I got home, where Reed was at the phòng bếp, nhà bếp bàn playing poker with some Những người bạn and smoking. I walked up to the bàn and threw the bag onto the table. His Những người bạn all looked at it, gaping. Reed laughed.

"Good job, baby sister!" he said. He took the bag and inspected it. I smiled at his praise. He looked up at me and smiled. "But shouldn't bạn be at school? If Nikolai finds out he'll bust your head in."

"So don't let him find out," I đã đưa ý kiến like it was an obvious answer. His buddies laughed. Reed shook his head at me, but a smile still played on his lips. He threw the bag back at me.

"Well then, get lost!" he laughed. I rolled my eyes and went to my room to change clothes. I swapped my baggy black jeans for grey skinny jeans, and my maroon hoddie for a black A7X sweatshirt. I stuffed the drugs into the front pouch of the hoodie and walked out of my room back to the kitchen. Apparently Reed didn't know I was still here.

"Uh, you'd better get out of here. Nikolai just called;he đã đưa ý kiến he was almost trang chủ from the store..." he said, sounding scared. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Seriously, Reed. Do bạn really think I'm afraid of Nikolai?"

"You should be," a deep voice đã đưa ý kiến from behind me. My eyes widened, but I didn't turn around. Reed mirrored my expression, while his Những người bạn stifled their laughter. "I'm sorry guys, but I'm gonna have to ask bạn all to leave." His Những người bạn grumbled and đã đưa ý kiến their goodbyes to Reed, then left. I frowned. I turned to see Nikolai, much taller and muscular than Reed, standing behind me with his arms folded.

"Go sit on the couch," he ordered. Unfortunately, as I walked past him, he noticed part of the plastic bag sticking out of my áo len thun, áo len, sweatshirt pouch. Quickly and swiftly, he snatched the bad out of my pocket. His face grew red.

"Fuck," I grumbled.

***

"What do bạn have to say for yourself?! Skipping school, and thêm drug dealing?! Do bạn know what'll happen if bạn get caught?!" Nikolai ranted, pacing back and forth in front of the couch. Reed sat down tiếp theo to me, leaning casually against the arm of the couch.

"She won't, Nik. Trust me. This girl's good!" Reed said, sticking up for me. He leaned over and put his arm around my shoulders, messing up my hair. I pushed him away and smoothed it out again.

"Reed. Shut it. Harley, get rid of this," Nikolai said, throwing the bag at my stomach. I caught it, glared at him, and stalked off out of the apartment to outside where the garbage cans were. I sighed. There goes $30 into the trash...

"Hey, Harley." I looked up to see Carmine, arriving trang chủ from work. I waved at him. "Aren't bạn supposed to be at school?" he asked. I ignored him and went back to the apartment, where he followed close behind. "What's her problem?" he asked as if I couldn't hear him.

"Nikki caught her skipping school, and with a bag of weed," Reed đã đưa ý kiến proudly. Nikolai growled.

"And you're grounded for a month, missy," he said, jabbing a finger in my direction. I flipped him off when his back was turned.

"Oh, but when it's Reed, it's fine, right?" I countered. Crap. I really shouldn't have đã đưa ý kiến that. Reed's eyes widened and for a chẻ, phân chia, split một giây he looked like he'd kill me if he could. Nikolai turned on him then.

"What?! I thought bạn were done with that shit!?" Nikolai shouted at him. Reed stuttered to find the right words.

"Well... bạn see, I..." I escaped to my room. I really didn't want to see this go down. Plus I felt terrible for ratting out Reed too. I curled up on the futon and tried my best to sleep, but I couldn't. I was too awake. I heard Nikolai and Reed shouting at each other from the phòng bếp, nhà bếp too, and Carmine's occasional neutral contribution to the arguement. I listened for a while. Their conversation actually making me feel drowsy. I blink and yawned, and then laid on my side to try and sleep.

I was woken bởi an ear-splitting sound. I screamed and jumped up, my right thigh felt red hot. It was hot at first, and then I felt pain. I growled and cursed at it. I heard the neighbors downstairs and upstairs panic at the commotion. The guys came running in at once, and I turned to face them. Crap, crap, crap. I then remembered I'd left my gun in my pocket. It must've went off while I slept on it. I felt the blood dribbling down my leg, but I tried to remain cool.

"What the hell was that?!" Nikolai shouted.

"I, uh, it's nothing. It's just---" I began.

"It's what?!" Nikolai shouted.

"Would bạn shut up and let me finish?!" I shouted. I reached in my pocket, which now had a bullet-sized hole in the pocket now, and pulled out the gun and held it out. "It went off in my pocket. It's fine."

"You slept with it in your pocket?! How could bạn be so clueless?!" he shouted.

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks for asking," I said. "And it's no big deal!" I insisted. Nikolai rolled his eyes at me.

"You call that fine?" Reed asked, pointing to my leg. The blood had bled through my pants now, leaving a long stream of deep red all down my thigh, knee, all the way down to my ankle.

"Oops," I muttered.

"Yeah, 'oops,'" Nikolai mocked. "Go to the bathroom and wash it up. You'd better pray to God that doesn't need stitches. Do bạn know what'll happen if I take bạn to the ER again?! This would be the third time in six months!"

"Ok, that last time wasn't my fault..." I said. "How was I supposed to know that guy had a switchblade?!"

"Harley, bạn need to learn to not go off on anyone that looks at bạn funny. Learn some self control. Now hand it over," he said, holding his hand out. I placed the gun into his palm. He stalked off to his room, slamming the door behind him. I'll probably never see that thing again in my life.

"Can bạn walk?" Carmine asked, offering a hand.

"Yeah," I đã đưa ý kiến as I walked to the bathroom. Reed and Carmine walked behind me, hands out as if I'd fall hoặc something. Luckily, the bullet only grazed the hàng đầu, đầu trang of my thigh. It was a miracle all right. It'd leave an ugly scar though. I left the bathroom, and went and sat on Reed's bed, otherwise known as the đi văng in the living room.

"How's your leg?" he asked.

"Fine," I said. Carmine plopped down tiếp theo to us, holding a bowl of popcorn. He held it out to us and threw a handful of it into his mouth, missing thêm than half. "Fail," I told him. He stuck out his kernel-covered tongue at me and chuckled. I took some and sighed. "Why is Nikolai being such an ass?" I wondered aloud. Carmine swallowed. He hated it when any of us were mad at each other. He's "sensitive" as Nikolai used to put it.

"He's just worried about bạn growing up," Reed offered. "You're our baby sis. We hate seeing bạn getting so grown up." He pretended to wipe a tear away, and I threw some bắp rang bơ, bỏng ngô into his face. "No, but seriously. bạn know how protective he is. He's just worried about you."

"Well he shouldn't be. I cant take care of myself," I announced, folding my arms.

"Said the girl who nearly shot herself in the leg," Carmine whispered. I glared at him. Reed laughed.

"'How was I supposed to know he had a switchblade?'" Reed mimicked in a high pitched voice. I punched his shoulder. I grinned in victory when he frowned and rubbed his shoulder. "Ok, not to sound like Nikki, but I think it's time for bed." Thunder roared overhead. I cringed into Reed's side.

"Can I sleep here tonight?" I whimpered. I was a little ashamed, but that feeling went away when Reed put his arm around me.

"Sure, bạn little wimp," he đã đưa ý kiến mockingly. I knew he didn't mean it though. Carmine curled up on my other side, and laid his head on my shoulder. This, I didn't mind about having Reed and Carmine around. They got on my nerves sometimes, but they were always there for me. I closed my eyes.