Skylar's POV

"As for the introductions," Jesse broke the intense, confusing silence. "I'm Jesse. The creep's Adrian. This nerd is Seth." He continued before pointing over at Shane who was already (still) shooting daggers at him. "And that's...Shane."

I couldn't hide the disbelief in my voice. "For real? You guys are a real gang?"

Caden gave me one of those looks. "Isn't that what I just said?"

"It's just surprising."

I hadn't exactly expected to find myself in between a gang. A real gang. Clearly, if there was one person who was sketchy enough to be in a gang, it'd be Caden Miller.

"And you, gorgeous, are the first ever person to know about this." Adrian smiled.

I furrowed my brows, because that's when the questions came. A lot of them.

"Why am I--" I was cut off just as quickly when my phone started ringing out loud. Taking it out of my pocket, I realized soon enough that all eyes were on me.

"Hello?" I answered.

There was just silence at first, and it almost made me fidget anxiously.

"Sky, I don't know what the fuck you're doing but I don't want to get beaten up by your parents, all right?" Alex's exasperated voice broke the silence.

I blinked in surprise. "What do you mean, Alex?"

There was pin-drop silence around me, and all of them were so indulged in hearing the conversation that it almost made me believe nobody was here. Except for Caden, that is.

"She has a boyfriend," Jesse whispered, and I wasn't exactly sure whether the shock on his face was real or fake.

I looked up at him in bewilderment. "Wait, who was that, Sky?" Alex asked.

This was going to be a bit complicated.

"Where are you?" Alex asked again.

"Why?"

"Because your mom's angry, Sky." He still sounded frustrated. "She just called me the third time asking where you were. Does that ring a bell?"

Oh shit.

"Right. Right." I blurted out. "I'll be there. Don't worry." And I didn't think twice before ending the call abruptly. I knew this would be a mess once I'd see Alex again, but right now, Mom was the bigger problem here. If I didn't go back home now, she might just kill me.

Stuffing my phone hastily back in my pocket, I looked up at no one in particular. "Um, I gotta go. It's late and my mom would--I need to head back."

I wasn't surprised when I heard a snicker.

"We don't want her getting killed, Caden," Seth said before plopping himself on one of the dark couches. It was almost as if he had plucked the dreadful statement right out of my mind.

I just nodded in response, widening my eyes at Caden, hoping he'd understand.

"All right, then," Caden stated with a small shrug, before heading for the front doors.

I watched his back and found myself thinking back to those numerous questions that were still crowding my head. I didn't want to go back, not when I had a feeling Caden won't be telling me much after this.

Still, I blew out a sigh and looked over at Jesse and Adrian. "It was nice meeting you all." I smiled at them, taking a small step back.

Adrian grinned. "Likewise."

"See you later, new girl," Jesse said.

"If your life's been spared." Shane, who had finally gotten over his broken phone and had sprawled himself on the couch beside Seth, added.

Jesse nodded solemnly. "If your life's been spared."

I gave them all a funny look before taking another step towards the front doors. All of these people were odd. Oddly amusing. I think I already liked them. "What do you mean?"

Adrian came beside me and opened the door. "I'll show you the way out."

All I did was frown before following him outside, the familiar spooky trees coming into view. I wanted to ask him why they'd dodge my question, but I didn't get the chance.

"It'd be better if you don't tell anyone about this," Adrian spoke up once I stepped beside him, both of us walking outside along the yard. "About the house or the gang, I mean."

I raised my brows. "Or else I'll die?" I wish saying that had been hilarious. But it wasn't. Whatever this was, this whole gang thing, it wasn't a joke. That guy who'd broken into my house earlier had made it pretty clear to me. This wasn't an act. This was real. People got hurt.

"There might be a few consequences." And even though he passed me a smile, I knew he was talking serious at that moment.

I told myself to ponder over those words later, looking up at the bright full moon. Adrian stopped a few feet away from Caden's familiar motorcycle and turned towards me.

"Are you--Is this like the mafia? You know, where they kill people?" I blurted out the question before he could've left.

He raised his brows and I realized how much his eyes matched the night sky.

"No." He replied, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "That was his dad." My eyes widened when Adrian jerked his chin towards Caden's silhouette.

"Caden's dad is in the mafia?"

"No. Well, not really." His brows furrowed. "We aren't allowed to talk about that. But, for you to know, this is just a small alliance. We have sources, yes. And we do come across people who need to be silenced sometimes."

I kept staring at him. What about the police? Did they never get in trouble with the police? Was that because of Caden's dad? Who was he even?

Didn't gangs have like, old cranky men?

"That's why you should keep it a secret. The fewer people who know about this, the better it'll be." He gave me another kind smile before glancing over at Caden. "You can ask the rest from him."

I had a feeling that was his way of escaping my endless questions. Because he and I both knew Caden won't be telling me shit.

"All right, I guess," I added in a polite smile, even though my heart was beating a little wildly. "Thanks for walking me out."

Next time, you'd be dead.

"See you later, Skylar." He winked at me with a charming grin. It wasn't until he'd left that I realized he'd addressed me by my name.

My name that he wasn't supposed to know.

•••••

When Caden stopped his motorcycle in a familiar street, I was a bit relieved to see my house at last, glad that we were out of those creepy woods. I stepped down from behind him and took in a deep breath, noticing the noises still coming from my house. That probably meant the guests hadn't left yet and maybe Mom wouldn't be so angry with me then.

"You won't be getting killed, Anderson," Caden said, passing me a disapproving look as I handed him the helmet. I didn't exactly know whether he was talking about my mom, or what Adrian had said back there.

I really wasn't looking forward to dying so early either way.

"I hope so," I whispered before walking off towards my front door. Turning around once again, I noticed that Caden was still at the same spot, eyeing me. I gave him a small wave, opened the door and went inside.

Just as I had expected, the lounge was still crowded with people. All I had to do now was creep up to my room without getting noticed. That was the only thing I was looking forward to, honestly.

But before I could've taken another step towards the stairs, Mom came right in front of me. And she did not look happy.

"One hour, Skylar! We agreed on one hour!" She asked me angrily, trying to keep her voice low at the same time.

I let out a small, nervous laugh in response and that was the worst thing I could've done.

"If it weren't for Alex's, I wouldn't have let you go." She added.

That meant Alex hadn't told her. I owed him my life.

"I won't do it again, Mom. I'm really sorry." I apologized sincerely--as much sincerely as I could've at that moment.

She just shook her head at me, clearly not buying it. But to my surprise, she didn't press onto it either. "We'll talk about this later. Right now, I want you to...yes, meet somebody."

I opened my mouth to say something, but she took my arm the next instant, dragging me towards one of her guests. That wasn't odd. Mom did that a lot. And I truly hated it when she did that--forced me to awkwardly meet total strangers.

Wasn't she aware that I had no social life?

She stopped in front of a man and a woman standing along the couch, seemingly indulged in some talk until they saw Mom and me making our way towards them. Like I had expected, they were nowhere near familiar to me.

"This is Mr and Mrs Matthews." Mom introduced them with a polite smile towards the man and the woman. "And their son, Blake."

I froze at my spot then, because I really couldn't believe what I was seeing right now. Standing in front of me was a blond boy. The blond guy who had almost killed Caden on our school grounds.

How could he be here?

My eyes widened in response as I looked at him. And a chill ran down my spine when he stared back at me with those icy blue eyes, a small smirk curling on his lips.

Things had just gotten messier.

________

Xoxo,

Crystal 🌿