In Lakewood, a small town with a reputation of crime, gangs, outcasts and violence, Lana Takumi is an orphan and a gang member disguised in ripped jeans of her late mother and old flannels of her late father. She feels stuck in an endless cycle of b...
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E V E R E T T
GASPS, EYE-ROLLS, AND HUSHED whispering had already dominated the tension in the air down the hallway until I could eventually feel all eyes on me. I swallowed hard when their words reached my ears.
"Okay, seriously. What is that guy's deal?"
"Does he have a hero complex or something? It's his third time and it's only his second day here."
"Seems more like he has a death wish. Come on, let's get out of here before Jada loses it."
Some students started backing away before disappearing from the hallway, but I held my ground and sharpened my glare. Jada was a half-head shorter than me with curly black hair and dark brown eyes that scowled back at me with ten times more rage flashing in them.
"Okay listen up, I don't know where you're from and how it's done there but here we solve our matters with our fists. So stay away if you don't want your face smashed into pieces."
I scoffed. "Solving matters with your fists won't do you any good. Why don't you try talking to people instead-"
-She cut me off by clenching her fist around the collar of my hoodie before pushing me back hard against the lockers. "Just get the hell out of my way."
"Okay, okay. Jada," Carmen hurriedly said, grabbing her by the waist and pulling her away from me before the pain soaring down my spine worsened. "Just chill. Calm down. Let him go."
"It's a two-way business here. You stay out of our way, we stay out of your way. Got it? Good. Get lost now," Jada said, looking away while tapping her shoe impatiently against the floor.
"No," I said, causing her gang to groan.
Jada's head rapidly snapped in my direction, her eyes widened completely. "What did you just say?"
Lana, who carried a flat face, stood in silence by the rest of the gang and murmured, "Baka."
Clearing my throat, I folded my arms across my chest and met Jada's eyes. "You shouldn't pick fights like this with the students younger than you."
When she didn't answer but only held her glared fixated on me, I gave Lily and Kevin a small shove in the opposite direction and said, "Come on, Lily. You too, Kevin. Let's go."
We pushed past students who seemed like they had been put in a bottle that had been shaken really hard, resulting in everyone with a mix of impressed, amazed, shocked, confused, and amused faces. Before I heard Kevin mumble a thank you to me while Lily lead the way upstairs to the physics classroom, I heard someone snort as they said, "First Arjun and now Jada. He's so dead."
