all for us - maddy perez

chapter one. say please

|all for us — one— say please|
" maybe that's my resolution. "

|trying to get to heaven before they close the door|

SMOKEY HASN'T BEEN anywhere near his brothers since the end of the previous year. He'd gone to Utah, simply because his uncle had requested his assistance with his farming business.

Jordan (as he's been called since he left) didn't know how to farm. He knew nothing about what his uncle did for a living, and he didn't know he had an uncle in the first place. After a couple of months in Utah, he missed his brothers.

And then, right before New Years, he came back. It was a surprise to see him, and I'm still kind of surprised that he's here, even though it's been a week already. He keeps telling me about how much cash he made in Utah by selling to random high schoolers behind his uncle's back. I'm pretty proud of him. I just wish he still wanted to be called Smokey. He says he's growing up, and maybe the nickname is stupid. I don't agree.

But Smokey had changed. That was clear to me. Before he left, he was violent. Like really violent. If you were five bucks short on cash while trying to buy drugs from him, he'd tell you to pay up or he'd beat your brains out. He always had a gun in his back pocket, although I never saw him really use it. Every other day, he'd come into school with bloody and bruised knuckles and a fresh black eye. And sometimes you'd wonder how he spoke to his grandmother with his mouth, but I know where he got his language from.

Smokey wanted to make his return by going to the New Year's Eve party. That's what he said to me when I saw him again.

What he didn't know, at that time, was that Nate Jacobs was also going to be attending that party. And if there's one thing I know about Smokey Burns, it's that he hates Nate Jacobs, with a burning passion (no pun intended).

Smokey and Nate got into fights every other day when Smokey was home last. They both despised each other, and I feel like maybe I'm one of the reasons why. But Smokey also had his own grudges against whoever he pleased. Not to mention, as soon as he'd gotten home, he found out about Fez and Nate's interaction at the store. To say he wasn't pleased was an understatement.

So if Nate Jacobs knew Smokey was going to be at that party, he should've been fucking scared.

✯ ✯ ✯

When Jordan arrives at the party, he sees a bunch of kids, and the majority of which he doesn't recognize. Biggie Smalls is playing loudly. Jordan tries his best to navigate his way through the crowded hallways, looking for Rue or someone else he knows.

He runs into someone— he's not sure who— until he looks down to quickly apologize.

"Hey, I'm sor-" Jordan frowns, looking down and seeing Lexi Howard, a girl who Rue had been best friends with in their freshman year. He knows her through Rue, although they're not that close. They've only hung out a few times. "Oh, Lexi Howard! How are you?"