuring," I muttered. "I'll see you at Lunch."
"See you."
I walked down the hall, actually examining the people. Just like every school I've been to, which is a lot, there were groups- cliques. They were the nerds, geeks (I actually learned there's a difference in year 8), jocks, rich, emos/ goths/ punks, and of course the druggies. I didn't pay much attention to the others but the druggies were my main concern. If there was someone in this school who was involved with O.B.D, O' Brian's Drugs, then I would be in trouble. They could recognize me and tell my dad. If that happened then I would be putting everyone I cared about in danger. That included Niall, Amar, and Louis.
Rage built up in my stomach at the thought of anyone touching Lou- I mean them. I cared for all of them and I didn't want any of them in danger.
I walked into Mrs Dorth's room and plopped down on my seat. I placed my coffee down and took out my notebook and pen. Mrs Dorth was at her desk, reading some papers. She had some instructions set up in the projector.
"Hey, Marce." Louis' familiar voice greeted. I looked up and found him sitting in his seat, beaming at me. The little wrinkles by his eyes when he smiled was so adorable. Today he went for a quiff sort of style with his hair, it was cute. It showed the small curls he had and the tip was kind of had a twirl. He went for a simple white shirt, that was a bit see-through, with a green jacket over it and black skinnies paired with some white converse. The sleeves of the jacket were rolled up to his elbows so some of his tattoos were out on display.
I smiled back. "Hi, Lou." I knew Louis had Woodshop so I wasn't gonna tease him for the wood powder in his hair.
More kids started coming in and taking their seat or talking to their friends. I faced my notebook but I had forgotten what I was doing. Luckily, the bell rung and Mrs Dorth got up to start teaching. She closed the door then walked to the front of the room.
"Okay, class, settle down! Settle down. The class has started so save your chit chatter for after class." She addressed and slowly people started quieting down and faced her. "Thank you. Okay, today is going to be an easy day. There aren't any notes," A bunch of people sighed in relief."
"Today we're starting our projects. Your projects count for 65% per cent of your grade on the first semester of school." Mrs Dorth followed, some kids groaning. "All we are doing today is researching your subject. It has to involve Chemistry, though. Who you're next to is your partner."
Majority of the kids cheered 'cause they got their friend. I look over next to me but there's nobody there. I raised my hand but didn't wait for her to call on me. "My partner isn't here, Miss."
Mrs Dorth acknowledged me. "Oh right! Travis moved away." She said, more to herself than to me. She looked up and eyed Louis. "Louis. You don't have a partner either so you can be Marcel's."
I looked over at Louis and met eyes with him, smiling. He smiled back, gathered his stuff, got up and sat next to me. "Hey partner," said Louis, imitating a country accent. I laughed and imitated a cowboy tipping his hat. He laughed and that's when I realized it was dead silent 'cause when he laughed, it was the only sound heard in the room.
Mrs Dorth cleared her throat. "The computers are in the cart in the back of the room." She said and went to her desk. I got up, ignoring the wide-eyed people staring at me. I unlocked the cart and took out a computer then went back to my seat. Slowly, people started talking again, forgetting about me and Louis. They still kept stealing glances at us as we searched our topic and made some jokes, which were really bad, that made us laugh really loud.
Every now and then, Louis' arm would brush up against mine as he typed some stuff into the computer. I even found myself staring at him, sometimes trying to count his tiny freckles that nobody could see unless they looked close enough. When he spoke, my eyes focused on his lips. It seemed as if he was pouting because, with every word, his bottom lip popped out.
I had lost count of how many times I had to force my eyes to look away.
**
"Tomlinson!" Amar yelled, waving at Louis to come to sit down at our table. Louis' head snapped towards us and smiled. He walked over to our table and plopped down beside Amar.
"Hi, guys!" He greeted with a smile. Niall, being the pig he is, went for his food and stole some of his fries.
"Hey!" Louis exclaimed. Niall just laughed and pretty quick we were all laughing, Niall's laugh is too contagious. All of the sudden, Louis threw a grape at Niall. We quieted down and waited for Niall's reaction.
"You, Louis, have started a war." He said quietly and squinted at him. At a very fast rate, Niall grabbed most of Louis' grapes and started throwing at them at Louis. One grape hit Amar and another hit my chest.
Soon, it was a full on food war at our table. But someone cleared their throat, interrupting our little food war. We calmed down and looked up. As soon as Louis saw them, he visibly tensed up and replaced his smile with a scowl. I frowned, wanting to see his smile again.
"Hey, Tommo-"
"Louis," Corrected Louis, harshly.
"Yeah, Louis. Uh, can we talk? Alone?"
Louis crossed his arms. "Why Zayn? You think they're gonna go around and tell everyone what you said?"
Zayn sighed. "We didn't mea-"
"Whatever you wanna say to me, you can say in front of them," Louis stated.
"Okay, fine. Look we just wanted to say that we are sorry." Zayn began.
"Yeah, we're sorry. We hate you being mad at us. It sucks." Liam continued.
"It sucks. And we miss you." Zayn admitted.
I kept looking back and forth between Zayn, Liam, and Louis. Louis wore the same expression throughout the whole conversation, not even a little waver. Zayn and Liam looked distressed, desperately wanting Louis to forgive them. Louis stared at them, not saying anything.
I knew what Zayn and Liam said was wrong but they were best friends. Their apology was sincere and genuine. The question was if Louis was gonna forgive them.