The Gang Leader And His Library Girl

Chapter 5: Sticking Around

Ashton's POV: 

I don't know why I asked Library Girl who Abby was. We met last week, but we haven't even talked in a week because I scared her. Something in me just wanted to know who this girl was. I heard bits and pieces of what her and Kayla were talking about, and from what I heard, she was being hurt. When I thought about her being hurt, I had the sudden urge to hurt whoever was hurting her twice as bad as they did. What's wrong with me? I've never cared about someone like this before. Especially someone that I basically just met. Library Girl is just- I don't even know how to explain it.

Jessica finally answers me. "Well, she's someone that you don't have to worry about."

"Come on, I know that she's done something to you."

"Look, you got your secrets, right?" I slowly nod my head, knowing that she can see me somehow. She sighs. "Then you should understand that I have mine too."

"Well-" I start, but cut myself off. She's right. As much as I want to know what's wrong for some reason, I know that I have my secrets too. If I would force Jessica to tell me about all her secrets, then I would have to tell her mine. My first reason not to tell her anything was because I didn't want anyone to know about my gang, but now I just want to make sure that she doesn't get caught up in everything. I tighten my jaw and look away. "Alright."

"Have you been hanging around the library this past week?"

I start off smiling, then end up laughing a little bit. "Well, I figured you would show up some time."

"How did you know? What if I never showed up around here again in my life?"

I smirk and stare right at the bookshelf. This is why I'm the leader of a deadly gang. Because I can always pick up on something. Like when we were in Las Vegas, don't ask, I could tell when we had to get the hell out of that Gambling House. No, not a casino. A gambling house is a secret to gangs all over America. You come to Las Vegas with your gang, play some poker in a new place every time, and if you're lucky, you can get out alive. I knew by the way the guys at the other table kept losing, he was starting to suspect cheating. You know what happens when you try to cheat a gang in gambling? It gets bad. You know what happens when you accuse another gang of cheating? It gets ugly. Especially when the accusations are true. Of course, I didn't stay to watch the whole mess span out. I knew the guy was hiding his emergency aces up his sleeve, and I knew that I was going to die if I said anything. I'm pretty young for a gang leader, so no one would believe me anyway. I kept my mouth shut for a while, but when I saw the losers ordering another round of scotch, I told my gang that we had to leave.

We left, unharmed, but the same can't be said for the five shot dead and the ten wounded at that gambling house.

"You took the time to find this secret room, which I'll find my way to someday, and were startled when I first talked to you. That means you've been coming here long enough to know that barely anyone can hear you. Mostly because you know no one comes to this section of the library, because you took the time to find out what books were on the other side of that wall. You know how to get in and out without being seen and barely even heard. That takes a lot of time to accomplish, don't you think? It must have become a habit to come here, and habits die hard, don't they?"

She's silent for a few minutes, and I start to wonder if she left. If she left, I was going to punch something. I just sat here explaining that I'm a creeper when no one was even listening. "Yeah," Her voice finally flows through the shelf again. "I know a lot about habits," Her voice is strained, and I start wondering what I said. "And sometimes, they're the kind that kill you before they die."

We've been talking for a few hours. Don't ask me for a specific time, because I wouldn't be able to tell you. I just got lost in conversation with Library Girl. Which is kind of bad. My whole gang is at my house now, waiting to know where we're supposed to have our hideout at.

Some of them sleep at the hideout because they can't get another house or apartment by themselves. Of course, being a gang leader, I'm the richest guy there. That means, I could have the best mansion there is to offer. But just to make sure I don't draw any attention to myself, I live in an apartment. It's not bad, but it's not good either. Besides, who would suspect the "bad ass" of the school whose parents kicked him out years ago and is terrible with school grades to be the leader of a gang? A successful gang at that. When I say that, I mean that we've been dealing drugs for a while now, and the cops still haven't found out. They also haven't found out who we are. Since they don't know who we are, we've been named "The Riverside Gang". It's a generic name, really, but what can I do? Not my fault people don't have any imagination these days.

"Okay, back to what you came here for. I told you about all the abandoned buildings, now you have to choose one."

"I've got to say, you've got some really useful buildings around here. I think I'll pass on the one with the horses right beside it though. I don't need to be smelling horse s**t everyday."

Jessica laughs. "Yeah, I wouldn't want to either. But you have to choose one, maybe I'll stop by sometime."

I scramble for an answer, but I make sure to still come off as cool. "I'd have to know what you look like before I'd be able to let you come."

"What if I just showed up sometime to stalk you?"

Ha, that wouldn't happen. I always have guys watching to make sure no one tries to get in. Not like I can tell her that, though. "Nah, I'll keep my answer to myself." I actually already have a place picked out already. I'm going to get the place that's at the very edge of the town split. The town split is where the town has basically split up. Each side has its own little life. Its own school, its own libraries, its own population, its own coffee shops- its own everything. Except for its own gang. Yup, I rule both sides, but I don't come to this side a lot. The only reason that they haven't split this place into two different towns is because the split is literally in the middle of a street.

"I don't think you would do that." I say with a smirk.

"Jess!" Kayla screams from their side of the shelf.

I hear Jessica gasp and something drop. She probably dropped a book because she was scared. "What?"

"It's already seven! Your parents are going to kill you."

"Oh my god." Jessica mumbles and I hear some hurried shuffling around. "I'm dead. I'm dead. I'm dead. I'm literally going to be dead this time, Kayla."

"I'm sure that your parents won't actually kill you." I say while standing up. "Just say you had lots of homework or something and got stuck at the library."

"No, I'm dead. I'm dead." The creaking of the secret door happens again, and then there's one of them getting into it. I'm guessing it's a little high up because it sounds like she has to push herself up to get into it. "I'm sorry that I have to suddenly leave like this, but I have no other choice. I'm sorry and I'm dead. Bye Ashton. I hope I kind of helped with the building thing."

"Yeah, sure, that's fine. You wanna meet back here sometime?" Dammit. Why did I say that? I only needed her for a little bit, just to get the hideout information. When I got all that, I should have left right then without looking back. If I keep her as a friend, she'll find out about the gang sometime. I mean, my other friends know, but they're either in it or don't give a damn about it. I'm not sure about Jessica, which is why my plan was supposed to not let her stick around. Although, I guess I'm the one sticking around. She keeps leaving.

She sighs and pulls herself up to the secret door. "If I'm alive, I'll try to make it when I can. If I never come back here. Well, you know the answer to that."

"Right," I say, slightly amused. "You're dead if you don't."

She pauses, then the door slowly starts to creak close again. The only thing I heard from her was a small squeak: "Yeah."