Chapter One

"I can't wait for our calculus test after lunch! I've been studying for it all week!" Theodore exclaimed.

I grinned broadly at him. "I can't wait either."

"What do you think you're going to get on the test?" Sadie, Theodore's girlfriend, asked.

I shrugged. "Perfect."

"Wow, I wish I was that confident," Sadie said with a giggle.

Theodore, who had his arm around Sadie, seemed to be oblivious to the constant flirting she's been doing with me. I didn't want to hurt her feelings by telling her the truth, but I really didn't like Sadie...at all.

"Yeah, well...I studied," I offered.

Sadie twirled her frizzy, red hair around her fingertips. In all honesty, she did not look the least bit attractive doing so. "You're so smart, Nicholas. Theo, isn't he smart?"

"Yeah," Theodore agreed, looking a bit ticked off. He hates it when people call him Theo, but his idiot of a girlfriend doesn't seem to take a hint.

A beeping sound came from Sadie's phone and she gave Theodore an apologetic smile. "Sorry Theo, the girls are calling me. I'll see you later." She pecked his lips before turning her attention to me. "Bye Nicholas," she said with a wink.

I grimaced at Sadie while she ran to join her friends.

"Why don't you break up with her?" I asked Theodore.

"She's my first girlfriend, Nicholas. You'd be crazy to think I'd want to break up with her!"

I rolled my eyes at him. "You're pathetic, Theo."

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Sometimes I think you're worse than Sadie."

I chuckled. "Aw, you don't mean that, do you?"

Theodore's phone vibrated before he could answer. "Crap, I have to go to the library now."

"What for?"

"I promised to help Mrs. Manzanilla rearrange the library books."

Mrs. Manzanilla - no, not the sherry - is our school's librarian and Theodore's crush.

"Have fun." I waved him off. "But not too much."

Theodore glared at me. "I really do hate you, Nicholas."

I laughed at his retreating figure. Theodore sure is something else.

I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around to see Colton Hayes, one of the biggest and baddest guys at Monroe High.

My eyes widened when I saw him. "Whoa, may I help you?"

He looked bored. "Cut the crap, Jackson. No one's here."

I did a quick check of the hallway and Colton was right; no one was here. "What do you want, Hayes?" It wasn't like him to acknowledge me in school without a purpose.

"A bank's been robbed a few blocks over."

"You think they're still there?"

"There's only one way to find out, Jackson. You got a mask?"

"In my locker," I told him. "Grab a few guys and I'll meet you behind the school."

He nodded curtly before leaving.

I raced to my locker and spun the dial before opening the door. I peeked inside my duffel bag but I couldn't find a single mask. It wasn't until I found a sports bra, lip gloss, and pompoms did I realize I had my sister's bag.

I slammed my hands against a nearby locker out of anger.

I continued searching through her bag until my eyes landed on something particularly useful - a hot pink winter hat. It was the middle of winter so I wasn't surprised that she had a winter hat with her. I ripped the pompom off of the hat - because it looked stupid - and I threw it back in the bag.

I closed my locker and ran outside to meet the rest of the guys. I stuffed my glasses in my pocket and I pulled my hat - well, my sister's hat - over my head once I reached them.

"Nice hat," Colton remarked sarcastically.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Piss off, Hayes."

"The car's here." Colton pointed at a black SUV driving towards us.

"That's an SUV," I corrected.

"Don't make me fight you," he warned.

"I'll take a rain check on that," I said with a wink.

"You little-"

"Get in, Hayes, we don't got all day!" one of the guys in the SUV, Ryan, called out.

Colton cursed under his breath but obliged.

As soon as we got in, Derrick, who was driving the SUV stepped on the gas pedal and we were roaring down the street. We reached the bank just in time to see a group of half a dozen guys climbing inside a van.

"There they are!" Ryan announced, pointing in their direction.

I hopped out of the SUV. "Let's get to it."

"You sure?" Derrick asked cautiously.

Colton rolled his eyes. "Don't be his mama, Derrick."

"You wait in the car, Der, and we'll come back when we're done," I instructed.

"Don't you mean, SUV?" Colton asked with a smirk on his face.

"Unless you want to stay in the car, I advise you to shut up," I hissed.

Colton murmured an apology under his breath and stopped talking.

"Ryan, you keep an eye out for any thugs hiding, and Colton and I will deal with the ones getting in the van," I deduced.

They nodded their heads in agreement and we placed our plan into action.

"You got a piece?" Colton asked me while we walked towards the van.

"I guess only time will tell."

"I'm serious, Jackson," he said solemnly.

"I left them in my church pants," I deadpanned. "What do you think?"

Colton raised his hands in defence. "I'm just checking."

We continued walking in silence until we reached the van. "So how are we going to do this? Do you wanna split up, me on one side and you-"

I gently tapped on the window on the driver side.

"Jackson, what the hell are you doing?" he hissed.

The driver lowered the window and looked at me in confusion. "Who are you?"

"Just call me Son of a B***h," I offered.

If he wasn't confused before, he sure was now. "Why would I call you-"

Before he had time to finish, I pulled out my pistol and shot him in the head. A bunch of commotion stirred up inside the van.

"What the f**k is going on?" a voice barked.

Immediately all of the guys piled out of the van.

"Who the f**k are you?" another one asked me, completely oblivious to my pistol. I hid it behind my back right before they came out.

I caught Colton's eye and spotted him from where he was hiding behind the van, and I gave him a look indicating that he stay hidden.

"Call me Son of a B***h, pleased to meet you." I stuck out my hand for him to shake.

"Why the f**k is your name Son of a B***h?" he demanded before reluctantly shaking my hand.

"Because, sir, you'll be calling me that soon enough," I answered calmly. I then twisted his forearm in a counterclockwise direction and didn't stop until I heard the satisfying sound of his wrist snapping.

"Kill that son of a b***h!" he yelled to the other thugs.

I couldn't help but chuckle. "I told you so."

Before any of the other goons could shoot me, I whipped out my pistol and shot two of them, not including the guy with the broken wrist. I was about to shoot another guy, but they both had their guns out...and they were aimed at me!

"Put your gun down, hotshot," one of them said to me.

I didn't want to, but I obliged and placed my gun on the ground.

"Kick it towards us," said the other.

I obeyed his command and did as I was told. As I was kicking the gun over to them I noticed how we had an audience of people surrounding us, watching what was going on. I was wondering when the police was going to get here.

"Any last words?" the first guy asked me.

I nodded. "Just one. Now!"

As soon as the words flew out of my mouth, both Colton and Ryan jumped out and shot both men with their guns.

I nodded approvingly at Colton and Ryan. "That was impressive and impeccably in sync."

The last guy alive, the one with the broken wrist, was staring at me with wide eyes. "What do you want from me?" he asked nervously, his eyes darting from Colton, to Ryan, to me.

"We heard you robbed a bank," Ryan told him. "Go get the money." Ryan had his pistol aimed at the man who scurried inside his van to get it.

I caught sight of the employees at the bank, who were also amongst the spectators and they looked relieved.

The man brought out a large sac which was filled with money. "Here's all of it," he promised.

"Check the bag," I ordered Colton.

He opened the sac and peered inside. "All good," he confirmed.

"Who are you guys anyways?" the man asked. "Are you part of the police?"

I leaned in close so that my lips were pressed against his ear. "You are absolutely, positively, most definitively, incorrect, m**********r."

"But if you aren't the police..." His eyes widened. "Thieves!" he yelled. "These guys are-"

I shot him in the forehead before he could finish. "Run!" I shouted.

Colton carried the sac and the three of us ran back to the SUV. Derrick drove the SUV towards us and stopped so we could get in. As soon as we got in, Derrick stepped on the gas pedal and drove away.

"That was f*****g awesome!" Colton exclaimed.

Ryan slapped my back. "Good job, Nick."

"Hold those happy thoughts," Derrick advised. "The police are here."

I muttered a string of curse words under my breath as Derrick picked up speed. He made a few violent turns, some illegal U-turns, and went at least fifty miles over the speed limit, but we eventually lost the cops.

"Now we can celebrate," Derrick instructed.

"How much money's in there anyways?" Ryan asked.

Colton looked inside the bag. "Only twenty grand."

I nodded as I took in the new information. "All right, I'll take fourteen grand and you can have two each."

"Why do you get fourteen?" Ryan demanded.

"'Cause I'm the leader of this gang." I paused. "Unless of course you want to take my place. We could have a fight for it, perhaps."

"N-no," he stammered.

"Then you better watch your mouth, Emerson, because I won't hesitate to shoot you right here right now," I warned.

He gulped. "Yes, boss."

Colton burst out into laughter and guffawed at how scared Ryan looked. "You're gonna make him piss his pants, Jackson. Stop screwing with him."

"Then tell him where his place is," I spat.

"You heard him," Colton warned.

Ryan nodded meekly but remained quiet.

Derrick slammed the brakes. "Oh, s**t, it looks like we've got company."

"You boys here for a tea party?" Colton asked as soon as we stepped out. "'Cause I got my dollies in the trunk. I can go get them if you want," he offered.

"Cut the crap," one of the two men said. "Where's the money?"

"The f**k you're talking about? We don't got no money."

"Stop acting, kid," the other one said. "Just give us the money and we'll leave you."

Colton chuckled. "It's four against two. What the f**k can you really do?"

In one swift motion the first guy pulled out a knife and pressed it against Colton, who was currently being held in a chokehold.

"You're holding me too tight, big guy. I can't breathe."

"You should've thought of that before you ran that mouth of yours," he told Colton.

I sighed at Colton. He was always getting into s**t and I had to be the one to save him. "Excuse him fellas, he's new to being a criminal," I said apologetically. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience. How about you follow me and I'll give you the money?"

The man who wasn't holding a knife against Colton's throat reluctantly agreed and followed me. "This better not me a trick," he warned.

"It's not," I assured him as we walked to the SUV. "Scout's honour."

"You were a scout?" he asked incredulously.

I snorted. "Nope."

I guess he realized that I was up to no good because he quickly shouted to his buddy, and then he pulled out a gun the same time I pulled out my backup gun. Every good cop and criminal know that you should have plenty of backup guns.

"Weapons down," I ordered.

"But""

"I said to put the f*****g weapons down," I barked.

Ryan and Derrick both had their guns trained at both men, ready to shoot.

Reluctantly, the goons dropped their weapons to the ground.

"Now what?" one of them asked.

"Now I shoot your sorry asses, m***********s."

I pulled the trigger once, then twice. They both fell to the ground with a loud and thunderous thud.

"What should we do with the bodies, boss?" Ryan asked me.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Do whatever you want. I have to get back to school or else I can't write my calculus test and I've been studying for that s**t all week."

"But""

"Don't get caught!" I called over my shoulder. "Der, give me a ride back."

"Sure thing."

We hopped inside the SUV and Derrick drove back to school.

"We're going to need a new car," I said. "I'm pretty sure people saw your plate."

"Yeah, I have a few more," he told me. "But I also got a few plates."

"You want to change the license plate?" I asked him. "Good idea."

Derrick grinned. "I'll change it after I drop you off."

Derrick had already graduated from high school three years ago, meaning he is now twenty-one years old. Colton's eighteen, and though I'm only seventeen years old, I am the gang leader because I'm the best fighter in our gang. And of course, Ryan is the baby at only sixteen years old. There are more members in our gang, but these guys - including another guy in the gang named Keaton - are my favourites.

I've known Colton ever since I started high school, when the gang was formed, and we've had each other's backs since. Derrick is my go to guy for anything, and Ryan ... well Ryan's fun to tease. All in all these guys are like my brothers and I'd trust them with my life.

"I'm surprised you didn't lash out at Colton," Derrick noted.

"I'm kicking Hayes's sorry a*s the next time I see him," I promised.

Albeit Colton is a good partner, he's a f*****g idiot most of the time. He likes doing stupid things because he thinks it's fun. One time when we were getting chased by cops Colton purposely popped one of our car's front tires, so we had to run on foot. We almost got our sorry asses thrown in jail countless times thanks to that b*****d.

"He's gonna get himself killed one day," Derrick promised and I couldn't help but agree. "What do you wanna do about the money?" He gestured to the sack in the backseat.

"Take it all."

"You want to give it all to me? Gee, you're so generous, Nicky!"

I rolled my eyes. "You know what I mean."

Derrick has many links and he hooks us up with our weapons. Believe it or not but we don't waste all of our money on drugs. Well, half of the gang does, but I don't. I'm smart enough to know all of the negative affects drugs have on people. But that doesn't stop me from using them once in a while.

Derrick dropped me off behind the school, and luckily no one was outside right now.

I hopped out. "Thanks, Der."

"Hey, boss," he called.

"Yeah?"

"Lunch ends in ten seconds," he said before laughing.

"S**t!"

Author's Note

I hope you enjoyed chapter one! :)