I stand my ground. Even though I'm shitting myself on the inside. "Did you just say something?" Leather Leader asks. "I- Uh, yes. Yes, I did," I answer. Jessy tugs at my sweater, silently pleading me to stop. The rest of Leather Boys all seem to raise their eyebrows. Even some of the Coat Boys are surprised. Leather Leader's sneer turns into a cruel smirk and he starts checking me out. "If you plan on opening your mouth again, I can find suitable ways to shut you up," he says. My throat tightens at that. "Go threaten one of your whores, Bowmen," Coat Leader growls. "You're the one with the whores, Rhodes. And since when do you care about who I threaten?" "Since Golden Girl over here is too pretty for a bastard like you." Leather Leader and Coat Leader get into an intense argument that unsurprisingly drift back to territories. Their goons are also intensely into the argument and thus I grab my chance. I turn to Jessy and she looks like she's on the verge of fainting, so I do what all girls do among large guys, I simply crawl my way out of there. Jessy follows me when I tug at her, and only when we make our way across the hallway and round the corner, do I allow myself a breath of relief. "Who are those guys?" I demand when I'm certain Leather and Coat boys aren't following us. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!" "I was thinking that I don't want to be late for class and that I don't have time for guys with huge egos," I explain. "They're not just any guys, Amber," Jessy says, "They're the guys. West and East gang. They've been rivals since the dawn of time!" "Gangs? Well, sorry for disturbing the poor little lost boys and their toddler fit," I laugh. It's so ridiculous. Gangs? Gangs aren't hot boys having an ego brawl. Right? "Oh my God, Amber. This isn't childsplay. These guys kill people!" That gets my attention. "If it really was that bad, then they would've been in jail by now, or worse, expelled!" I point out and chuckle at my own nerd joke. Not that I'm a nerd, of course. "Not if you're either bribing or threatening half of the town. Tygerwell is not the town it seems to be," Jessy says. Maybe talking back was a bad choice after all... Jessy is practically buzzing with nerves when she says: "That guy you talked back to, the one with the leather jacket and black hair, he's the leader of the West gang. And he doesn't have a good side. He just has the 'I'll kill you if you talk back' side. Something I'm assuming you're on right now! "And Owen, the hot rich looking guy that Blake was arguing with? He's the leader of the East-side gang. Literally a sex god, but high school girls seem to be below him. And just because he can kiss a girl, doesn't mean he won't kill one either. They're both dangerous, Amber!" My mind is spinning with all the information I have to process. Gangs? Killing? Dangerous? This is nothing like my average high school with my average friends and a bit above average life. This is... as stupid as it is to admit, exciting. "Oh no... Amber, you have that look," Jessy says. "What look?" "The 'oh, what a nice game' kind of look!" I send her a grin, "I don't know what you're talking about," I say. "You've got to be kidding me!" Jessy and I quickly make our way to our register class - which fortunately is the same class. When we have our seats and our fat, sweaty teacher is satisfied with our excuses, we turn to each other again. "Is there anything else I need to know about these gangs?" I ask my cousin. Jessy bites her lip before saying: "Well, in crime there's only four kinds of good business. Drugs, prostitutes, loaning and guns. Theft and all that comes in between." "What's that supposed to say?" I ask. "The West handle drugs and the East handle girls. It's big money, Amber. They aren't messing around..." Jessy explains in panic. I don't bother asking about who handles the loans and who handles the guns. "How is it that you know so much about the gang life?" I ask. I suddenly notice that we should maybe talk softer, so I lower my voice and lean in to listen. "It's mostly just gossip, but... Okay, I might have dated one of Blake's guys in my rebellious phase," she admits. I almost laugh out loud. Jessy, dating a gang member! I heave in air. I can totally see that while she was in her rebellious phase. She was all about high heels and tight clothes. "That," I say,"is amazing. I wish I could've seen more of rebellious Jessy," I chuckle. "It's not a joke, Amber! I almost got killed during a gang shooting! The next day we broke up," Jessy scowls. I go a little cold at that. Gang shooting... Melissa and Robert Marigold were found dead in their homes. Melissa having two gunshot wounds and Robert with eight. It is believed that it was a robbery that went wrong. Their daughter was found hiding under their bed. "Amber?" "Huh?" "You did it again..." she whispers. Before I can say sorry or do anything really, the bell rings and I'm off to my very first class of Tygerwell High. Gangs, drugs, guns and prostitutes. My parents wouldn't want me to get more involved than one accidental back-chat. The robbers that killed my parents could after all have been in a gang or something... I'm so deep in thought about how to avoid the whole gang thing, that I don't notice the brick wall I walk into. Or more precisely, the guy. The impact sends me falling backwards, but then the guy grabs my waist before I know what's happening and has me trapped in a tight hold.