The next morning when I woke up, I was still on the couch. Reed was still deeply asleep, but Carmine was gone; probably at work. It was a safe bet that Nikolai was gone too. I stretched slowly; my body was really sore from sleeping on the couch like that. I yawned and slowly got up, not wanting to wake Reed up. I took a quick shower; the scar on my leg starting to become irritated. I put some burn medicine on it; because that's all we had that might help. I wrapped gauze around my leg. Then I got dressed and went to the kitchen for breakfast. There was a note on our tiny refrigerator.

"Harley, you'd better go to school today. -Nikolai." I frowned at the note. I guess I didn't have a choice. After yesterday a boring day at school wouldn't be toobad. I grabbed a granola bar from a cupboard, and got myself a glass of milk. Reed sat up on the couch, yawning and rubbing his eyes.

"Good morning," I said quietly. He waved tiredly at me.

"'Mornin;," he yawned. "Carmine and Nik already gone?" he asked. I nodded. "Good," he said, disappearing down the hall. I downed the rest of my milk and placed it carefully in the sink; among our growing collection of dirty dishes. Reed returned, holding out his hand. I put my hands in his. He flipped it over, and placed something in it. He patted my hand. It was my gun.

"Don't get caught with this at school... And don't let it go off in your pocket again," he warned. I was about to protest at the last comment, but decided he was right and nodded. I checked it to see that it was loaded; only one bullet was missing from last night. I put it carefully in my pocket. "Collins has been messing around with us lately, and I want you to be able to protect yourself from the a-hole." He was talking about Dalton Collins. He was a little older than Reed, and he was just bad. He always picked on us, worse than any school bully. Reed always talked about putting him back in his place, but we all knew it was just talk.

"Thanks..." I looked at the time on the clock that was on the wall. It was quarter to eight, so it was really 7:15. Nikolai still hasn't gotten around to fixing that clock. I guess it didn't matter, I could tell time here much quickly than the guys; they had to do the math, but it just came to me for some reason. It only sucked at school, where all the clocks had the right time. A couple years ago the teachers made me take a telling time lesson.

"I should get going," I said.

"Wait," Reed said, moving past me. He went to the cookie jar that hasn't held any cookies in years. He grabbed something from it and tossed it to me. It was the bag of weed from yesterday. He'd saved it from the trash!

"Thanks!" I said. This stuff was worth a lot, and I had been bummed out that Nikolai had made me throw it out. Reed always had my back though. I hugged him, and he patted my back.

"Alright. Get a move on, little girl," he smiled. I stood up on my toes to give him a kiss on the cheek. He patted my head as I turned to leave. "Be careful," he said.

"I will!" I promised.

I made a little detour on the way to school. I needed someone to buy this weed, or else it would start to smell during school. I could not risk almost getting caught again. I went down to the bait shop; there was always someone willing to buy there. The bell rang as I entered, and three men and the cashier greeted me.

"Hey, look! It's Harley Davidson!" one of them hollered, wasted. They always call me that. It's not funny. My last name's Cameron. I rolled my eyes, but when they weren't looking at me. I don't want to be rude to customers.

"Got anything today?" one of them asked. I nodded and pulled out the weed. Their eyes widened. "How much you want for it," he asked.

"$150," I answered right away. They grumbled at the high price. "Hey," I interrupted. "You're getting what you paid for," I assured them. They groaned but forked out the money anyway. I smiled and put it in my pocket.

"Harley, can't you have your business somewhere else? All these druggies keep coming into my shop and asking for drugs. One time a cop almost overheard," The cashier, Benny, complained. I shrugged.

"Sorry. Benny. But then no one'll know where to go. I gotta make a living too, y'know."

"Well why don't you make it through school first," he said. I rolled my eyes and was out of there; off to school. I got in the classroom just as the bell rang. Mr. Russel looked at me, worried.

"Harley, how's your father?" he asked. I furrowed my eyebrows. Then it clicked. Oh yeah! That's the excuse I used to get out ofhere yesterday! I always thought teachers gossiped, but now I knew it was true; I'd told Mrs. Jay that, not Mr. Martens. I'd told her that I'd gotten a text from my brother; Dad was in the hospital. And she believed me, it was crazy. That wasn't even possible, too. For one, I don't have a cellphone. Two, I don't know my Dad. Reed told me he'd packed up and left withsome whore a long time ago, just a week before Mom found out she was pregnant with me.

"Oh, uh, he's alright I guess. They don't know what;s wrong though..." I frowned.

"Well, I hope he gets better," he told me. I thanked him. It was weird. Teachers were nice to me all day. I always knew they hated me, I'm not so good in school. Nikolai says I just need to try harder, but I don't think that'd work out. I guess the teachers are just disappointed; they'd had Carmine a coule years ago. Carmine was the perfect student. He did his homework every night, did great on tests and projects, and never talked back to the teachers. Let's just say I was a shock when I came into high school.

As I was walking to the last class of the day, I bumped into Andrew. He's Dalton's younger brother. Another asshole. He shoved me back, sending me and all my books scattered over the floor.

"Watch it, Cameron!" he shouted. I stood back up and pushed him back.

"Fuck off, Collins!" I growled. He smirked.

"Your brother better watch it. Dalton's getting sick of him fooling around with Belinda." Belinda is Dalton's girlfriend. Reed's liked her since high school. He flirted with her a lot when he'd see her on the streets. Apparently word got 'round to Dalton. It didn't matter anyways, I guess. Reed was twice the man Dalton was; any girl should consider herself lucky to date him.

"Tell your brother to put a fucking leash on his girl then," I snapped back. I hurried off to my next class before he could say anything else.

I started home, when Andrew caught up to me, along with Marcus and Leo. They cornered me at the side of a building. I pushed myself up against it, but they still advanced closer. They didn't say anything, and their expressions ranged from mischievous to anger.

"Go away," I told them, annoyed. I so wasn't in the mood right now.

"What, you think you're so tough, don't you? Just because Reed's your brother doesn't mean you own this part of town," Andrew sneered. He came closer, and I spit in his face. He recoiled, and turned to get my DNA out of his eye. I turned to face Marcus and Leo, who were distracted from Andrew. I kicked Marcus in his you-know-what and punched Leo in the face. Andrew faced me again, and punched me in the stomach. Leo was up again as well, while poor Marcus was on the ground in agony. Leo got me good in the face; my nose started to bleed a little. I got him and Andrew back though, and once they were down I made a break for it.

I ran down the alley way, the same one that the two men had followed me through just yesterday. The fence was unlocked today, and I pushed my way through, not bothering to close it. If Andrew and his friends were pissed enough at me, and Reed for that matter, they'd be after me soon.

I ran into the apartment, slamming the door behind me. I double locked the door, and panted, trying to cool down. Nikolai and Carmine were in the kitchen. Nikolai was leaning against the kitchensink, withhis head in his hands. He didn't even look up with all the racket I made coming in. Carmine was sitting on the counter. He became worried when he saw me. He jumped down and ran over to me.

"Harley! What happened?" he asked. He snatched a napkin off the table and handed it to me. I wiped my nose; the napkin was already soaked after a couple seconds.

"Andrew," I muttered. Carmine sighed. I looked over to Nikolai, who still hadn't moved. "What's his problem?" I asked. Carmine pursed his lips.

"Reed's in jail," he said.

"What for this time?" I sighed. Loitering? Drugs? Gun possession?

"Murder," Nikolai said. My heart stopped.