The Other Side

1

I stood on the balcony, leaning against the banister as the warm sun beat down on me. I observed the pedestrians on the sidewalk, all rushing to different places. No one ever seems to take their time anymore. Maybe that's why life is so short. An occasional gust of wind blew my hair in my face, and I had to pull the wavy, brown mop off of my face.

    "Today's the day!" Miles shouted, sliding open the glass door and joining me out on the balcony in his black hoodie and black and white flannel that he had grown attached to. It's mind-boggling to me that he chooses to wear such heavy clothing in the middle of the summer in New York.

"Why are you so energetic? It's eight o'clock in the morning," I grumbled.

"We've been planning this heist for months, Willow. I'm allowed to be energetic," He huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. He squinted his big, blue eyes at me, and I shoved him playfully.

Miles was an interesting character. He's the goofy one of the group, and somehow always manages to find more ways to make his life go by quicker. You can tell by the scars he's got on his body from fighting those that are dumb enough to challenge him, and the cigarette burns on his hands.

I could never really tell what scars were new and which ones were old though. He had a past, just like the rest of us. But, there's an unspoken rule that we don't share them. We don't fix each other. We'd crumble to the ground together if we had to.

"Are the others inside?" I asked him. He nodded, and I reached up and ruffled his fiery hair before heading in, even though I had to reach quite a bit, since he towered over me. My feet padded on the carpeted floor as I walked to the living room, Miles following behind me, trying to fix his hair that I messed up.

"Look who finally decided to join us," Adrian scoffed as Miles and I sat down on the couch next to Amber. Adrian sat sprawled out on the leather reclining chair, twisting his rings on his fingers and occasionally pushing his dark brown hair out of his eyes that was getting a bit longer than he liked to have it. His tattoos on his neck peeked out from the collar of his gray t-shirt, which had a few rips here and there. The ink made its way down his arms too. He chewed on the inside of his cheek as he stared down at his hands.

It was all a sign that he was on edge, even if he didn't voice it. I knew him well enough to figure it out. I've known him the longest out of anyone in the group. We went to highschool together, but once we were both kicked out of our households, we dropped out together. We knew there was no point in a high school education if we couldn't go to college. Our grades weren't good enough for any scholarships because we didn't try hard enough, and we had no money to actually attend college at the time. At least now we can support ourselves.

Amber sat with her legs crossed, as she scrolled through some app on her phone. Miles had his arm thrown over her shoulders in an attempt to get a rise out of her but failed, as she was too indulged in her phone.

The dynamic between the siblings was what kept us on our toes. I found it funny how they looked so similar, but acted so different. They had the same blue eyes, red hair, and the same turned up noses. But Miles was reckless, and Amber was careful. When they weren't at each other's throats about something, it always seemed oddly quiet.

"So, what's the plan?" Miles asked, impatiently. Adrian fixed his sitting position so that he could look at the papers that were strewn across the coffee table.

"We'll wait until evening. I'll deactivate the alarms, and Willow will open the vault and get the money. Miles and Amber, you guys will make sure no one in the building leaves, or calls the police," Adrian explained as he sorted through his notes, and pictures of the layout of the building.