Kyle

When Shay led me down the street I knew what was going on through her head. Ben had passed us but we both knew he was still there, waiting for us to appear.

Sure enough when we appeared from a strange alleyway next to the shack Shay lived in, the blue mustang appeared. We walked in silence; I was too worried to find anything to say.

"Hey River Rat, why are you with a prep?" Ben asked, parking his mustang and jumping out of the car. Four of the other football players, people whom I had considered friends, hopped out as well.

Shay stayed silent and I followed her lead. It seemed like every step we took towards the Shack, the farther it got. I looked around, hoping there was somewhere to run. Shay must have seen me because she laid her hand on my shoulder.

"It's too late now," she whispered.

We came to a stop as the five surrounded us. "Any last words?" Ben asked, a mischievous smile appearing on his face.

I didn't know one thing about fighting and I knew Shay couldn't take them all on.

"Yeah actually," Shay said.

"Really? What is it?" Ben asked.

Shay put her hand to her lips and a loud shrill whistle filled the air. It just about deafened me and Ben covered his ears.

"What is that supposed to do?" Ben asked, nearing Shay.

"I don't know," Shay answered, this time a mischievous smile filled her face. How could she smile in a situation like this? Was she insane?

Ben moved with quick agility and grabbed Shay's wrist. He pulled her to the ground, only to find himself on the ground as well. Shay had gotten her feet against his chest and had lurched him away. Danny, one of the other Jock's threw a punch at her and hit her in the head. I wish I could have helped her but the other three were on me like a pack of hungry coyotes.

I ended up on the ground too, knowing what was coming next. However, what happened next was not what I had expected. Pounding feet and many sounds of punching followed. I lifted my head to find, Dominic, Johnny, Rafiel, and the rest of Shay's pack fighting off Ben. Ben and his group left moaning in pain and Dominic helped me up.

"Are you all right man?" He asked, smiling.

I looked over at Shay, who was being helped up by Johnny. She didn't look all too screwed up.

"How did you guys know to come?" I asked in surprise.

"A whistle is heard, we don't give a damn who it is we're saving," Dominic answered.

A few hours later I found myself in Johnny's firebird with Shay. She sat in the drivers seat smoking. Total silence filled the air. I couldn't stand the silence any longer. "So…what's new with you?"

"I'm going through hell all over again. Jay Jay just got the shit beaten out of him by somebody that's untouchable!" Shay exclaimed.

"How the hell do you think I feel! My father just died in a car accident and my sister is still in a fucking coma. My mom just tries to continue like nothing is wrong!" I yelled.

She looked at me, stunned. I felt the tears coming down my face and she hugged me tightly. "Easy Kyle, it's all going to be okay. Life goes on bro, just remember that life goes on," she said, trying to calm me and to be honest it was working. The tears ceased and I found myself calming down. We sat there still in each other's arms, as silent as possible.

"How can you be so calm?" I asked about ten minutes later.

She looked out of the window and stayed silent. Her dirty blonde hair fell in small wisps as they covered the right side of her face. She smelled faintly of car grease and vanilla and I could see her tattoos thanks to the low back tank top she was wearing. The writing was sprawled out across her back from one shoulder blade to the other. The words 'River Rats' was what the tattoos read.

"Shay?" I said.

"Look Danny, I didn't have a normal childhood and I'm sure you already know that. When you have to watch people get killed almost every day right before your eyes you learn to let things slide," Shay answered.

"You see people die every day?" I asked quietly.

"Being part of a gang aint easy Danny. Every gang claims part of the city, whether you poplars know it or not. Once the land is staked it's a war, other gangs will try to claim the land. Being part of the gang leaders we make very few alliances and we fight almost every day in order to protect our land. You see a lot of shit that you don't want to see but you have to keep going. The drug dealings that occur are not very helpful," Shay explained,

"Then why don't you just leave town?" I asked.

"Throughout the whole world there is one quote that everybody goes by and its so very true. 'Once a gang member, always a gang member' and that's what we live by. Even if we were to leave we wouldn't be free from the memories, the past, everything is held tightly around here," Shay answered.

"Wow," was all I was able to say. We moved away from eachother a little bit so that I could see her face. She moved her arms and placed them by her side. They were all scarred from her many adventures in the past but the one scar reaching from the top of her right temple clear down to the back of her neck . The rest was hidden by her shirt, it made the curious lion inside of me reach out. I reached out my hand and I saw her flinch as I ran my hand down the scar. I looked into her eyes and she knew what I was going to ask before I even had to say it.

"I never told you how my parents died did I?" She asked.

"No," I answered.

"My father died when I was younger, a gang had barged into our house and he hid my mother and I in the food cabinets. My father was shot down for dealing the wrong amount of drugs to them. My mother and I fled with fear, I was sitting in the back of our truck with Rafiel on my lap when a white truck ran into the side of the truck. We were flipped over and my mom was killed in the wreck. One of the guys got out of the truck and pointed a gun at my head and I grabbed my mom's pistol from her waist. He taunted me and teased me, I ended up shooting him in the head and I ran with Rafiel to Sam's place. Ever since that night I've been stuck with this scar and Rafiel has one on his right arm," Shay explained.

"Wholly crap, how old were you?" I asked in bewilderment.

"Nine," Shay answered quietly. I looked at her and realized that a single tear was flowing down her face.

I wiped the tear away with my finger as she flinched. "Shay, I would never hurt you," I said looking her straight in her eyes. Right then and there I had a compelling urge to something I would have never done one month ago. I leaned in closer. I could feel her breath against my face. She stood still, and she tensed up as I moved even closer. As our lips touched I felt a spark of energy. I wrapped my arms around her waist and by instinct Shay wrapped her arms around my neck. I pulled away, not believing what I had just done. I sat there thinking if she was going to punch me across the face but she proved me wrong. She came in closer and kissed me again,

After that she laid her head against my shoulder and closed her eyes. I was out of words of explanation or description. I was definitely out of breathe. When I got out of the car that night I kissed her goodbye and watched as she pulled Johnny's Firebird out of the driveway.