We Come Alive 4

Keys

Monday morning, when Ethan got to school and got out of the unmarked police car, he saw Ricky waiting for him. Ethan walked up to the Egyptian boy who had his brown hair down and looking unamused like he usually did.

"Hey." Ethan greeted. "Whatever you said to Justin the other day worked. Him and his friend Craig haven't come anywhere near me since. But anyway, when's my survival training?"

Ricky smirked at him before walking Ethan inside the school. "We can worry about that after practice. I already talked to Mateo and he thinks I'm helping you with tackles. Just know, you, the boys, and lucky charms need to get access to the storage closet. There's life size tackling equipment in there that we'll need. I don't have the keys to it, but the others do." Ricky informed him, stopping a few feet away from the meeting point where Ethan met the others.

"And if I can't?" Ethan wondered, looking Ricky in the eyes.

Ricky just raised his eyebrows before walking off. "My threat will only last so long."

"What even was the threat?!" Ethan called after him. All he heard was Ricky's dark chuckle as he walked away.

Ethan scoffed as he walked over to his friends where they were all waiting for him. He lead the pack into the next wing where most of their lockers were.

"What was that about?" Stephen asked, throwing a bouncy ball around in his hands.

Ethan scoffed as he walked up to his locker and unlocked it. "There's two boys in the facility who are loving the fact I can't bash their heads into a wall right now, but they threatened me with a knife and stole my favorite pair of Jordan's."

Diego whistled as he walked around Ethan and leaned against the locker next to his. "Sucks. What's Ricky gotta do with it?"

"He's gonna teach him how to fight." Clover pointed out. "He's a felon."

"He's not a felon." Jose breathed. "Just a very violent person. But what's the issue? What're you so worried about?"

Ethan grabbed his books and closed his locker before facing his friends. "I gotta get these full size tackling things out the storage room in the athletic building. Problem? Ricky's the only one who doesn't have a key to it. So we have to figure out what we're gonna do."

Stephen threw his bouncy ball over to Jose who caught it with one hand. "Sounds like a challenge. And we're great at challenges." He smirked. "We'll have a plan by the end of practice. Go Jaguars."

Ethan shook his head at his friends as they all went their usual route of walking around the school. "Go Jaguars." He chuckled.

~**~

A couple hours later, on the way to fifth period, Jessica was waiting at the end of one of the hallways for Mila so they could walk to class together. She was waiting patiently when she saw three girls stop in front of her. Jessica looked up at Macy and her two friends who were on the cheer team, Abigail and Hannah.

"Why're you just standing around?" Macy frowned.

Jessica subtly rolled her eyes and sighed. "I'm waiting for Mila. Why? Am I bothering you?"

Macy looked at Abigail and Hannah before looking back at Jessica. "Whatever. You might wanna work on your balance at practice today. Damn near broke your neck at the game."