☽Ⓛ❈Ⓒ☾

His voice is so deep and husky, it takes me a moment to register what he's said.

"Sorry!" I mutter and hurriedly take my things off his side.

Once the space is clear, he sits down and throws his bag on the floor.

"Dante, get your book out," the teacher calls from the front of the room.

He scowls again and reluctantly gets his exercise book from his bag. As he leans over, I catch sight of a black tattoo peeking above his shirt on the back of his neck.

Gang member.

He pulls out his book and a pen and begrudgingly writes out the date and title. I breathe in and his cologne hits me. He smells so good. I try to focus on what the teacher is saying, but it's difficult to concentrate when such an attractive guy is next to me.

Sure, they were good looking guys at my old school, but nothing like Dante.

It'll be fine, just focus.

Just as long as the teacher doesn't make us work in pairs...

'So, next week, you will be trying this technique out yourselves. I would like you to work with a partner to...'

Fucking fabulous.

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The rest of my first day passes successfully.

After finishing school, I walk to my siblings' primary school.

It's strange, waiting outside with the other parents. A seventeen year old, in school uniform, waiting to collect the kids.

Once all three of them have come out, we continue the walk home. I unlock the door for them and usher them inside.

Knowing it's what our mum would want, I get them settled at the kitchen table. Whilst they tell me about their day, I make them some toast as an after-school snack.

About half an hour later, Mum gets home.

"Thank you so much, darling. You can sign off now. Did you have a good day?" She asks and I nod.

"Yeah. It was good. I'll be in my room," I tell her.

As I enter the hall to go upstairs, my dad comes home. He asks about my day and then goes through to be with his family.

I collapse onto my bed when I get upstairs. It was my first day and I'm exhausted already.

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The second day is much like the first, until fourth period. I'm in drama and a guy sits down next to me.

He's rather attractive, with sandy-coloured hair and laughing green eyes. He gives me the once over and grins.

"New girl, right? I'm Michael, but everyone calls me Mikey," he introduces himself and sticks his hand out to me.

I eye him warily, but smile back. "Allie. Nice to meet you."

I chat with Mikey during the lesson and we work together on the activities the teacher gives us. After the bell rings, we both have fifth period free to 'study'.

The two of us go to the common room and spend the hour getting to know each other. I'll admit, he's actually alright. He has a good sense of humour and is very laidback.

He invites me to a party on Friday night, I know I'll be allowed to go. My parents are very trusting with me. They think I'm mature for my age because I help out so much with their kids, so they let me have free rein to make my own decisions.

They trust me not to fuck up school or mess about with drugs and alcohol. In return, I don't betray their trust. At my old school, my mum would always let me go to parties, as long as I texted her if I was on my way home. If I was staying over, she made me text her that I was okay before I went to sleep or first thing in the morning.

As long as I stay out of trouble and get good grades, I'm allowed a lot of freedom. They were even cool with me having my ex-boyfriend round. He was allowed to stay in my room, which I was really shocked about. She trusts me not to do anything stupid.

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"So, what do you think about this party on Friday night?" I ask Steph.

She nods enthusiastically. "I'm game."

Millie wrinkles her nose. "I'm not sure, it's Rick Borden's party."

I don't even know who that is, Mikey just said his friend was having a house party because his parents were away.

"Who's Rick Borden?"

Raquel grimaces. "He used to be in our year. Got kicked out of school just before summer for bringing a knife in. He told the teachers it was for self-defence, but we all know he had it out for Luke S," she says.

Who's Luke S?

As if sensing my next question, Raquel continues.

"This boy from a rival gang. Luke and Rick have been fighting since year 9, when they first joined their gangs. Anyways, Luke's parents moved him away and Rick got kicked out. A lot of people are still friends with him though, hence, the party."

"I'm still game," Steph says and looks at me.

I'm the new girl and I need to fit in around here, I nod in agreement to come to the party.

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My mum is cool about me going to the party. As long as I bring my siblings home from school and I text her at midnight to let her know I'm okay, I'm allowed to go and stay out as late as I want or even stay over.

Like I said, she trusts me. I'm eighteen next year, almost an adult.

I dress in one of my favourite dresses. It's hot pink, short and strapless. Paired with some heels, I grab my clutch to complete the outfit. I meet Millie, Steph and Raquel out on the street when my mum drops me off.

She introduces herself to my friends and then makes a quick departure, eager to get back and enjoy her Friday evening. Now that I've met up with the girls, we enter the party together.

Rick Borden is a drug dealer. He rents a terraced house on a dodgy street. His neighbours don't appear to be fazed by the loud music or crowds of people pouring into and out of the house beside them.

The smell of weed is strong in the air as we enter the house. Millie grips my hand as we merge with the crowds to get to the kitchen.

There are quite a few people already there, mixing drinks and talking. I pull the small bottle of vodka from my clutch and Raquel gets out the big bottle she paid her brother to buy for us. Using some fruit juice, we mix our drinks and eagerly start drinking them to catch up with the buzz the other partygoers are feeling.

"Let's go outside, it's too loud in here," Steph suggests.

We go out onto the patio. There are camping chairs set up in the dingy garden. It's obvious that Rick doesn't tend his garden because there are weeds everywhere and his sorry excuse of a lawn is some patchy grass and mud.

There aren't enough seats so Millie sits down and pulls me onto her lap. We chat about who we can see at the party and who we think might be coming. I get to meet the host himself a few minutes later.

"Ladies!" A loud voice interrupts our conversation. "Thank you for coming."

Rick is a year older than us and looks every bit the gang member / drug dealer he is. He is dressed in drop-crotch sweatpants, an over-sized t-shirt and a chain thicker than my fingers.

"I see you've brought a newbie," he says, his brown eyes focussed on me. "Whatup sexy, I'm Rick."

How is this guy cool?

"Hi, I'm Allie," I reply cautiously.

Luckily, someone calls Rick's name and he excuses himself. As I watch him go, I catch sight of Dante Romano across the garden. He's sat on some decking in the corner with his friends. He's on a wooden bench with a pretty girl of Asian descent sat on his lap.

He looks bored as his friend talks to him. The girl is on her phone, clearly uninterested in the conversation as well. His eyes slide over and lock with mine.

I look at his friend and then at Rick nearby, trying to make it look like I'm studying everyone, not just staring at him. Something tells me that his ego doesn't need a boost.

"Want another drink, Al?" Steph asks.

She takes my cup and she and Raquel go inside to refresh our drinks. I can still feel my skin prickling so I look back at Dante. He is looking right at me, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Wow, Dante really is interested in you, isn't he?" Millie murmurs next to me.

I break eye contact with him to scoff at her. "I think he stares at everything."

She snorts back at me. "Nuh-uh, girl. Nothing interests him, that boy is permanently bored, yet he seems pretty interested in you tonight. Told you that you look good in that dress."

"Thank you," I reply shyly.

I don't know why I care that he's looking at me. He should really be paying attention to the girl on his lap, I can't imagine she appreciates wandering eyes.

The girls bring out our drinks and we start up our conversation again. After about ten minutes, movement catches my eye in my peripherals. I look over and see Dante nudge the girl to make her get up.

She looks like she's protesting and he all but shoves her off of his lap. She teeters in her heels and grabs hold of him. Dante makes sure that she is stable before pushing her hands off of his arm and stepping away.

He says something to his mates, turns around and locks eyes with me. I can't seem to make myself look away as he walks straight towards us.

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