We walk side by side, along the train tracks, towards the bridge. The Biology textbook is clutched against my chest.

Jax punches my arm which causes my feet to lose balance and wobble to the side.

"What was that for?" Groaning, I step back onto the tracks.

"Don't hold it like that, you look too vulnerable. What if one of the DeHauser's came outta nowhere and punched you? Your hands aren't ready."

Does Jax not know why he's here with me? Did he suddenly forget that he's won over $10k street fighting?

Reluctantly, I move the textbook on its side and hold it between my hand and hip. "Stupid," I mutter under my breath.

"Watch it," he fires back with another punch against my arm.

We walk along in silence for another few hundred feet. The train tracks are starting to break apart which means we're near the end and close to the bridge.

"How come you didn't ask Angelo to come, too?"

I squint and look at Jax, the golden setting sun burning into my eyes. "He's soft. Sometimes. On the inside, maybe?"

Jax nods in agreement. "Yeah, you saw the way he checked my pupils the other night? Nobody has willingly cared for me like that besides him."

I kick a rock and stop walking. It takes Jax a few steps to realize I'm behind.

"What?" he dumbly says with a blank stare.

"I care about you. I care about both of you," I say, almost aggressively. But it's true and I'm offended he thinks that way.

"Oh god, Nadia. I was just saying, it wasn't anything deep like that," he says with his arms out in defense.

I take a few steps closer to him but I don't say anything. Instead, we keep walking, and the textbook comes back against my chest.

•••

We reach the meeting spot near the bridge and nobody is there yet except us. I hand Jax the textbook and run into a Dunkin' Donuts across the street to pee and grab a chocolate glazed.

Once I'm done with my business, I see Jax with Wyatt DeHauser — the most average DeHauser who is enrolled in his first year at community college. They seem to be talking about something and it looks civil. Again, which doesn't surprise me, because Wyatt is the most reasonable of the four. I almost feel a wave of relief.

After checking for traffic, I jog across the street and meet the two of them with the donut in my hand.

"Thanks, sis," Jax says with a cheeky smile. He takes the donut right from my fingertips and proceeds to take a giant bite before giving it back to me.

"Oh hi, Nadia."
Wyatt sounds friendly but flat.

"Hi, Wyatt," I say back with the same tone, "you taking a biology course on campus?"

"I've got $50 here."
Awkwardly, he nods and holds out the bill.

Jax shifts on his feet next to me and sticks his hand in his pocket, holding the textbook with his other. He's being way too obvious about minding his own business.

It takes everything in me to not laugh, to not stuff the money back in Wyatt's mouth, to not just walk away right then and there.

"These textbooks are originally $500 and this one is in excellent condition. $200 at least," I tell him.

Wyatt shakes his head and stuffes the money back in his pocket, clicking his tongue.

"Listen — " he pauses and chuckles with his hand out towards my chest. "You're ridiculous with that price. Did you know I can rent this textbook from the campus library for $30? Or buy it for $50? And you're saying $200 at least?"

He laughs in my face and proceeds to walk past me, his shoulder brushing mine so I fall back against the building next to us. My mouth hangs open and I see him start to jog down the sidewalk.

"What a fucking jerk," Jax says while cracking his knuckles, the book already dropped on the ground. I hold him back.

"Wasn't going to do anything." He groans and pushes my hand away. "Let's go."

My feet are bound to the cement. Fucking DeHauser's. Even the nicest one is a big old asshole.

"I said, let's go." Jax grabs my elbow and pulls me with him. He takes the textbook and tosses it in the tall overgrown grass near the beginning of the tracks.

"How frustrating was that? Yeah right he can buy that textbook for $50 on campus. Broke little jerk, he is!"

My feet stomp into the ground with each step. The wind is picking up and clouds begin to blow in over the sun, which is barely visible anymore along the horizon.

Once we're back on the train tracks, I pull a cigarette from my pocket and Jax pulls out his lighter.

"It's alright, Nadia," he consoles me as the flicker on his Bic takes a few tries to light. He holds it up to the cigarette in my mouth.

"DeHauser's are just frustrating. Stupid and frustrating. Thinking they're so high and mighty because their dad ran into money a few years back. Well guess what? Looks to me like you're all still stuffed in that shitty row home on third street!"

I inhale deeply and angrily pass the cigarette to Jax.

"And the funniest thing is, is that their dad probably just spent all the money on drugs and booze. Big deal one of them is in community college. Big deal. Any of us could do that," I point between Jax and me, "and to think that I almost gave it up to Derek in the seventh grade!"

Jax rolls the cigarette between his fingers, nods, then shoves it back in my mouth. "Save it."

"Save it, my ass," I mock him and nurse the cigarette just a little bit longer before throwing it onto the train tracks with the rest of them. "I can talk about my feelings if I want to."

Jax shrugs. "Sounds like you're just embarrassed because you didn't do your research first. You gotta know your market."

My blood feels like if it wasn't boiling already, it definitely would be now. "Fine. I'm done. You think I don't know what I'm doing? Go fuck yourself."

Jax laughs and throws his middle finger in the air. "Gladly. You know, I didn't even need to come with you today. Then what? Wyatt would have knocked your skull in. You'd be pulp on the sidewalk."

I roll my eyes and cross my arms tightly against my chest. I didn't bring a sweatshirt and the air is getting chilly since the sun set. Looking ahead, I see we've only got a few more minutes of tracks before we're back in our own backyard.

"Don't be so dramatic. Wyatt wouldn't have punched me. He's got a college education going for him. Big things ahead, apparently. Last thing he'd want to do is mess it up for himself and punch a minor of all people."

Jax puts the hood up on his hoodie and starts walking faster in front of me. "Nadia, I'm going to give you some advice."

I've got to jog a little bit to catch up close enough to hear his muffled words. "What? Stop walking so fast."

Suddenly he stops, turning around to face me. I see myself in his bruised face. The black eyes, the busted lip, the scars on his cheeks. His eyes scan mine and for a moment I feel we're more than connected.

"This is not the place to assume the best in people just because they're doing x, y, or z. Come on, you know this already. Don't be an idiot. Remember where you came from and that nobody in this city can be goddamn trusted."

He shakes his head like he's disappointed in me and cups my cheeks, pushing me back a step. We stare at eachother for a second before he takes off down the rest of the train tracks.

Instead of following him, I stand in place and close my eyes. The breeze caresses my skin and envelopes me in its invisible embrace.

In this moment, I wish I was a leaf.

If I was a leaf, I'd already be carried halfway to California by the wind.

•••

Thanks for reading! What did you think of this chapter? How do you feel about the story so far and the three main characters? Leave a comment below and let me know :)