Deadly Perception

Against my better judgement-and possibly later disappointment-I pulled on my purple tank top and black shorts and headed out of my room. I paused at the edge of the stairs listening hard and contemplating whether I should really go downstairs and visit unknown territory.

My mind went back to the first day of school when I had seen Jack's friends. Back then, something told me not to even associate with them so what was different now? The smartest thing I could do is go back to my room, lock the door, and slip under the safety of my covers. Of course, I never ever did the smart thing. I liked to take the road less travelled if you will.

I made my way slowly down the stairs as loud voices made there way through the air toward me from the kitchen. I took a deep breath before pushing open the white swinging door that led to the kitchen.

There they were; all four of them-not including Jack-sitting around the island table drinking Bud. I eyed the twelve pack in the middle of the table pointedly surprised that it was almost empty. God, they haven't even been here for five minutes and they were trying to get drunk.

"Hey, Riley," Jack said cheerily from the refrigerator where he was riffling around. Probably looking for another pack of beer since the one already out didn't have much longer.

"Don't you think it's a little late to be drinking?" I inquired ignoring the stares from his friends.

Jack pulled his head out of the refrigerator with- of course- another twelve pack in his hand. He grinned lazily at me as he kicked the door closed with his foot and brought the twelve pack over to the island.

"I suppose if if was early afternoon you'd say it was too early right?" He said giving me the same smirk he always gave me whenever he made a smart-ass comment.

"Oh, you know me so well," I replied sarcastically leaning against the doorframe. I was tired and any minute now my legs would give way, but there was no way I was going over there to sit with Jack and his friends.

I stifled a yawn with my hand. "Why am I here again?" I asked Jack rubbing my eyes.

"I wanted you to meet the guys," Jack said simply popping the cap on a new can of Bud. He took a long lengthly sip before wiping his mouth off with his arm. "That's Sean," he said pointing to a boy with spiked black hair and multiple piercings on his nose, lips, and eyebrows. Sean lifted his chin up in acknowledgement to me but didn't say anything.

Jack didn't seem to mind and moved on. "That's Nate," he pointed to a boy, who looked a lot like him, except with lighter dreadlocks and paler skin. "He's my cousin so you'll be seeing him around a lot," Jack informed me after seeing my questioning look.

"Dude, you're right, she is a babe," Nate said nudging Jack in the arm as he crushed his empty beer can in his fist. To be honest, he looked like he could crush a lot more than that. Jack just snickered.

"This is Dalton," he said slinging his arm around the shoulder of the skinniest guy in the group. He looked rather young with floppy blonde hair and soft features. "He's the baby of the group," Jack joked earning him a sharp jab in the ribs.

"You better be quiet before I jack you up," Dalton hissed angrily tipping back his drink.

"No pun intended," Nate laughed. I could tell that he was probably the joker of the group.

"Moving on," Jack said brushing off Nate's comment. He approached a very large, very muscular guy, who was sitting at the end of the table not paying any attention to what was going on around him. He had long stringy black hair that reached his shoulders. He was wearing a leather biker jacket, the collar popped up. He was pale too with gray green eyes.

I remembered when Jack had said that if I was afraid of him, I would be terrified of his friends. When I had met the first three I had kind of figured that it was just a comment for show, not really true. From what I could tell, Sean just seemed quiet and antisocial. Nate seemed like a fun-loving joker, and possibly a bit of a perverted ass like Jack. Then there was Dalton. Sure even though he looked young he seemed like a person who had a temper and became very pissed very easily, but he was probably harmless. It was probably just some way to make up for his size and age. I figured that all these characteristics didn't make for dangerous human beings, but that was until I met the last one.

"This is Blaze," Jack said keeping a reasonable distance from the guy. Blaze looked up and scrutinized me with a dark expression, other than that, he showed no emotion. "I suggest you keep your distance," Jack informed me. Ha! As if I would ever go near that guy. "You don't mess with Blaze, you don't get hurt." Jack shrugged as if this were a standard rule or procedure.

I rolled my eyes tiredly more than ready to go to bed. "Someone's tired," Nate joked as he stretched his arms into the air. I ignored him, and with one last pointed glance turned to leave. Apparently, my little visit was over.

As I turned to leave I was almost positive I saw the hilt of a gun peeking out from under Blaze's jacket. I shuddered hoping my eyes were playing tricks on me. I prayed that they were. Once in my room, I made sure to lock my door.

Just in case.