Chapter 4

I snorted, Mountain Dew spewing out of my nose. "What?!" Chris nodded. "Yep. West Side attack at the abandonded factory this morning. Three injured, two uninjured." I whipped my head toward him. "How many West Side dudes?" "About ten. They bumped up their attack, too: They were armed with knives this time." I looked down at my now empty Mountain Dew can, crunching it in my now clenched hand. Then I jumped up, looking down at Chris. "Know anyone who sells knives?"

We swerved into the Jamestown Flea Market, home to some of the cheapest things on the planet. Great place to shop. I had a twenty in my pocket; just enough for knives. Chris had the money for lunch. I jumped forward, the board hitting the back of my foot. Chris screetched to a halt beside me, grinning. "I see him. Hey, Tater-Tot!" I looked over to see a short, spunky teen with a bright red mohawk and brown eyes. His outfit stood out: a red, green, and purple shirt with black gym shorts. "KC, this is Tater-Tot. His real name's Tracker, but he's really short. He's 18." He looked like he was, like, twelve. Dude, you need steroids. Bad. "He moved here from Texas. He joined last week." Tater-Tot jogged over to us. "Hey, dog! Wassup?!" Chris high-fived him. "Hey, Tot! Nuthin' much. You got any more knives?" Tot grinned, leading us to his station, where there was about sixty knives on display. Literally. I'm not kidding. Dude's selling SIXTY freakin' knives at the age of eighteen. What the heck? "Dude, how much?" Tot looked at me. "How many you need?" I looked over at Chris. "How many homies we got in the gang?" Chris computed some calculations. "We have twenty, so get about forty, just in case more join." I looked back at Tot, who looked amazed. "Okay, how's this: Forty knives for twenty bucks." Perfect! I nodded, smiling, and pulled the money out of my pocket. "Man, the gang's gonna love these!" I put the knives in the bag, thanking Tater Tot for the knives and the deal. "Aw, it's nuthin. Anything for another gang member!" Then Chris and I shot out of there, heading toward Jake's house first, since it was closest.

I knocked on the front door of Jake's house, Chris backing me up. Jake's mother came to the door, Jake's two-year-old brother Charlie in her arms. Behind her, the fam was going crazy, as usual. "Hey, guys! Jake's upstairs. Come in, come in!" We walked through the doorway, a red dodgeball almost thwacking my face when I ducked below it, the ball flying into the yard. "Whoa there, sport!" Devin, Jake's seven-year-old bro, came tearing through the hall, chasing the ball outside. I chuckled, walking into the kitchen where Jake's dad and Jake's thirteen-year-old sister Chanelle was cooking something delicious. I waved at them and headed upstairs with an alert Chris following me. I kniocked on Jake's door, hearing Lecrae blare out of his boombox. The music paused and Jake's face popped out of his door. "Hey, guys! What's up? Come on in!" He opened the door up all the way, sitting down at his computer. "Check it!" He pulled up a video on Windows Media Player, which played automatically. I knew at once that it was his Gotee Records promo. He's been trying to get noticed for a year. After it was done, we congradulated him. "So, what's up, my homies?" I looked at him. "Have you heard about the recent West Side attacks with their added attack on East Side peeps?" Jake nodded. "Well, I decided to get everyone a knife, so they could fight back." I handed him a knife with a eagle engraved in the handle. "Dang, man! High-quality wood and a blade that's really sharp. Thanks, guys." He held it properly. "It fits perfectly! Wow, you guys are great!" I grinned and locked eyes with Chris, who was grinning with me. I looked back at Jake, who was still gawking over his knife. "Well, dog, we gotta hand these other knives out, so we'll be in touch." We headed out, fighting the family to the door. The other houses were like that, just minus the promo and the dodgeball.

I walked into my room, throwing my bag on the bed and my shoes on the floor. Then I headed to the bathroom, shutting the door and leaning on it, sighing. I walked toward the sink, turning the faucet on and splashing my face with the cool water. I looked up into the mirror and rubbed under my right eye, now noticing the dark circles forming under my eyes. I haven't been able to get good sleep ever since the incident, but now I haven't even been able to sleep period. I groaned and sat on the edge of the tub, holding my head in my heads. I wasn't sure what to do. I mean, would you know what to do with THIRTY kids in your gang alone and seven other gangs to take care of? And they were all about to fight WAY stronger gangs? [There's about fifteen gangs over there.] On top of that, you couldn't sleep because of what happened four years ago that still gives you nightmares and the fact that you were an orphan? I didn't think so. I stood up and headed toward my room, laying down on my bed. I sighed and turned over, knowing that I wouldn't be able to sleep. Chris poked his head in. "Hey, Case, can I come in?" I sat up. "Yeah." He came in and sat down on the bed. "What's wrong, Casey?" I sighed and looked down. "I haven't been able to sleep since...since what Demon did to me. He done more than stab me." Chris snorted. "I can tell. You're starting to get circles under your eyes. What happened?" I wiped a tear from my eye. "Remember at the training at school, I said something about what we've been through? What were my examples?" Chris thought for a minute. "Fire, Fights, Loss, and....oh. Rape." I smiled weakly. "Bingo. Give the kid a prize. He took me to a party, and I used to like him. We were going out. Then we went to his apartment with a few guys and then they locked the doors and the windows, closed the blinds. I thought it was for security measures. Then they went to the bedroom, and I followed. I wasn't the omega of the pack. I was 'the chick Demon was dating' to the gang. Then, when we were all in there, they locked the door and hid the key somewhere, so I couldn't run away. And that's when I realized what was going on. They pulled out handcuffs and chained me to the bed. It was one of those beds that had the metal bars for a headboard. After they chained me, Demon charged. I screamed for help the whole time, but the other guys were egging him on. And then, when he was done, the other guys took turns, like a ride at Carowinds or something. This went on until about eight in the morning, when I was so tired, I was KO'ed. They cleaned up and unhooked me from the bed, unlocking the door. I hurt and ached so bad. Then Demon heard me cry out, so he went in there and stabbed me over ten times. That's when someone heard the noise, called the cops, and they found me, near death, barely breathing, and laying in a small pool of blood. They never sought out the one who did it. Then we made the truce and I came over here. Haven't been able to sleep well ever since. That's why, when we battle, I'm gonna tear him to strips and then burn that." I didn't notice that I was crying and quivering with anger. Chris came closer and took me into his arms. Now it was me who was tensing up at someone's touch. Chris held me like a loving father holds his daughter when her boyfriend broke up with her. He held me until I fell asleep in his arms, then laid me down, quietly sneaking out of my room.

I woke up to the morning light, feeling a new day dawning as it poured over me. I smiled, yawning. Then I froze, realizing I actually slept well. I thanked God for a great sleep and got my rebellion clothes on. My new protest T-Shirt was laid out with some jeans and my new shoes. I slipped into the outfit, grabbed my board and ran downstairs where Chris was crashed out on the couch, his song-pad beside him. He was writing a new song. Cool. I looked down to see a large drool spot and snickered, writing him a note:

Hey man! Went down to the skate store to get stuff for the protest today. See ya there!

--Skatin' Homie,

KC

P.S.: Don't forget to wipe up your drool, dog. Yo dreamin' of food again? :P

I walked into the skate store, where Mrs. Macheffer was helping a short teen with emo hair and hazel eyes. He was wearing a beanie, a torn tank-top, black skinnys, and high top DC's. I recognized him as Ryan from school. He owns his own skateboard company, Chaos Skate Decks, and he has his own gang. Mrs. Macheffer left him and I walked over to him. "Hey, Moose!" He whirled around and nodded. "What's up, KC!" I shrugged. "Eh. You comin to the protest?" He nodded. "Yep. Just talking with Chris's mom bout it. We'll be there. I'm bringing Chaotic with me." Chaotic was his gang. "You hear about the West Side attacks on our side?" Moose shook his head. "Here. Give these to your gang." I handed him six knives, which he stuck in his pocket. "Thanks, dog! I have to go round Chaotic up, so talk to you later!" He rode out with protest bracelets and T-Shirts. I smirked and went to the counter, where Mrs. Macheffer was hauling the last of the T-Shirts and bracelets onto the truck. "Ready?" I nodded, and we headed to the skate spot, me on my board, her in the truck.

We pulled up to see all of the East Side skaters waiting, armed with signs and stuff like that. I grabbed a bracelet and slipped it on, climbing into the skate spot. I went over to Chris, who smiled when he saw me. His smile was different, more....sincere. Hmm... I walked over to the gang, who was anxiously waiting for me to get there. "Hey guys, you ready to protest? Everyone's here!" I rode up to the highest ramp, standing at the top with a megaphone. "We skaters have a say in the destruction of this park. We helped make it into what it is today, and we're not gonna let it fall without a fight. We want to talk with the president of the Advert company." A bulky, fat dude came out of the crowd. "Are you the President of Advert?" He yelled in answer. "Yes!" I heard some skaters shout in hatred at him. "Skaters! Quiet!" Everyone shut up. I rode down the ramp to face the dude. "Why tear down the skate park?" He sighed. "We need more buildings! And we can't tear down the skate store." When he said that, he sparked an idea in my head. "If you help fund my new idea, then you can. We can reserve a corner here to build a skate store, and then we skaters can test our equipment here to see if it's right, and then you can have the spot that the skate store takes up now. Are you up to it?" The dude nodded. We shook hands and I told the rest of the East Side what's happening. Everyone cheered and we set out to prep for the construction workers to build the new skate store.

A week later...

I scratched the back of my head as I stood in line for the bus to Winston-Salem. It turns out that I have to go see what's up with the whole truce thing, since everyone's a wimp and I know every twist and turn. Even Chris stayed back. I almost murdered him when he said he was staying. Eh, well, he's in charge until I get back. I jumped onto the bus, paying the driver two bucks and taking a seat. We made about five stops before we pulled up to Winston-Salem's bus stop, the area bringing up old memories and flashbacks. I stepped off the bus to see an old friend waiting for me. "Hey, Casey, what's new?" "Nothin much, Thunder." Thunder [His real name's Charlie] was a sixteen-year-old, colored, cool dude with black hair and turquoise eyes. He always wore blue, black, and white. He lived in a condo with Thadeius [seven, real name's Chuck] and Fhadeius [ten, real names Buck] and he has two parents, who are never there. Thunder nodded. "Man, Demon's been different since that night. He's been... changed." Thunder tried to talk the others out of the little thing at the apartment, but it didn't work. I snorted. "I'm still not takin that sleazebag back. I still can't sleep peacefully. Anyway, my mom just died a month ago, which didn't help at all. Then, we're getting attacked by this side, so I'm here to see what's up." Thunder gulped. "He's tryin to get your attention. He wants you back. And, if you say no, then it's all-out war. Before that starts, though, I'm heading to the East Side. I'm joining your gang, if you're in a gang." I nodded. "I'm the alpha of the Wild Grinders. You know, the gang that's on top." Thunder raised his eyebrows, shocked. "Really?! Holy crap! Demon's gonna spaz! He thought you were living on the streets and that you were gonna come back whining and wanting him back. He was gonna give you the omega spot. He's gonna be pissed. " I grinned. "Well, let him be pissed. I'm gonna go talk with him. But, before that, can I visit the Stormgliders's hideout?" Hey, they were my fave gang back then. Don't be hatin'. Thunder nodded. "They've missed you the most. Come on!" We jumped on our boards and sped downtown, heading toward the Hideaway, the surburbs of Winston-Salem.

I walked into the abandonded home of the Stormgliders, seeing old and new faces. Only one dude noticed me and whooped. "Hey guys! Check it! It's Casey, Demon's old girlfriend!" Then he whistled, checking me out. This dude was anotha' skater who was an old friend. His name is Ryan Collier. He has brown bedraggled hair and blue eyes, and he's sixteen. He's always in black. He also hates apricots. Just lettin ya know. I glared playfully and he laughed, his hair bouncing. I rolled my eyes and I went into the kitchen where there was a dude digging through the fridge. "Dangit! Alright, where'd ya'll put the Sun Drop?" I heard Ryan burst out laughing and the guy in front of me groan. "Come on, dog! Not funny!" I snorted and he turned around to show a colored dude who looked pretty dope. He was wearing a white hoodie with a matching hat, blue jeans, and black tennis shoes. His face kinda looked like Lecrae. I nodded and he smiled. "Hey, who's girl is this?" Thunder popped in. "Nobody's, now. She's the girl Demon used to love. You remember the story at the apartment?" He nodded. "Well, this is the girl." I grinned, and his mouth dropped. "You're.... wow." I looked over and saw the Sun Drop on the counter. I grabbed two and handed him one. He grabbed it and yelled into the living room: "Ha-ha, very funny!" I snickered and went to sit down at the table to see a Rottweiler in my spot. "Rex, get down, boy! You crazy pup." He jumped down and I sat in the chair, the fridge dude sitting down. "Name's KC. What's yo name?" He looked up to meet my gaze. "Jason, but everyone calls me Wolf. Where'd you go for the last four years? I mean, you've been my hero." I smirked. "Went to the East Side for a fresh start. Now, I'm the alpha of the Wild Grinders, the top dog gang. But, I'mma find out what's up with this truce thing, and what's goin on; West Side peeps are attacking our side, so soon it might be an all-out war. I'm stayin for a week, though, so your 'hero' is gonna be here for a couple of days. I'm actually thinking about taking the Stormgliders over to the East Side with me. Over there, you don't need to worry about rape, theft, death, things like that. Well, actually, my mom just died in a fire from a dropped cigarette, so, eh. It depends. It's fun there." Jason seemed excited. "Sweet! That'll be epic!" I smiled. "Hey, Wolf, you heard of Christ?" He looked at me all confused. "Christ?" I nodded. "He was crucified on the cross for our sins; the bad things we do. Demon doesn't know about him, and he didn't listen to me earlier. Are you willing to become a Christian?" He thought about it for a minute and nodded, eager. "Ok, so God created the whole world and everything on it. It talks about it in His book, the Bible. He created the heavens and the earth. And he created two people, a man and a woman. Adam and Eve were their names. And they lived in paradise for a long time. And, in the center of this garden, there was this special tree, which God commanded Adam and Eve NOT to eat the fruit off of. But, one day, Eve was walking past the tree when this snake slithered out of it. The snake was the Devil, or Satan, and he tempted Eve to eat the fruit, telling her it would open her eyes. And she ate the fruit, had Adam eat it, and then they realized that they were naked. So they made clothes out of leaves and hid from God, who cast them out of the garden and put an angel at each entrance. Then Adam and Eve had kids, which had kids, and so on. Then, one day, this virgin, Mary, was pregnant with a kid. And the guy she was going to marry, Joseph, didn't want to humiliate Mary, so he planned to break up with her in silence. But, then an angel told Joseph not to, that this child was one of the Holy Spirit, not another dude. Yo with me so far?" Wolf nodded. "So, on a starry night, this couple came to Bethlehem, where they were looking for a place to crash for the night. But, everywhere was full. So, they found a stable, and that's where our Savior, Jesus, was born. And people came from far and wide to see this miracle, because it was prophesized that the Messiah would be coming soon. So, Jesus was born, and that's how Christmas came along to be. The Christmas tree stands for the wooden cross that Jesus was crucified on for our sins. God gave his only son so that, if we believed in Him, we wouldn't be thrown into the eternal lake of fire, or Hell. The presents stand for the gifts that the kings and people brought for Jesus. But, there's arguement that He was born around Easter, so, we can't tell. Here's the cool thing: When JC was crucified, He was put inside a stone tomb and a huge circular stone covered the door. But, on the third day, Mary and a couple of other women went to put things outside of the tomb to see the stone rolled away from the doorway and the tomb was empty! When they started to panic, an angel came to them and sat on top of the rolled-away stone and told them the Messiah has came back to life! He stayed for a month, and then went up to Heaven, telling everyone He'll be back for His followers." Wolf snorted. "Kinda sounds like Jesus has His own Twitter account and everyone who follows him will be taken with him when he comes back! Am I right?" I laughed and nodded. "Yep. Nice comparison. So, if you come back with me, I have a few extra Bibles at my place. I'll get ya one!" Wolf whooped and jumped up, throwing his Sun Drop can away. "But, here's the trick, you have to welcome Christ and God into yo heart. Don't be scared that there's something in your heart that God will turn yo away from Him. He already knows everything in there! If you remind me later, we'll get together and pray. I'll help you with what to pray about." I smiled at him warmly, seeing his face light up. "I'mma tell Ryan about Him and ask him to be a Christian!" He dashed into the living room and I could hear him tell Ryan about Christ. I chuckled, sipping my drink and petting Rex. He licked my hand and I realized that he's changed. He used to hate people period. Now he's a big softie. I smiled. Thunder came in, chuckling and shaking his head. I looked at him quizzically. "I have never seen Wolf that happy. What did you do, ask him out?" Good idea, man! "Nah, just told him about Christ. But, he is pretty dope! If he's up to it, he should ask ME out, not vice versa." Thunder shrugged. I coughed. "Well, tomorrow I'll go confront Demon. The little son-of-a-gun better be ready, cause I'm not even gonna knock." Thunder's eyes grew big. "Holy crap, I think some of his demon stuff got into ya, girl." I looked up. "Eh, I guess his torture woke the monster up, and now he's cravin' some Demon right now." We both chuckled at that. "Well, at least now that the Stormgliders are noticing Christ, they'll fit in right at home on the East Side with my gangs. We're all hard-core Christians that don't care much for anything; except when another skater is going through some kind of crisis. Then, we care. But, other than that, it's a care-free side. Here, you guys worry about theft, fights, rape, hurt, anger. This place needs Christ, but Demon is against that. I don't know why, but he just is. You guys should be able to believe anything; not be Atheyist. Over on our side, everyone chose to be Christians. But, they can change when they want to. Over here, there's social ranks and stuff like that. You guys focus too much on the outward appearance then what's on the inside." By now, Ryan and Wolf was in there, listening in on what I was saying. "Demon is a sorry excuse for a leader. He murders, rapes, steals, and stuff like that to prove his 'power'. He's weak, though. Throw him in an emotional battle. He may be physically strong, but he's nothing without mental and emotional strength. He still has both parents and a loving home. He has warm food to eat every night and a warm bed to sleep in. He takes everything for granted. He doesn't give anything to his followers. Me, I give skaters some of my hard-earned cash and even a place to crash, before that was burned in a fire. But, I still have God and my fellow skaters. I'm crashin' with a dude name Chris right now, actually. We're like bro and sis. So, I know I'm in good hands. What if Demon suddenly lost everything? Would you guys help him?" They shrugged. "I never put any thought to that." Ryan admitted. I smirked. "Well, I would, but out of the kindness of my heart. I forgive him, you know. For the whole incident. Even though he done it in hatred, I still forgive him. With His help, of course. You know, he still may be evil, but there's still hope for him. He still may be good. When I confront him later, I'm gonna tell him about Christ. Then, if that fails, then the truce will be brought up. So, we cool with it?" Everyone nodded. "Alright, now, that's tomorrow. Wake up around eight. We'll roll out at nine." I glanced at the clock, and it glowed nine-fifteen. Wolf cleared his throat. 'Hey, KC, you wanna do the prayer thing?" I grinned and nodded. "Everyone have a seat. Clap your hands together and keep them there, as if frozen. Ok, after this prayer, then you tell Christ and God what's on your mind. First, I want you to silently repeat what I say in your head. Here we go. Heavenly Father, I open my heart and my mind for you to come in and heal me. I give everything to You, Lord, to follow in your footsteps, and to listen to Your every command and wish. I want You to fill me with peace, hope and love, and wipe my slate clean, give me another chance, a fresh start. I have heard of Your everlasting forgiveness and grace and I am willing to leave everything behind to follow You, Father. In Christ's name I pray, Amen." I gave them enough time to finish praying, and smirked. "Feel the Spirit now? Can you feel His grace in this kitchen?" Everyone nodded. "Alright. G'night! See ya'll at eight!" I got up and went to the guest room, where my stuff was, and crashed, feeling complete.

I woke up, feeling the sun on my face, and I told myself "Well, KC, it's a new day! Can't wait!" I hopped out of the bed to see the clock show eight o'clock exactly. I yawned, getting up to brush my hair and then went into the living room, seeing everyone up. "Hey guys." Everyone hollered back and Wolf came up to me, changed. "Man, I got the best sleep last night! It was great!" I grinned. "Cool, dog." I walked into the kitchen, opened the fridge and pulled out some eggs and cheese. I fished a pan out and made some scrambled eggs for everyone, along with some pancakes. We ate and headed out, prepared for what was ahead of us.

We swerved under the bridge and into the sewer pipe that lead to the FireDemonz hideout. The hideout was underground, in a blocked area in the sewers. The pipe was the only way to get to it. We stopped at the door, taking a deep breath. I nodded, my knife deep in my pocket. Everyone surrounded me, and Thunder opened the door, walking in front of me. Demon was sitting on a recliner, which was on top of a trampoline. His blonde hair was long, and his bright green eyes were piercing, making me start to silently hyperventilate. His outfit was all leather black, with a collar and gloves, both spiked. He smirked when he noticed me, leaning forward to see me better. "Ah, there's my girl. How's my love muffin?" I growled. "I'm NO-ONE'S love muffin. Especially not YOURS." He whistled. "My, my, you've bittered. You used to be sweet." "I was, until you messed with me! But, I'm only bitter toward you. Even though I forgive you for that night, (and that's because of God), I still have nightmares and stuff. But, now I love everyone." I pulled Wolf and Ryan closer, hugging them. I heard Wolf sigh, and I rolled my eyes. "Well, then, I guess you have those nightmares on the street, where you've been living for the past four years. Am I right?" I shook my head. "Nope, you're wrong. I am the Alpha of the Wild Grinders!" That statement echoed off of the walls and came back; Demon gasped; and I smirked. "I didn't come whining back for more love. I came here about the truce." Now Demon smirked. "Well, now that some sleazebag took my girl, the truce is broken! It's war! Sharon, Bruce, get her!" Two really buff people came and grabbed me from behind. "Take her to the bedroom! I'll be in there in ten." My eyes widened and I fought back, biting and kicking. They pulled me into the room, shoving me in there and locking the door. I growled and looked around for something to help, and then I remembered my knife. Demon came in there and shut the door behind him, and I glared. "Ah, Kitty-Cat, come on, girl." Kitty-Cat used to be my nickname. I growled back. He came closer and I backed up until I hit the wall and he trapped me, bent in, and before I could move, he kissed me. I tried to escape, but he leaned onto me, unzipping his pants. I gave a final shove and pushed him onto the bed, pulling my knife out. His eyes widened and I evilly grinned. "Dude, no. No!" I charged him and he whipped his foot up, tripping me onto the bed, where he rolled me over and sat down on me, smirking. I squirmed, but he was too heavy. Then he unzipped my pants, and I went ballistic. I grabbed my knife and cut his chest, making him cry out. I got free and zipped my pants, swearing for the first time. Then I dashed to the door and tore it open, running out to see the others tied up. There was no one there, so I slid over and cut the rope, freeing them. As we were running, I heard Demon cry out and a gunshot. Seconds later, I felt excrutiating pain in my shoulder and I dropped to my knees, Wolf shouting at the others. They helped me up and I kept running, jumping on my board. We made it to the Hideaway, and I fell onto the couch while the others got bandages and things like that. I tore my shirt off, having a tank-top under it, and the boys got to work.

I whimpered, the pain still shooting from my shoulder. They got the bullet out and cleaned me up, and now the Stormgliders and I were all getting on the bus to get back to Morganton. Rex was allowed on, but only because the bus driver and I were buds. We got to our stop and I stepped off, clutching my arm to my side. It seemed to help the pain. I got onto my board, heading toward the skate spot, where I hoped to see my gang.

We swerved into the gate, where Chris and the gang were sitting around, just chilling. Chris looked up, whooped, and then noticed the bandages. He ran to me, freaking out. "KC! What happened?!" I sighed. "Demon tried to do it. Again. Then, when we were running away, he shot me. The truce is broken, and now it's all-out war. Here's another thing: The attacks; they were meant to catch my eye and make me crawl back to him. I said No. Then he got pissed. So, it's us against a pissed-off Demon and his gangs. Oh, guys, I want to introduce the Stormgliders." They met and then were chatting it up. I sat down on the bench, tired and hurt. Chris sat down with me. "He tried to... rape you again?" I nodded. "Got as far as unzipping my pants. Then I slashed him across the chest. He moved then. Then, during our escape, he shot me. So, it's war." He sighed. "I knew I shouldn't have stayed. I knew it!" I laid my hand on his shoulder. "Dude, it wasn't your fault! He tied up the Stormgliders, or they would have helped stop them! Thunder was the only gang leader who didn't rape me at the apartment! That's why they're here. They deserve the good life." Wolf came over and sat on the other side of me. "Hey, guys. I felt left out over there." He looked at me. "How's the arm?" I whimpered. "It aches a little." Chris snorted. "I heard a whimper. Whimpering and you don't mix well." I frowned, discovered. "I just don't like peeps worryin' about me. I mean, dang." I sighed. "Well, thank God no one's callin' me Kitty-Cat. I would murder that kid. We have to be on our guard at all times. No traveling alone." Chris snorted. "KC, you need to lay down. You can't fight like this." I whipped my head toward him, standing up. "You think I can't fight right now? Well, you can't tell me what I can and can't do." I stomped away, hearing Wolf explain to Chris that Demon said the same thing a few years back. I walked into the new skate store, Mrs. Macheffer gasping when she laid her eyes on the bandages. "Case, what happened? Who hurt you?" I looked up at her and weakly smiled. "Whatever happened to 'Hey, Casey, what's up?'" Mrs. Macheffer smiled, knowing I wasn't gonna answer her. "I'm now pissed at Chris. He told me that I had to lay down and sit this fight out. Said I can't fight. And, on top of that, he sounded exactly like Demon. I almost broke. I needed to get away, and now I feel bad." I sighed, realizing that she wasn't even listening to me. I went back outside and left the skate spot, no one noticing me leave.

Chapter 3

Knock! Knock! "What could you possibly want?" I exclaimed into my pillow, irritated. "Case, girl! Get up and get your butt ready for school!" I groaned, pushing myself upwards into a sitting position. Knock! Knock! Knock! "Gosh dangit, I’m up already! Give me a minute! Pushy, pushy..." I listened to his footsteps thud down the hall as I sat there, rubbing my eyes. I shoved myself off the bed towards the closet, almost slamming my face into the door. I huffed and rolled my eyes, opening the door and grabbing my outfit for the day: my blue-and-white DC shirt with its matching hoodie, my blue jeans, my new skateboard, shoes, and hat from yesterday, and my blue-and-white book bag with the words "Boomin’ out the stereo system!" with a boom box on the back. After I slipped on all the clothes and slung my book bag over my shoulder, I grabbed my board and opened the door, the smell of pancakes causing my stomach to growl. I rubbed my belly, grinning. I dropped my board, jumping on its gritty surface. I pushed off, jumping onto the stair’s rail, grinding it down to the bottom. I landed on the floor, holding the board in my hand. I strolled into the kitchen, where Mrs. Macheffer was cooking pancakes, eggs, and...OMG, she’s cookin’ bacon! (Oh, wow...I just sounded like a prep. Lord, shoot me now, I’m losin’ it!) I love meat. Just puttin’ that out there. Chris was watching the TV while petting the two dogs, not even noticing the epic entrance. I slumped down at the bar and yawned, Chris finally noticing a third living person in the room. "Morning, KC! Sleep well?" Chris asked me, his energy vibe messing my mind up. I grunted, dropping my head on the bar’s cold, flat marble-stone surface. Chris laughed heartily. "I guess not!" he managed to squeeze out. I glared up at him, growling. Chris’s laughter died and he patted my back. "Kay, guys! Breakfast is ready!" Mrs. Macheffer exclaimed, setting down three pancakes, four pieces of bacon, and some scrambled eggs, with an espresso from Starbucks. (We ordered it. Duh. Starbucks takes all my money, Redbull takes all my money. Heh-heh.) I licked my lips, said a quick prayer, and vacuumed my food into the black hole known as my stomach. Chris took a sip of his coffee and looked over at me, immediately doing a spittake. "Where did yo food go, woman? There's no way you ate that freakin' fast. Show me the food." I grinned. "Dude, the only food you'll find is in my belly! And, trust me, you do NOT wanna see that." I took my plate to the sink, rinsing it off and sticking it into the dishwasher. After that, I sat down onto the couch, petting the pups and watching Ridiculousness on MTV. Chris finished eating his breakfast and then he grabbed his backpack, along with his skateboard. I jumped up, my skateboard dropping to the floor. "Ready?" Chris nodded. I opened the front door, the morning breeze cooling me off. ( It was burnin up in there!) I waved bye to Mrs. Macheffer and headed out, the skateboard rolling smoothly on the asphalt sidewalk. The sun was rising and I paused, stunned at it's beauty. Chris caught up with me and then we shot off, proving why we were the top dog gang. I stopped to check if I had my mp3 in my pocket while Chris shot on, wanting to get to school thirty minutes early. As I was digging through my crap, I heard shouting coming from the alleyway across the street from where I was standing. I zipped up my bag and rode across the street into the alleyway to see a group of six West Side teens gaining up on about three kids- one brown boy and two really pale girls. The tallest kid was a girl, had strawberry blonde hair, brown eyes, and was about six feet tall. She was wearing jeans and a NC hoodie.The other girl was short, had long, brown hair, hazel eyes, and was wearing jean shorts with a hot pink tank-top. The dude had brown eyes, black hair, and was wearing a black shirt with purple shorts. I recognized him from somewhere, I just couldn't remember from where. The West Side peeps were wearing all black, so I couldn't tell who they were. I growled, glaring at the West Side group. They whirled around and squeaked when they realized who I was. But then one brave teen smirked and scoffed. "Well, well, well... if it isn't the Wild Grinder's petty wimp of a leader. Fight us!" The other teens charged at me, battle cries breaking the morning silence. I smirked, shifting my weight and balled my hands into fists. The first teen jumped at me, fist pulled back. My foot lashed out, landing square into his chest, knocking him down to the cement. I heard a crack when he landed on his arm. Guess he won't be playing any video games anytime soon. The next teen threw a knife at me, which I ducked down and rolled to him, raising my skateboard and cracking it down on his head, hearing him yelp with pain. The third teen jumped on my back, bashing my skull in with his fists. I reached up, pulled him off, and slammed him down, the crash of his skull on the ground cracking the sky. The fourth teen tried to kick me in the stomach, but it kinda backfired when I caught his foot and twisted it to the right, making him scream like a girl. He limped away, whimpering. The leader tried to pull off a Jackie Chan, but then I kicked him in the balls, sending him into the wall. Then the teens wept away, whining. "Yeah, right, wimps. Who's the petty one now, freaks? Don't mess with the East gangs again!" I turned to face the other teens, who were staring at me with wide eyes. "Hey, guys, no need to be freaked out. I'm not gonna bash yo skull in. It's safe." The teens seemed to calmed down enough to talk. "Who are you guys, anyway?" The taller girl stepped forward. "I'm Syd Carz. Call me Syd. The dude is John, or JB. The other girl is Ella, or L.A. for short." I smirked. "Hey, it's like L.A. Symphony! You guys listen to Christian music?" Syd nodded. "Heck yeah!" I nodded. Then JB stepped up. "I don't know if yo remember me, but I used to be a Shadowboarder. See my board?" He flipped it around to show the skull with purple and black flames behind it that was the Shadowboarder logo. I grinned. "Cool. Well, I'm goin to school, so... you guys wanna tag along?" They nodded, hopping onto their boards. Then we rolled out, heading off to join the other Wild Grinders.

We swerved into the parking lot of Blue Sky High School, the lot half-empty. I rode to the door, hopping off my board and kicking it up into my hands. The three other teens followed me into the school, where everyone was waiting to welcome me back. "Welcome back, KC!" Everyone shouted, some people I didn't even know coming up to hug me. I grinned, hugging and giving out high-fives to whoever wanted them. After everything semi-calmed down, I went over to the gang, who were meeting Syd, JB, and L.A. for the first time. "Hey, gang!" Everyone replied and Chris came up to me. "What happened?" I told the gang what had happened, the three teens filling in the details. After we were done, the others were shocked, their mouths hanging wide open. I grinned. "So, we have three more teens joining the gang." Chris looked at me. "KC, they broke the truce. The West Side peeps crossed the line. It's a battlefield now. We have to be careful." I snorted. "I know their weakness, man. Remember? That gaylord of a leader for the FireDemonz was the reason I came over here! I told you about that. Don't you remember?" Chris nodded gravely. I walked over to my locker, putting in my combination. I stuck my skateboard and all of my books in there and took out my drawing notebook, my Math books, and my pencil pouch. I shut my locker, locking my lock. Me, Chris, Vaniell, and Breanna headed off to Math, Vaniell, Breanna, and Chris chatting it up. I walked quietly, lost in thought. 'What if the West Side wants to fight? Are we prepared for this? I'll just talk to the gang later. ' I walked into Math class, which was almost empty. Mr. Weiner was at the front of the class, bored out of his mind. He cheered up when he saw me walk in. "KC! Come here for a min, girl." I walked over with a smile. "Yeah, what's up, Mr. Weiner?" Mr. Weiner smiled. "I just got kicked out of my house by my ex-wife. Can you help me?" I nodded. "Yeah! After school, meet us in the back. And bring your board. I need your help later, training more Wild Grinders. We need as many as we can get." Mr Weiner was the adult Wild Grinder trainer; he trained me to do the ollie. He's really patient and friendly, with his dirty-blonde hair and green eyes. "Why? What's up?" "The West Side broke the truce. You know, the one that sent me over here after the 'incident', if you know what I mean." Mr. Weiner grimaced, nodding. "Alright. after school, 2:45. See ya there! Oh, here's my homework." I turned in my homework from the past month I was in the hospital and then sat down with my buds. We talked about what I missed in school and on the streets, the gang news, and about the other people joining the gang. Then we went to Reading, where it was me, Ben, Miranda, and Chris in the same class. After Reading is Science, where me, Chris, Syd, JB, L.A., Jake, and Miranda was in the same class together, and then- everyone's fave class- Gym! I walked into the gymnasium, where the gang was hanging out in one of the corners, chatting with a small group of people. I jogged over to them, hearing them laugh at something Chris said. "Hey guys! What's up?" Chris turned to me. "KC, you have to meet Matthew! Matt!" A blue-eyed kid walked over to us. "Matthew, KC. KC, Matthew." I waved at him, smiling. He waved back at me, his dark-blonde hair wavering in the breeze his hand caused. I turned to Chris. "Hey, man, I got Mr. Weiner to help train more Wild Grinders. We already have seventeen, taking all of these peeps have joined. We need all the help we can get, just in case they do wanna brawl. Remember, I get Demon. It's time to pay him back for that one dark night... Four years later, and I still have nightmares about that. Only God can help me forgive that son of a stain. Anyway, they have fifteen gangs- one of them are bikers. So, after school, 2:45, training starts. Be there...and spread the word. Anyone who wants to become an official Wild Grinder needs to meet us at 2:45 today." Then the bell rang, sending us to lunch, and then we had Art, Chorus, and, last but certainly not least, Computers.

I slammed my locker shut, resting my head on the cold metal. I didn't know what I was gonna do. I had a whole east side of a county depending on me and my master, God. Hey, God, it's me, Casey. What do I do? I'm stuck, and IDK what to do. Help, please? Jehovah, Jah, I know you're there and that you're listening, so please, help! I lifted my head and sighed, looking at my watch. It was 2:35. I grabbed my board and walked to the back parking lot, where Mr. Weiner was trying to calm down about fifteen people at once. I stopped and took a deep breath. "QUIET! EVERYONE, SHUT YO TRAP AND SIT YO BUTTS DOWN ON YO BOARDS!" Everyone sat down and shut up after that. "Okay... much better. First, if you are a wimp, then leave." No one moved. "Second, I am KC, the one who's called you guys out here. You are here to train, not play. You are gonna learn how to skateboard." Then I burst out laughing. "I can't do this. It's too hilarious! I'm not a drill seargent, so stop being scared. I'm not gonna work you to death. I'm not that type of person. Okay, here's the thing: Mr. Weiner here will teach you the basics of being a Wild Grinder. You have been called to join the top-dog skateboarding gang out there. The first seven of us have been through alot. Here's a few examples: Rape, Fire, Fights, Loss. But, I think we all know the saying: What doesn't kill you makes you sronger. Also, we had God, or Jehovah, or even Jah. So, we're pretty tough. Don't mess with an angry Wild Grinder. Remember, even fire didn't kill the Wild Grinder. FIRE. We didn't burn. I actually got in a fight this morning, with six West Side $%^#-heads trapping three potential skaters. FYI: The West Side peeps are our enemies. They are who we are fighting soon. This is why we need as many peeps to join. They have fifteen gangs. One's chock-full of bikers. And not the wimpy ones. High- grade. They broke a truce that was formed four years ago. So, now, they are gonna pay. Tomorrow we're protesting against the destruction of our skate spot downtown, so meet us there! Okay, Mr. Weiner, they're all yours!" I jumped the fence, hopping onto my board and racing to the skate store, where Mrs. Macheffer was working.

I walked into the air-conditioned store, amazed at all of the skate equipment that was available. I walked to the counter where Mrs. Macheffer was busy putting on a blue and white rubber bracelet. She looked up to see me enter the store and smiled. "Hey, KC! Got something for ya! They're bracelets for the protests! They say "Stop, Drop, and Roll for the skate park!" Get it! Fire, you, skate park." I nodded, smirking. "Protest's tomorrow, so we'll stop by. Thank God it's Friday. I can sleep in. Hey, do you think you could hang these?" I pulled out some posters for the protest. Mrs. Macheffer's grin went from ear to ear. She walked around the counter to take about half of the posters from my hands. "Let's hang these things up, girl!" We split up, me attacking the outside, her attacking the inside. When we finished, you could tell we had something going on. Then we went inside and made signs out of scrap wood and posterboard. This was an original protest. And we were not about to quit.

Chapter 2

              I barged into Chris's house, the smell of cooking meat hitting me. I looked to my left to see Mrs. Macheffer cooking what I supposed was dinner. "Hey there, Mrs. Macheffer! I see you're feeling loads better!" Mrs. Macheffer looked up and smiled, realizing who I was. "Hey, Casey! I am feeling loads better! And, apparently, you are, too! You know, that was a brave thing you did, back there at the apartment. Thanks for saving my son. If I lost him, I...I don't know what I would do. We already lost his dad, and I thought he would never be happy again...until he met you. I knew there was something about you I liked. When I saw him come racing through that front door, his hand in a brace, him laughing, I could tell he was happy, and then I realized, I needed to get off my lazy butt and spend time with him, helping him, supporting him. So, I got a job at the skate store downtown. I get discounts, too! So, you guys can stop working at Aldi's." I sat down at the litter bar separating the living room from the kitchen. "I'm making steak, mashed potatoes, and macaroni & cheese for dinner." I licked my lips, my mouth watering. "That sounds- and smells- good." I heard a scratching sound in the hallway, and Tiger bolted out into the living room, coming to a screeching halt as he glimpsed me sitting there. "Hey, Tiger, you energetic mutt! Did you miss me, boy? Did you?" "Rawf!" I patted my lap and he leapt into it. His pink-and-black tongue crept up my face, leaving a slimy trail of spit beside my ear. Then he yipped, whapping my legs with his tail. I looked around me at my surroundings, taking in the homey feeling it had to it. Chris's hangout was cozy and loads better than my apartment ever was. He had a three-story house with a carport and a fenced-in yard for Tiger and Snow, Chris's snow-white husky. Chris and I thought about mating the two and selling all but two pups, but the dogs won't listen, so we gave up on that. On the first floor, there was the living room, the kitchen, a bathroom, a closet, Mrs. Macheffer's room, and the staircase leading up and down. Downstairs was a party room, with a bar, a fridge, a few couches, an XBox 360, a PS3, a Wii, and Dish TV. Upstairs was another bathroom, the guest room, and Chris's room, which was decked out in skateboarding stuff. Chris had DC, Young & Reckless, and other brand name clothes and skateboarding supplies. He also had posters of famous skateboarders like Tony Hawk and Rob Dyrdek (the gang are big fans of Fantasy Factory and Ridiculousness) covering his walls. His carpet was white, his walls (what you could see of them, anyway) a light blue, one of my favorite colors. The guest room was the same color, but the bathroom had dark-blue colored walls, so it stood out. I turned back to Mrs. Macheffer. "I gotta Q. Can I stay here for awhile? I have nowhere to go." She looked up, a warming smile on her face. "Sure! I'll have Chris get out the supplies for the guest room when he gets here. Speaking of Chris, where is he?" As soon as she said that, Chris and the rest of the gang came barging into the door, Chris kicking up his skateboard into his hands. "Hey, Mom! What do you..." He stopped in his tracks, his mouth wide open. "Who are you and what the heck happened to Mom?" Mrs. Macheffer laughed. "I am your mom, Chris, just...better now. I was thinking about some things and, I realized, I was acting like a bit-" Here Chris accidently dropped his skateboard, so it cut off what she was saying. "Oh, for dinner, we're having steak, mashed potatoes, and macaroni and cheese." She finished, smirking. I looked over to see Brianna’s cat, Tabby, with her skateboard. Then Snow bounded in, spotting Chris and tackling him down to the ground. "Snow! Hey, girl! How have you been?" She barked and, as if she sensed him, she whirled around and jumped on Tiger, who had been creeping up on her. They playfully rolled, growling, into the hall. I sat there, rubbing my eyes as Chris snuck up on me, catching me off guard. He wrapped his arms around my neck, throwing me down to the couch. I whirled around and caught him, throwing him down to the ground. We laughed, getting up. “Dang, girl! Pretty strong for a girl who just got out of the hospital! Wait…..that’s it! I know what to call Snow!” I looked up at him. “What?” “I’m gonna name her after you! Here, Casey!” Snow came running into the room, Tiger lazily following. “Hey, Chris. For the benefit of me not being compared to Snow, no offense, Snow, let’s call her Faith. You know, for whenever your soul gets cleansed, it’s white as snow.” Chris grinned. “Sweet! Here, Faith!” Faith barked happily, jumping into Chris’s lap. “Hey, Chris. Get Casey her surprise!” Ben put in, making me jump. Hey, don’t judge me. I forgot. Chris ran into the hallway, his feet thudding up the staircase. I sat there; petting Tiger and watching Mrs. Macheffer cook the steak. Then Chris bounded in with a huge box and sat it on the counter, a grin slapped on his face. I slowly reached over and pulled the box to me, opening it to see... a cardboard box. I smirked and opened that box to pull out a brand-new Rob Dyrdek DC blue & white skateboard with a new pair of matching DC shoes and hat. I stared at the stuff, totally speechless. Chris came over and sat down beside me. "Do you like it?" he cautiously asked. I slowly turned to face him, a grin breaking across the surface. "I love it, man! Thanks!" I tackled him, inclosing him in a bear hug. Then I let go, kicking off my old, torn black Nike shoes and slipped into the DC shoes, the shoes perfectly fitting to my feet. I then pulled the hat on my head, threading my ponytail through the little hole in back. I stood up on the skateboard. All of the gifts were perfect for me. I rode in a complete circle, the board's urethane wheels moving smoothly and flawlessly across the hardwood floor. I slid to a stop, kicking the skateboard up onto the bar. I looked up to see everyone staring at me, amazed. "Dude! You look like you just walked off of the MTV channel or something! Hey, later, why don't we all go to the skate park and hang out with the other gangs? I mean, we haven't rode around town since a month before the apartment fire. I think, guys, that it's time for the Wild Grinders to shred the streets again!" Tiffany exclaimed, egging everyone on. Mrs. Macheffer cleared her throat, getting everyone's attention. "Uhhh... there's a BIG problem with that plan. While you were in the hospital, the Advert company went by the skate park and closed it down, posting signs that say that next Thursday, they're going to start destroying the park for their new buildings!" I looked over at the gang. "Guys, I think we need to fight for what's rightfully ours! Let's roll, Wild Grinders!" I stood up, pushing my skateboard off the bar onto the floor, where it thudded. I jumped onto it, pushing off through the door, the gang following me out. "Be back by nine-thirty!" Mrs. Macheffer called after us, Chris shooting her a thumbs-up. Faith and Tiger was bringing up the rear. Oh, I forgot to mention, our pets skateboard, too.

                        We pulled up to our skate spot, signs posted everywhere. The front gate was shut and padlocked, with chains wrapped all around and through the chain-link fence. We rode around to the back of the lot, where we dug a hole a couple of years ago. It was for whenever the park was closed, we could get in and skate. All of the gangs use it. We crawled through the opening, me zipping up the tallest, steepest ramp in the whole spot. I turned to face the opening where the gang was still crawling through the opening. "Wow, guys. We may be the best skateboarders / rollerbladers in this town, but we won't be going out for the most slyest one. You guys are slowww..." Everyone finally made it to the top after fifty blue million years passed, and I cleared my throat. "Guys, we have to stop that company from destroying our own skate spot. This is OUR skate spot, not theirs! Who cleaned it up and paid for the cement? Who planted the trees, the shrubs, even the grass around the trees? Who even painted this park black, blue, and green, our school's colors? That's right, we did! The skaters and skateboarders of this small town of Morganton NC! They should ask us to destroy our spot! This is basically our second home! Remember that time we stayed the weekend here, just for fun?" Everyone nodded simultaneously. "If you look at this ground, you could probably see our blood, sweat, and tears. There's no way in the whole freaking world that we're gonna let that stupid company tear this place down!" By this time, the other gangs had snuck in and was surrounding the ramp. Some of the more vicious skaters shouted in agreement. "We're gonna make signs, make some noise, let those Advert people know that we skaters don't stand down. We're not pushovers, we're not gonna go down without a fight. We're fighters! We're gonna protest for the sake of our skate spot and for the future skaters to have a place to skate! For our gangs now, LET'S SAVE OUR SKATE PARK!!!" The Wild Grinders rode down the ramp, splitting up to talk with the other gangs that came. The only gang that wasn't there was the Fireblazers. Go figure. I walked up to our closest gang, the Light Speeders. (I swear, some of these names, man. They crazy!) "Hey, man, what up, KC?" The leader asked me, riding up on his board. KC's my nickname, along with Case. "Yo! Vincent, what's up, my man How's the Light Speeders?" "They good, man. They good. What's up in the top dog group, the Wild Grinders?" Our skate group was the most well-known gang in the county. We won the skate-offs against the Fireblazers last year. "Nothing, my man." Vincent nodded. "Hey, KC, heard about what happened with the apartment." "Aw, I'm good." Dang, word spreads fast around here! "Hey, you guys gonna help protest with us?" Vincent nodded, his blonde hair bobbing around. "Man, this is great! I saw you guys heading over this direction, and that you were out of the hospital, so I hollered at the other cats, and then my gang, told them that the Wild Grinders were back in the game and you guys were heading toward the skate spot. So, we pull up to you givin' a great speech. Ma, we were like 'Dang, man!' I mean, a day out of the hospital, and the leader, and hero, of the Wild Grinders is already bringing a challenge, protesting, and rallying everyone up. Guess you guys are tough!" I chuckled, looking around at my gang, spread out and talking with the other gangs. "Yeah, we tough, man, we tough." Then I heard the fence rattling, and I looked over to see the Fireblazers scaling the fence. "I hope you guys know there's a hole right there, right? It's there so you don't have to scale the fence. Just FYI." The leader, Devin "Flame" Korman looked up at me, then back at the fence, then smacked his forehead. I shook my head, chuckling. "Holler at'cha later, Grinder!" Vincent said, running to catch up with the rest of his gang as I rode over to Flame. "Hey, Flame." Flame looked up, his red eyes focusing on me. "Wild Grinder! Yo, what's new, Case?" I smirked. "Nothing. You have your contacts in?" He nodded, his bright-orange hair quivering in the wind. "Hey, what's going on here?" He looked around, curious. "Protests for the park. I'm the firestarter, you guys are the fuses to a great battle for this park." Flame nodded, looking down and taking notice of my new board. "Hey, nice board, man! Love it!" I kicked it up into my hands to show him closer, turning it around. "Case, that is an award-winning board right there. Who got it for you?" I glanced over at Chris, who was over with the Shadowboarders. "Chris did." Flame whistled a teasing tune with a grin on his face. "You know, I think he likes you. He's always with you, man! But, to tell you the truth, a lot of the guys dig you. I saw a few of the other gang leaders having a skate-off over you, but then Chris came along, and it just died." I laughed softly. "Wow. But, why me?" Flame smirked. "You're everything a dude skateboarder wants: a girl skateboarder with leader qualities, a beautiful face, and the character alone... that's another story altogether." I looked down at the ground. "Oh." "Well, I'mma go, so talk to you later. Peace out, Case!" He rode away as I rode over to the Flareboarders, the Shadowboarders' right hand gang. I snuck up on their leader, Peter "Flare" King,  jumping on his back. "Heya, Flare!" Flare looked over his shoulder, a grin breaking on his face. "Hey, girl! Wazzup?" "Nothin'." I jumped off his back as he turned to face me. "Same here. Hey, great speech! I guess even fire won't kill the Wild Grinder! When I got the call from the Light Speeders' leader Vince, I was like 'No way, man! She just got out of the hospital! But I called the other Flareboarders and we headed over here. And what do you know? You're up there, givin' a speech! One day out of the hospital, and you're at it again! Do you ever take a break? Let someone else lead the Wild Grinders?" I shook my head. "Not even for a day?" I kept on shaking my head. "Even if I did, the person couldn't be able to fully lead the gang, because my presence is always there." He nodded understandingly. "I see. Even when you were in the hospital, your presence was still there. That's cool! When I'm gone from the gang, it isn't like that. Someone else in the gang will try to take over, but they epically fail. Before you know it, I'm back, no more fighting. Your guys don't fight when you're gone." I chuckled. "It's because the Wild Grinders never actually designated a leader. If you ask the others, yeah, they'll say I'm the leader, but, here's a tip. Notice that all of the other gangs dress and act the same. Then look at us. We're diverse. I let them do whatever they want. The other gangs, well, they're like dogs. They follow their leader like dogs cause they think they have to. Also, take notice that my gang is the only one spread out among the other gangs. That's why we're respected. We allow anything and anyone- as long as it's not from the county west from here. You dig?" Flare nodded, glancing at his watch. "It's nine fifteen. I'm outta here. Peace!" "Peace out, man." I jumped onto my skateboard, rushing over to Chris. "Yo, Chris, round up the others. I' et the pets." He nodded and we split up, completing our missions and meeting up outside the fence. Then we split up again, everyone going home, Chris, me and the pups heading toward Chris's house in the cool night air

                        We barged into the house, the heat blowing in our faces. Chris turned to me. "I'll go fix up the guest room. You do whatever you want- just don't go into the guest room." I nodded, heading for the backyard. I sat down on the steps leading from the door to the yard, lost in thought about what was going to happen tomorrow at school. Would everyone hate on me or respect me? I was running myself through different scenarios when Chris yelled from the window. "Hey, KC! I'm done! Come in here and check it!" I looked up to see Chris hanging halfway out the window and I grinned. I scrambled up the stairs to the guest room, where I calmed down and opened the door, which had a sign on it that said "KC's room- STAY OUT!" and had a DC sign on it. Inside was a fully decked-out room. It was pretty epic, what Chris did to my room. There was Manafest, tobyMac, and Rob Dyrdek posters all over my wall, five hooks for hoodies and hats and stuff, a blue desk with a new blue laptop, a speaker deck for MP3s, and my skateboarding clock on top, my own flat-screen plasma TV hooked up to my own XBox360 with Kinect and Wii, my skateboard-shaped bed, and my closet was walk-in, with my own DC and Young&Reckless clothing collection, with crates for socks, shoes, and other stuff. I jumped onto my bed, which was beyond awesome. Then I rolled over to the TV to look at what games I had. There was too many to count! I grinned at the thought of playing all of those games. "You like?" Chris cautiously asked. I turned to him. "Dude, I love it! It's so awesome here! Actually, now, I'm not surprised at the foam pit in the basement. I wanna jump in it tomorrow." Chris grinned and grabbed my shoulder. "Let's go now!" He grabbed his skateboard and we both ran to the basement. He just rushed in there and shot up the make-shift sketchy ramp and into the foam pit. "Yeah!" Chris shouted, climbing out of the foamy black hole. I cheered and shot from where I was up the ramp and performed an eggplant before dropping back into the pit, a few cubes of foam falling down the ramp. Chris burst out laughing, me trying to escape from the sea of foamy cubes. I finally scrambled out, pulling my skateboard with me. I walked over to Chris, stopping in front of him, and leaning onto my skateboard. "Man, that was an epic eggplant! How did you DO it?!" I smirked. "I'm just that good!" Chris scoffed. "Yeah, right." I yawned, a giant gaping hole in the middle of my face. "I'm tired. Peace out. G'night, Chris." "G'night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite!" He said it in rap-format, making us both laugh tiredly. Then we went to our rooms, got into our PJs, and went to bed.

I ran into the burning apartment, hearing the cries of the people telling me not to faltering as the cackling of the flames surrounded me, as if the fire was laughing at me. Yes, I was a fool. But, man, I wasn't leaving my best friend in there, or my skateboard. I climbed up the staircase that I had, just a couple of minutes ago, dashed down to get away from the fire. And, the ironic thing was, I am now running back into it! Well, it was worth it, though. My friend was worth more than this. It was smoking hot in there, man! I ran through the hallway, looking for the right doorway to get to my mother's apartment. It was hard, though, because most of them were covered in flame. Then I tripped on a piece of burning timber and fell, my arm falling into flame. I jumped up, the pain excrutiating. I found a piece of cloth that wasn't on fire and put out the fire on my arm, the blood still flowing. I ignored the pain and finally found the apartment door. I kicked down the door, a cloud of smoke welcoming me into the burning place. I waved the smoke away, my ponytail that protruded from my hat smacking the back of my neck. I spotted my West 49 skateboard that said "Manafest", one of my favorite Christian rappers on the bottom on it and grabbed it, dashing toward my room and grabbing my mother's touch screen phone, my blue-and-white small MP3 with my headphones in their case on the way. I dashed into my room to see my friend Chris huddled in one of the corners of my room, knocked out from smoke inhalation, probably. Then I remembered that he was napping before I fell asleep, so. I don't know much on this type of stuff, personally, but I try to go with the flow. Chris's jacket protected his back from the flames that would have threatened him if I didn't arrive at the time I did. I ran over to Chris and shook him awake. He coughed and looked up at me. "C-C-Casey?" I nodded, yanking him off his knees and brushing him off. "Yes, you retard! Of course it is! Who did ya think it was? The President? Come on! The place is collasping!" I pushed him toward the door, skateboard tucked under my arm. "Dang, girl! Stop with the pushing!" I growled at him and he turned around to see me glaring up at him. I got in front of him and pulled him through the door that creaked ominously. I pulled him all the way through the door right when it crashed behind us, sending up smoke and flames. I looked behind me to see Chris there, determination aflame in his eyes. I smiled at his bravery and turned toward the staircase that was covered in smoke. I coughed as I dashed through the smoke, pulling Chris through with me. When we reached the bottom of the stairs, we ran to the middle of the commons room, looking for a way out, since our main exit was blocked by flames. Chris stumbled into me and made me hit my arm on his chest. A deluge of pain ran up my arm and I hissed as the pain subsided. There was no way out, now. I looked at Chris, who looked at me, the determination that was there only minutes ago replaced by fear and hopelessness. I sighed and looked around as Chris sat down. "Casey, there's no way out. The only option is to wait-which, even I have to admit, isn't really an option right now." I grunted, realizing what he was saying was true. I took off my hat and wiped off my forehead, and then sat beside him, resting my head on my knees. "You can lay your head on my shoulder." Chris offered, and I took the offer. I could feel him tense up at my touch because he wasn't from a loving home like I was. One time, I hugged him and he became rock solid. It was either the home he came from or he liked me. Either one, he wasn't very accustomed to anyone touching him. He started to hum his favorite song, "Hold On" by tobyMac. A few minutes after he stopped humming the song, I heard his breath deepen and his muscles loosen, so I knew he was asleep. I curled up beside him and fell into a light sleep, only getting an hour of sleep myself, as the flames enclosed on us.

I woke up in a moving vehicle with figures moving around hurriedly, talking in low voices. My body ached everywhere, and I tried to remember what had happened. "She's coming around." A man with a Monopoly-style moustache walked over to me, softly laying his hand on my shoulder. I coughed toward the floor and looked back up at him. "Ugh. What happened? Where's Chris?" The Monopoly dude chuckled. "Slow down with the questions. The apartment building you and your mom lived in caught on fire, possibly by the dropped cigarette on the bottom floor. Your friend was in there with you guys, napping. Is he Chris?" I nod, my eyes widening. "Okay, then I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that he burnt his hand badly. The others saw it and they all gasped, mortified. It wasn't as bad as it looked, though, because most of the blood was yours. He wrapped his arms around you while you were sleeping. Don't tell him I told you, though, but he likes you." I took a deep breath and continued with "How bad am I? Really bad or so-so bad?" He copied me with the whole deep-breath thing and looked at my hand. "You're pretty bad. You're covered with third-degree burns and slices. You almost lost your arm and may still have to get it amputated. We'll order you an auto-mail arm in the mail and take the skin from your old arm to put on it if we have to cut it off. The old skin will heal, though. You lost your skateboard, but you recovered everything else. Chris is in the other ambulance behind us. You're a brave young lady. You know that? You haven't cried one tear! One!" I nodded, smirking. "Well, just try to go to sleep." I closed my eyes as the ambulance's sirens wailed as we hit heavy traffic.

I opened my eyes, rapidly blinking to adjust my eyes to the bright light coming from the window of the room. I heard a continuous obnoxous beeping sound coming from the direction of the window, and I looked up to see a heart monitor attached to me with a cord. An IV drip stood tall beside me, it's needle sticking out of my arm, and it itched. I would have scratched it, but I had no feeling in my right arm, which was bandaged up. Most of my skin was burnt or scarred, and my body ached for a bath. I heard footsteps in the hallway, which sounded like they were getting closer, and I turned my head toward the door. A nurse hurried in, a doctor following her. The nurse went to the counter on the opposite side of the room while the doctor came to my side with scissors, a canister and more gauze for my arm. He cut the old gauze off my arm, revealing scarred and inflamed flesh covered in pus. The doctor gestured toward the nurse for a wet piece of cloth to wipe off my arm. After he wiped it off, he opened the canister and rubbed some stuff that looked like chewed-up gummy bears on my arm. When he finished wiping the sticky stuff on my arm, he wrapped it back up in gauze. He looked up to see me watching him intently. He smirked and stood up, gathering all of his medical supplies. I looked out the window when I heard Chris's voice in the hall, pleading to let him in. "Please, Doc? Please?!" The doctor sighed, annoyed. "Only family is allowed in. No one else." "Hey, man! Open your freakin' eyes! We're the only family she has left! Haven't you heard the news? Her father was killed in that explosion down in the soccer game because he went back in to save her mother, who was killed in the fire! She has no grandparents or relatives left livin'! We made a vow. We won't leave her side." Chris said, defiant. The doctor looked into my room, saw me there, awake, and turned back to them. "Alright. You can go in." Chris barged into the room and saw me lying there, my body gauzed and scarred. His eyes widened at the sight, and he rushed to my side. The others followed, worried sick. I smiled. "Hey guys." The six of them grinned like idiots, and I laughed. Breanna and Tiffany, two of my friends, popped up beside me, worried. I smiled at them and yawned, makiing them laugh. Breanna held up a picture. It was me and Chris standing in front of the burning apartment, the flames raging behind us. Chris's jet-black spikey hair was accented by the heated flames behind us, his icy blue eyes blazing in the picture's highlighting. I stood beside him, my long auburn hair flaring up behind us, like as if the wind was blowing in our faces. My hazel eyes were burning with determination to get out of there. I seemed menacing, a monster waiting to break out of these chains. Both of our clothes were burnt and tattered, our skin scarred, burnt, and bloody. Chris's hand was covered in flame and burning blood, while my arm was matching his hand. My skateboard was under my foot, and the tip was burned black. Behind us was the apartment, collapsing in a cloud of smoke and debris. We were holding hands, a grin slapped on our faces. Huh. I wish it was like that.

You see, Chris had the looks and voice of Manafest, but acted way different. He was hilarious, especially when he tried. Chris wrestled and played basketball while I played soccer and ran in the 100-meter in track. We all love to rap and sing, and we're very talented. We thought of forming a band, but we needed a bassist. "We" is the seven of us. Me, Chris, Breanna, Tiffany, Ben, Perry, and Miranda make up the gang. The gang isn't racist, we're skateboarders, we never cuss, we never lie or steal, and we don't use or deal tobacco. We would ride our skateboards to school and put them in our lockers 'til school let out or 'til it was gym time and we could go outside on the track. Then we would ride them to the skate park and hang out there for a while after school. I'm learning how to perform the kickflip because I've mastered the ollie. Easy as riding a skateboard. Here's a little tip-- NEVER GIVE UP!!!! If we didn't go to the park, or after we did, we would go to one of our homie's house or apartments and work on our homework, talk, snack or eat dinner, watch television, sing, or draw. We're all rappin', hard-core Christians. Actually, on the bottom of Ben's skateboard, there's a pic that shows Jesus standing in front of the cross with the nails still in His hands. Then, it shows the tomb in the background. It's pretty awesome. The whole gang was in the tenth grade, so we always stuck together. If we had to seperate, then we would always make sure that no one was left alone. It's a we-got-each-other's-back kind of thing. We do have an aggresive front, which dosen't play along well with the preps or the jocks. But, we never provoke fights; people just don't like us. If one of us did get into a fight, then it depends on the circumstances how we react. If we're outnumbered, then we get our people together and bail. If we outnumber them, then we would fight back. For me, it also depends on who's in the fight if I join. If I do, then I get my skateboard ready to bring the ruckus! If I break up the fight, then I pull our person out and give the opponent a warning shove. But, behind my bold front, I'm a friendly, sarcastic, kind, creative, perverted, happy-go-lucky chick that acts as a bodyguard for the others. Chris is like me, just that he's funnier and he's the only one that knows my weakness. Miranda is a creative, artistic, perky chick that possesses leader qualities. But, no one's an appointed leader. Breanna is the anime freak of the gang, with all of the latest anime shows and movies, mangas, and things like that. Tiffany was a Christian-rappin', life-lovin', quiet person that loved to write. Ben was Miranda's boyfriend, a crazy, wolf-loving dude that didn't care about much. While Chris and I make sure that everything's in order and watch over everyone, he sits there, doing NOTHING. Perry is the idiot of the gang. He has a jacked-up personality, with red contacts, hot sauce that's even too hot for me, and hair like grass. It shoots straight up, like blonde grass! He's weird. Just sayin'. Our families aren't ordinary, either. Well, Chris's and my families, aat least. I lived with my mom and my pet dog -a husky-beagle mix- in the apartment. It was just us, since my dad died tryin' to save my mom at the explosion at the last soccer game for our school downtown. Chris's dad commited suicide when he was just a toddler, so he just lived with his mom, too. The others still had both parents and siblings at home, so they don't understand what Chris and I are going through. Chris and I fight for our food. I hunt for both of our families, since my mom's a missionary and his mom's been a wreck since then. We live in the suburbs, but there's woods behind our street. Chris scavenges for food and grows a garden for veggies and fruit. So, we have it the hard way. We worked at Aldi's, the grocery store down the road, and earned 9$ an hour behind the register. We saved enough to pay off Chris's bills, get small presents for the holidays and birthdays, and we were able to get ourselves new clothes. That's where I go shopping for food because it's cheap. We got an XBox360 for Christmas from my mom, and we always play the Halo games, the Rock Band series, the Guitar Hero series, and Call of Duty. I also have a red Acer Aspire One Netbook. I also got this for Christmas. We have never been to a concert, but, in a couple of months, Manafest, tobyMac, and Thousand Foot Krutch will be on tour here, so I wanna catch that. But, I doubt that I will. VIP cost 40$, and I have 75$. I would have to pay for me and Chris. Anyway, I nodded in approvement at the picture, a smirk on my face. The two artists squealed and then everyone was chased out by the doctor. I sighed, looking out the window to see snow flurries drifting down to the ground. I fought the urge to roll over, drifting into a light sleep, wanting to just get out of this life and drift into oblivion.

I started awake, sweat pouring down my face and neck. My heart monitor was going off like a fast-paced alarm clock and felt my heart in my chest, pounding. I felt like I had just ran away from a wild animal or something along those lines. I shook my head and raised the upper half of my hospital bed, so that now I was in a seated position. My arm hurt like heck, but I felt fine other than that. I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself down. I looked out the window to see snow covering everything and I groaned. I LOATHE the cold weather. I love warm weather, with swimming, skateboarding, being able to wear shorts and a T-shirt without freezing to death...Anyway! I wiped off my face and neck on my shoulder sleeve as I wondered why I had woken up like that. I gave up, shaking my head. My heart ached for my mom, but she wasn't going to be there anymore. All I had was my gang, a rockin' awesome group of outcasts. I sighed as the doctor came in and unhooked me from everything. "You're free." I nodded and stood up, stretching my tight muscles. It felt so good to actually stretch. I walked over to the window that I always stared out of and looked at the snow-covered ground outside. I groaned inwardly, turning around to see Ben, Miranda, and Chris at the door, and I smiled. "Hey." "Hey?! That's all you got to say, girl? HEY!?" I laughed at Miranda's stricken expression, embracing her as she ran at me, arms outstretched. She was like a little sister to me. After we broke apart, she started talking and wouldn't shut up! Correction: she was an annoying little sister to me. I looked up at ben, who was cracking up about something, and Chris, who shrugged when I shot him a "What?" face. I smiled and looked at Miranda, who didn't notice a thing. "Am I right?" I nodded, patting her shoulder. She grinned and charged Ben,who had stopped laughing and was leaning against the framework of the door, smirking. The two embraced each other, laughing. I smiled and looked over at Chris, who was watching them longingly, probably wishing for a date. I rolled my eyes and looked outside to see an ambulance pull up to the ER entrance and the back doors flung open, four people and a stretcher dashing out of them. I pictured myself on that stretcher, burns and blood covering me. I shuddered at the thought and then felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked to see Chris there, a worried look on his face. "You okay?" I smacked on a fake smile and nodded, not wanting him to worry about me. He shrugged and looked out the window with me. I could feel my heart speed up and my breathing shallow as we stood there for a minute. Then, as if it were timed, my stomach growled loudly. "What does a girl gotta do for food around here, people? It better be better than the food I got in bed because that wasn't food. That was crap." I laughed while Chris shook his head, chuckling. I pushed past him and dashed through the doorway to the elevator. I pounded on the down button while Chris caught up with me, out of breath. Then the doors slid open and I hopped in, Chris following me, eyes wide, surprised at how much energy I had, especially since I had just gotten out of the hospital. We dropped four floors, and I almost ran into someone when the doors opened and I barged out into the snack area. I bounded to the line while Chris went to sit with the others. I ordered a burger and a large sweet tea, since it was lunchtime. I walked over to the table where the others where sitting, now noticing a short, spiky black-haired chick sitting with the others. She was wearing a turquoise tank top with a ripped black pullover shirt that was not button-up. She had on a black skirt over fish-net tights, which covered her beach-tan skin. The gang was a bit pale, but we're not albino. We just hate cold weather, so we don't go outside much anymore. I sat down between Chris and Ben. The new girl looked at me and then I realized that she had ocean-blue eyes with green and gold flecks in them. I smiled and waved at her, and she waved back. "Marianna, Casey. Casey, Marianna." Chris said, introducing us to each other. "So, hero, how's the arm?" Ben asked me, being annoying like always. I smacked him with it, not feeling any pain at all when the impact left his arm red. He yelped and clutched his arm, rubbing it. I smirked. "Still hits pretty good! Did it hurt?" Ben gawked at me, astonished. "Of course it did, you idiot!" Then I nodded. "So it works. There's your answer." He glowered at me, and I grinned. Then I heard Marianna calling for someone, waving them over. I looked where she was waving to see a pale, skinny teen waking over to us, her jet-black hair covering one of her eyes. The stripe of blue dye in her hair brought out the electric blue in her eyes. She was wearing a black leather jacket over a Green Day T-shirt with a chain necklace around her neck. There was a little silver heart dangling from the chain. Her white skinny jeans were ripped, with black combat boots lacing up to her knees, the jeans tucked into them. She was also wearing a leather bracelet that had the name ALEX engraved into it. I waved at her, expecting her to just sneer at me and walk on to Marianna, but she actually waved back at me. "Is this Casey, the leader of the Wild Grinders?" I nodded, smirking. "I'm Alex, Marianna's friend." "Sweet!" I turned to the gang, who was STILL laughing. I looked over at Chris, who was laughing like a freakin' idiot, and shook my head. "Well, then." Chris calmed down and looked over at me. "Hey, Casey, there's another dude that we want you to meet. His name's Matthew Curtis. He loves basketball, and he's also really funny. I think you'll like him." I smirked and and rolled my eyes. "Not as much as the gang!" I laughed as he shook his head. "Anyway, he goes to our school, so he's gonna meet up with us in fourth period, where all of the gang is together. I told him a bit about you, warning him that you can be demonic at times." I shot him a glare, and he gestured to my face. "See?" We broke out in peals of laughter, the gang giving us confused looks. My head shook from the laughter. We finally calmed down and I found out a bit of info on the new girl's past. Marianna only had one parent, her father, and she also had a pet mini-horse, Midnight. She moved here from Virginia, where she learned how to skateboard. (They skateboard there? Awkward....) But, to my surprise, she didn't know the ollie. Yet. "I'll teach ya!" I offered. Her face lit up. "Really? You'd do that? Thanks!" She hugged me, and I stood as stiff as a pole. When she let go, I scooted away from her, creeped out. Everyone laughed at my reaction as I grimaced. The only ones not laughing was the ones not paying attention to us. I felt a tap on my shoulder, and I looked over to see Alex beside me, eager to telll me something. "You okay there, Alex?" She nodded. "I got a boyfriend!" The word "boyfriend" made my blood run ice-cold. "Cool." The thing is, I've always wanted a dude to like, but I can't find one. I thought about dating Chris, but... that's awkward. He's like a brother to me. We've always helped each other through our troubles, fending for each other. We haven't even talked about that crap. But, that Monopoly dude said that...Never mind. "Did Tiger make it?" Tiger is the husky-beagle mix I mentioned earlier. He's built like a husky, but he's covered in beagle colors. His eyes are different, one electric blue, the other a hazel. The tip of his tail looked like he dipped it in a pail of white paint. I found him on the side of the road; him a pup, me a kid. He had a broken front right paw, and he had an infected eye, which the doctor fixed right up. "Yeah, he survived. He ran out first and went to my house, warning my mom by leading her to the apartment. Poor little dog." Chris said. "I also got your mom's phone and your MP3. They're at my house, along with a little gift that you'll love." My eyes widened, curiosity geting the best of me. "It was funny, last night. Tiger kept me up all night last night. But, when I was finally drifting off to sleep, he curled up next to me. I think he's finally trusting me." I smirked, picturing Tiger curled up next to Chris. "Hey, guys, who brought their skateboards? I got my rollerblades!" Everyone said they had their rides. I said I would run. "Let's go to Chris's!" Breanna offered. We all hopped on our rides and rode/ran to Chris's house, me still leading.