Chapter 1

When he stumbled upon our little ‘gathering’ I had to resist getting on my knees and thanking god. He had intervened at just the right moment as Ricardo turned from me, to the knee civilian. His brown hair looked moist as he stuck to his forehead and his eyes looked fierce… like a tiger on the prowl. The poor blue liquid in his hand was crushed before he let it go and let it roll to the floor. The teens face was the perfect image of scowling as he assessed the situation.

 

It should be relatively easy to pick up on the situation. A petite brunette was surrounded by five much bigger, and I mean much bigger guys. She was visibly panting and ragged while the pursuers looked just was worn down but slightly less so. 

 

I sighed in relief. I had never seen this guy in our town before but he looked to be decent enough. And by that I mean, he looked like the type of guy who was raised right and had his priorities straight. I did my best to give him pleading eyes hazel eyes as I stood stiff in defense position.

 

"If you know what's good for you, you'll walk away." Ricardo, the lead thug ordered. He narrowed his brown eyes as he crossed his huge arms across his chiseled chest. From where I stood, both of the two, Ricardo and Savior, were about the same height. Just Ricardo was bigger in muscle while savior was more toned and taller.

 

"And I won't repeat myself, move aside." He demanded.

 

"Oi, oi! Let's just ignore the prick and get on with what we came here for, man." Justin persuaded. His blue eyes looked irritated but cautious. Out of all Ricardo's goon's, Justin was the brightest. While he hated having his hands dirty, he had no qualms with devising a plan. He could come up with a strategy that could put military generals to shame if he wanted. When Ricardo and Savior didn't respond he groaned and ran a hand through his tangled blonde hair.

 

I smirked, This is the perfect time to escape...

 

I slowly started to make quiet and unnoticeable steps backward. Not a one was paying attention to me as I did so. I was close to an emergency ladder when Manny, the aggressive one, decided to take a look behind him. His own green eyes widened in anger before he shouted, "She's trying to escape!"

 

"S**t!" I cursed as I adjusted my messenger bag strap and jumped up high and grabbed the ladder. 

 

I took the steps two at a time as I ran for the highest ladder. As I got to the top, I realized that there was no ladder to the roof.

 

" Gymnastics don't fail me now..." I prayed.

 

I tied my curled hair into a scrunchy and double checked my bag to make sure it was zipped and buttoned up. As I looked down, I realized Savior and Ricardo were still staring the other down while his lackeys were trying to bring the ladder down. 

 

I grinned, Nice!

 

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Everything surrounding me was blocked out completely as I centered my thoughts. I could clearly see what I had to do if I wanted to get to the roof. Like the cat woman game I had on my DS back home, I was sure I could do the same jump, swing , rotate, and push she did.

 

I opened my eyes and calculated the easiest way to get to the hanging pipe a few feet from where I stood. Next to me was a closed window . On the other side a few meters away, another concrete building. Below me, concrete, trash, and thugs.

 

Yup, I gotta do this.

 

I stepped back and practiced my starting position when I heard the familiar rattle of the rusty ladder being pulled down.

 

Sweat dripped down my forehead as I sucked in a breath.

 

"To late to back out now.."

 

I catapulted forward and jumped over the railing. I kept my eyes open and wide as I saw the outer pipe come into view. I could have cried from joy as my delicate fingers grasped onto it in desperation. The pipe was sturdier then I had anticipated as I begun to swing back and forth gaining momentum by doing so.

 

"Holy crap!" Manny yelled. I didn't have to look behind me to know that the four boys were gaping at my outrageous idea.

 

"I hadn't expected her to go and do that..." Justin exclaimed.

 

"She must think she's cat woman or something!" Tyrone mocked.

 

I ignored their comments with an eye roll before a giant smile took over as I started to spin. A bubbly feeling started to build in my stomach. It was something akin to anxiety and excitement.

 

Before I could stop it, laughter filled the alley as my spin spun up. My brown hair easily fell loose and whipped around my face. Every time I reached the top of the swing, i could spot the shocked boys staring at me. And while they were upside down, it was still hilarious.

 

"Tell Ricardo to go f**k himself!" I exclaimed as I reached the top swing once more.

 

"C-calm down Isa... We can talk this out!" Jeremy tried to persuade.

 

"...Nah!"

 

And with that, I swung up and my body spread out and opened. This is what it feels like to cartwheel in the air...

 

Before I could stop myself, I opened my eyes and took in the morning sky. It seemed to get closer and closer as I scaled the 8 story building. All too fast, the roof came to view and I angled my body so I could grab the edge.

 

In less than three seconds, my hands reached out and grasped the edge and I weakly pulled myself up by a hair. I knew for sure that I was going to feel this in the morning as I brought my left leg over the railing. I fixed my body for a moment before I looked over the edge and I found Savior and Ricardo looking up at me shocked.

 

I smirked, and waved in a mocking manner, "Don't underestimate the Calcoa family b***h!"

 

I didn’t stay that way to see his reaction as I continued to run across the buildings. Some part of me thanked God that the buildings were only a meter or so apart as I jumped two and scaled down the ladder of another.

 

I reached into my back pocket as I stepped on the ground again. I recognized the building as the cafe my papa liked to visit during his chill time.

 

I quickly looked through my contacts for Andre's number as I limped into the cafe's foyer. A waitress who knew me well nearly fainted as she registered me. Her black eyes widened in shock as she placed a dark olive toned hand to her heart.

 

"Oh lord! Isabel! Look at you! You should be at school, should you not?"

 

I waved her off as I limped toward the back V.I.P. room.

 

"Just don't let anyone in right now... I just need to rest up. And then I'll be fine Randa."

 

The shocked woman nodded her head as she scurried off to relay the message to Javier, the owner.

 

I quickly opened the V.I.P. room that belonged to my family and dropped myself on the couch and closed my eyes. I gladly welcomed the darkness that brought illusions of the mind and blocked out the real world troubles.

 

And while my mind welcomed the dream and blocked out the outside world, it for some reason could not block out the brown hair and brown eyes teen that saved my life by a hair.

Author's Note

First Chapter! Tell me what you think!!!

Reviews

[Trigorin]

Be careful to avoid passive voice and stiltedness. Some of your writing lapses into both of these occasionally, and it's a little jarring for the reader. Some of your word choice is a little questionable as well, mostly in the dialogue, and seems oddly old-fashioned and out of place. I'd go back over this a couple times and make sure everything sounds right to you before continuing - it's easier to catch these errors early than to have to deal with them after you're done.

[Ayanna]

Thank you so much for this review. Do you happen to know a good editor as, I myself am to biased when it comes to editing my own work...

[Trigorin]

I don't know anybody in particular beyond myself, but I think I'm a fairly good editor.

[Ayanna]

Do you mind helping me edit every chapter before I send it out? It would mean a lot to me!

[Trigorin]

Sure, I don't mind. Send me a message and we'll arrange the details.

[Ayanna]

sent it.