I looked after Rose as she left. There was something about her that seemed off, like she was hiding something. But then again, weren't we all?
"And the serial flirter is at it again," Riley laughed, slinging his arm around me. His dig at how friendly I was with all the girls here stung, and I pushed his arm off.
"Not the time," I grumbled, pushing his arm away. As I stalked after the girl, he shrugged. I honestly couldn't remember why I kept trying to be friends with him. All he did was judge me and tell me to flirt less. He took advantage of my talents, and then left me in the dust until he needed me again.
I walked until I was in a random alley and then leaned against the wall. If anyone saw me, they likely assumed that I was a homeless person or some troubled teenager. They would've been right on both counts.
I pulled out my phone and saw that Rose had left her contact up. There was something that puzzled me: she'd put her name in as Sierra Luciano instead of Rose Mirage. Yet another hint that she was hiding something. I called her anyways.
"Sierra Luciano," she answered, surprisingly without a yawn.
"It's um, it's Avery," I stuttered, nervous for some reason. "We're part of the same group."
She cursed under her breath, and for a second I could picture the girl I'd just seen in black, her blonde hair poking out of her hood as she laughed about flips and phone numbers. "Sorry, um, what's up?"
"I, um, need a place to stay," I muttered, shame flushing my face. "My roommate and I aren't on great terms right now."
She sighed. "Be glad you called when I was in an alright mood," she grumbled. "I'm gonna text you an address, I'll meet you there, okay?"
I nodded, then remembered she couldn't see me. "See you there." The line went dead, and I waited until the address popped up on the screen before stuffing the small device into my pocket.
I'm the most indecisive person you've ever met, so don't expect me to figure out your life for you.
Math looked down at the puddles of blood on the floor, faintly wondering what had happened previously to cause this mess. "Sam'll deal with it later," he said as he approached the redhead, hand already poking forward to offer the customary stick of bubblegum. "Gum? It's good for the teeth."
The girl looked him down, before looking into his eyes with a lukewarm expression. At least he's finally met someone who didn't give him the Careless Whisper stare on first viewing. "And who are you?"
He shrugged. "Depends on who you ask. What're you doing here?"
"For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief."
I'm walking the streets, just absentmindedly wandering. I walk into a little café buy a tea, and walk into the bathroom waiting for it to be made. I look in the mirror and fuck I look bad. The dark circles under my eyes do not look nice, and I pull the collar of my shirt down enough to see the cut just over my chest. It hurt like a bitch, but in order for the Costellos to cooperate I had to do something to prove 'loyalty'. Maths words are stuck in my head, 'you can't keep reconnecting like that, you can't bring back-' and I cut him off already knew what he was going to say. It hurts but it's hard to accept. That's not why I'm connecting with them though. The thoughts of seeing my parents dead in there room starts to drift into my head and I quickly splash my face with cold water, panting, upset at myself for getting so caught up. I clean myself off and walk back out, grabbing my fruity tea, and sitting at a table tucked away in the corner. I pull out my phone and pull up Maths number, I start to type out a text, but erase it as quickly as I started. I do that a few more times, until finally I decide on something to say. 'Cats want rats' to anyone else that would seem cryptic, but Math will understand the Costellos want blood, I know better than to text what they want, so next time I see him I'll have to tell him. I also heard rumours since I got back that we've been having issues with the Neutresa's.
Spoiler! :
Probably butchering that sorry lol
And that comes first. They can prove to be more of an immediate issues. And the Costellos are still being vague and only handing me small cat toys to play with, until they trust me. Damn I hate the Costellos games. I tap on my phone screen a few times, waiting for a reply, but when I don't get one immediately I turn off my phone and place it screen down on the table. I sip my tea, just waiting for a response or a text telling me what I need to do next. The cut on my chest stings from the moving of the bandages in the bathroom.
His phone vibrates in his trouser pockets, and while Luanna (that was her name, he supposed) was talking he glanced at the screen, reading the text from Adri.
cats want rats.
He smiled to Luanna, indicating that he was listening, while quickly texting:
wat type?
The Costello's were famous for their initiation rituals, and though they've been quiet for the past five years, that didn't mean they weren't actively making connections. And with every silent connection they made, the arms of several unlucky initiates would be found in a river somewhere, if they were found at all. Truth be told, he didn't want anything to do with them, and not just because it wouldn't do Adri's mental health any good--he'd been in gangs tougher, and he knew how difficult it was to get out of that mousetrap. He didn't need any of the newbies getting scared off by a war, if things went south.
As his thoughts ran wild, another text popped up. "Are you even listening to me?" Luanna asked, peeved.
He nodded. "Yeah, I am. You needed help with your car? I'll get it for you," he said. "Just let me make a call."
He looked at his phone, turning to the text message. It was from Sam. He lazily peered over it, before stiffening once he read through it. He glanced to Luanna, who seemed to get more annoyed by the second. "Oh, shoot. Signal's bad. Lemme look for it outside," he lied through his teeth, smiling at Luanna.
"Can I come--"
"No, no," he said, as calmly as possible. "You stay here. The boys will take care of you for now," he turned to the other members in the room. "Won't you all?"
A quiet and apathetic "yeah" replied, and he nodded to Luanna before rushing out the room. Once he made sure she wasn't listening, he walked out the building, dialing Sam's number. Uncharacteristically, Sam picked up immediately.
"Yeah, Ma--"
"What the fuck do you mean we've been ratted out?" Math immediately snapped. "By who? How do you even know? Why haven't you caved the little shit's head in?"
"Dude, dude, chill. You're outside?" Sam said, and Math realized how noisy the streets must've been. "Don't talk so loud. We, uh, probably don't want to make this worse as is."
Math scowled. "Who did it?"
"Nobody. Not yet, at least," Sam explained. "The cops are onto you, though."
Math squinted. "Me?"
Sam fell into radio silence. Math put two and two together, connecting the dots from Sam's out of character punctuality and the softness of his voice to this. The other man was trying to soothe Math. But why would he--
"Oh God, don't tell me," Math hissed into the phone.
He could hear the sigh on the other end of the phone. "Well, I mean, it explains how August--I mean, he knew who to talk to find you," Sam said. "Not sure how long this has been going on. I don't even know if he knows what's going on."
"How did you find out?"
Sam shuffled some papers on the other end of the phone. "Uh, a friend of a friend from the police department told me. He says a young-ish boy came walking down the station, filing a missing person's report for--well, you know who." Sam's voice almost sounded sardonic, before he composed himself. "This is just a running theory, but I think--again, theory--I think the cops are using him to get to you."
Math groaned. "Why would they do that?"
"Well, he was your--"
Sam cut himself off, knowing he would've gone too far. He coughed. "I think the point is they thought that you may have reached out to him, if he ever found you."
"They thought wrong," he said, bitterly. "Why are you telling me this? Did they find a lead? Do they know where we are?"
Math could almost hear Sam shaking his head. "They've gotten bits and pieces, obviously they've caught Tommy and some of the other dealers, but Aug--he's been talking to random street thugs, too. Occasionally getting into fisticuffs," Sam said. "You like that word? It's my dictionary's word of the day."
Math wasn't listening. He had an image in his mind of August getting himself shot in the head, and it made him wince. The idiot. "He'll get himself killed."
"Oh, yeah. He definitely will." Sam sounded less invested in August's well-being than Math. "I just want to make sure you, uh, take care of it. As quickly as possible."
"Excuse me? What do you expect me to do?" Math snapped. "I can't just meet him, I'll be at the back of a police wagon faster than Moretti'll be back on weed."
"That's not what I was saying."
Math wanted to say so what are you saying, but from the grimness of Sam's voice, he had figured it out quickly enough. Math fell silent. The image of August with a bullet-sized hole in his head returned, only Math was standing over him, holding a gun. "I--" Math stopped. "I'll see what I can do."
Sam was quiet, before speaking once again: "I could send somebody else to--"
"No. It's my problem." Math said. "I'll deal with it."
"Can I...can I trust you?" Sam said. "To do this. Because I'll be honest, I considered not telling--"
"Yeah. You can." Math gripped his phone. "I've got to go. I have two other kids to talk to."
A sigh. "Fine. Don't--" Sam paused. "Don't do anything I would do."
Math shut the phone. He looked out the building, looking from side to side before turning back to his phone and texting Adri.
"For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief."
'dk yet, they're still being quiet. They said theyd contact me when they want it. Just know it's coming. I'm coming back to place just so you know I send off the text and take the last drink of my tea, throwing the cup into the nearby trash can. I wait a minute to see if he text back and he doesn't so I stand up, looking at my reflection in the mirror. I sigh, taking my makeup bag out and go into the bathroom again, touching up my lipstick, and dabbing a bit of liquid concealer under my eyes. I look a bit more alive. I have to fight the urge to chew on my lip, my anxiety is pretty high waiting for the Costellos request. Just as I'm thinking my phone goes off. I pull it out in a rush, thinking it's Math, but when I look I see an unknown number. We know where your storage is located. Go there, and meet us around the street corner in the park. -N I know by the signature it's the Costellos New York pet. I rush out of the shop and rush back to the warehouse. I walk past it, flicking out my phone, Cat toy. Park. Will text you in an hour. If you don't get it come to park. I put it back in my pocket, just after putting it on silent. I get to the park and see someone leaning against a tree, the tree I always used to hang out in when I was a kid. I learned long ago the Costellos kept a close watch on my parents and me. After mom married my dad the Costellos were hostile. He was from a small local gang, they didn't like that at all. I walk up to him and he grabs my shoulder. I don't flinch, and he attempts to punch me and I catch him hand. "What do they want." "Just wanted to see if you'd show up. They didn't know if you ran little one." He stokes me cheek and I feel disgusting. He's always been like this. Math would've killed me if he knew how long I kept in contact with the Costellos through him. He's always tried to get with me, saying the Costellos would forgive both of us if I did, but I would never do that. "Come with me." He starts to walk away and I follow him. The closer we get to the edge of the park the more my anxiety spikes. I look at my watch, damn it's been 45 minutes since I texted Matthew. We've been walking slowly through this park the whole time. And that's when I see another figure, N stops and does a handshake with him. "Here she is." Is all N says. The other man, without saying a word, hands me a package. I can tell without even opening it's a letter and some sort of weapon, I gun most likely. A mission of who to execute. I hate doing the Costellos dirty work, because I know exactly how both sides of the story feel like. I peek at my watch, 55 minutes. Math would be getting alert soon. He knows I'm punctual. And when my hour is even an hour and 1 minute, somethings up. The man tries to grab me, and I know immediately who it is. The killer of my parents. I saw a glimpse of his face that night they died. His hand is around my neck. The Costellos love this strategy. Try to physically intimidate. You pass if you don't react. I stand still and after a minute, he let's go, and I turn and walk away. As soon as I'm far enough away I pull out my phone and text Matthew, just an S and he knows I'm safe. I pull the text over to the side to see the timestamps and 1 minute before the hour. I turn on the phone camera and there's a hand mark around my neck. Hopefully that'll fade before I meet up with Matthew. The walk back takes only 10 minutes compared to the 30 it took to get to the other side of the park. I head straight towards the warehouse, hoping Matthew is still there.
When I arrived at the apartment building, Rose was already there, leaning against the wall of the building and looking perfectly innocent and yet formidable at the same time.
"Oh, good, you're here," she said, glancing and then walking over to me.
"I do need a place to stay," I admitted, suddenly feeling shy. The more I saw her, the more fascinated with her I became.
"Well, third floor, second door on the right. Number 304," she told me, tossing me a key.
As she turned to leave, I grabbed her arm. "Why did you put your name in my phone as Sierra Luciano, and then answer the phone with that name even though you said your name was Rose?"
She shrugged her arm out of my grip and met my eyes, their color and demeanor as steely as I was sure I'd ever see them. "You don't need to know everything about me," she replied, her tone as cold as ice. "Just forget I did it and change my name to Rose. Now I'm going home."
She stalked off into the night, and I sighed. I always chose the closed-off ones that didn't need anybody. First it was Anna, then Keisha, now Rose. There was something attractive about their independence. Something about how self-sufficient they were was stunning like nothing else was.
I thought of Rose(Sierra?) and how she'd answered the phone. She'd seemed unguarded, bored, and I could imagine her in sweatpants, with her hair in a messy bun and eating ice cream as she scribbled down notes from textbooks. She'd mentioned she was in college, so it seemed fitting.
I sighed, shaking the image out of my head as I headed up to the apartment she'd let me use. Maybe the best way to distract myself was to find an entirely different girl. The recruit who'd come in with her, she'd seemed eager to find a new guy. Maybe she could help me.
I'm the most indecisive person you've ever met, so don't expect me to figure out your life for you.
Returning back to the warehouse was, kind of comforting, in a strange way. Walking in and seeing Math talking to a girl, one I haven't seen before. The way they're talking seems almost friendly. Which is weird for Math. I check my phone and see that it's Really damn early, but that doesn't really matter to me. My aunt is home for a bit, so I'd like to avoid her as much as possible. I walk up to Math, and playfully grab his arm, "Hey! Who's this? A new recruit?" "Ah, no. This is Adri. She's actually been here longer than I have. She was just out of town for awhile." "Oh where?" "No where important. Just a trip for the group." She speaks up. I look over her and she's hot. Hair that I'd describe as a night sky. Her body is muscular, even if on the small side. "Oh, okay." I sheepishly turn away, upset at being brushed off like that. "So Math? Did you meet my friend?" "Yeah. He said he'd join." Great, he's brushing me off too. "So what did you call him about?" "Oh, my ex boyfriend's older brother tried to threaten me into leaving... No big deal!" I smile an try to laugh it off, but in reality even just talking about it sets off my anxiety. "Oh. Alright. Now Math, we still have stuff to discuss." She positions herself neatly in a position where it's obvious she's done with this conversation and wants Math alone. My anger flares, but I trust what Math says and leave her alone. I stroll off to another side of the room when another guy walks up to me. Still a bit heated I angrily give him a simple "What?"
Last edited by kat13254 on Wed May 02, 2018 1:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
When I woke up several hours later, I threw on clothes before heading back to the warehouse. "Morning all," I called, smiling at my friends. Heading over to the girl that had come in with Rose(I'd decided it wasn't worth it to debate names with her - if she wanted to be called Rose I'd call her that), I put on my most stunning smile. "And good morning to you, gorgeous."
I'm the most indecisive person you've ever met, so don't expect me to figure out your life for you.
"And good morning to you, gorgeous." The man who walked up beside be says. Timidly I turn and smile. "Hi, you are?" I say kindly, a hint of fear hiding in my voice. "Avery, you came in with Rose right? You two friends?" Ah. That makes more sense. "Yeah. I'm Sofia. I didn't actually meet Sierra until our recruitment, and we didn't really get along." I act coy, twirling a piece of hair around my finger. I look out the side of my eye and still see Math talking to Adri, and an idea kicks in my head. If I flirt with him Math might notice me!
Spoiler! :
Yes she's tried this before, no she doesn't learn lmao
I kick up the charm and test boundaries before I try anything. "You're pretty cute," I let out a flirtatious giggle, gently swatting him with my fingertips. "So have you been around here a long time?" "Yeah kinda. But hey look at yourself beautiful." I gently blush, pawing at my face in mock embarrassment. All while this is happening I occasionally "adjust my hair" or in other words take a peek at Math see if he's looking my way. "Hmm, do you have a girlfriend?" I realize after I said it the words come out kind of abruptly, but I saw Adri laugh and joking(I hope) hit Math on the shoulder. Threads of jealousy course through me making my attempts kick up, going as far as to rub my hand against his.
I was right. This girl was a complete flirt. She could definitely help me with getting over my insane crushes on girls that would never feel the same way about me.
"I'm single, cutie," I smiled with a slight smirk. "There just hasn't been anyone as pretty as you yet."
God. I was lying through my teeth to make a girl jealous. It wasn't that Sofia wasn't pretty - she definitely was - but in my eyes, she was nothing compared to Rose. Rose was strong and independent and fiery, and Sofia was just pretty. She was flirting with me like there was no tomorrow, and, to be honest, I kind of hated it.
I'm the most indecisive person you've ever met, so don't expect me to figure out your life for you.
I try to push Math out of my mind, and focus on Avery. "You're handsome aren'tcha?" I brush my hair out of my face, twirling a small piece. I'm not lying when I say it, he is quite attractive, but he doesn't have the same "tough guy" vibe that Math does. Although to be fair Avery could probably kill a man if he needed to,he is here after all.
"That's what people say." I need to stop this, I thought, but as soon as the thought was in my mind I knew I wouldn't. I'd stop when Rose was jealous, and, to be honest, that could be a while. It might never happen, either. I sighed as quietly as I could.
I'm the most indecisive person you've ever met, so don't expect me to figure out your life for you.
Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it. Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy—the experiences that make us the most vulnerable. Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light. — Brené Brown
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