I'd never thought that I would be riding in William's car again. The ride had been pretty awkward. Ace puffed his cigarette in complete silence while gazing around at the crazy traffic around us. I had my whole body turned away from him, arms folded across my chest while my eyes glued to the stars that seemed to sparkle through the grey clouds.

              I'm still shook about the truth Ace gave to me, but I'm more terrified of the reaction Ace had.

              I close my eyes as I let my head rest against the seat. Did he even care? Or was this a way for him to get even with this so called gang leader?

              Better question: What does Pablo know about me?

              I groggily open my eyes and glance over at Ace, he had both of his hands on the steering wheel, his cigarette rested in between his fingers  as the smoke emerged out the window he had cracked for himself. Ace shifts his glance towards me for a split second before focusing back on the road.

              "Ace," I begun. "What gang does Pablo run?" I ask him.

              At first Ace doesn't say anything. If there's one thing that I know about Ace so far is that he isn't big on being social at all.

              "Pablo runs the 452 Blue Fox gang. They're notorious for drive by shootings, drug trafficking and dealing and they pick up random children and beat them as a part of a gang initiation." Ace explains to me, I find myself wiggling in the seat. "You're lucky to be alive right now."  He adds awkwardly.

              "T-they do drive by shootings?" I stammer, turning to face Ace. Thoughts of Leo walking home from school cross my mind. I began pinching the insides of my sweaty palms. If something happens to him...

              I'd lose my mind.

              Ace nods his head slowly. "They're all about the reputation. Did you hear about the Miguel Fierro case?" Ace asks me as he tapped several ashes of his cancer stick into the ash tray that was placed between us in front of his radio.

              Miguel Fierro was a nineteen year old boy who was found missing last year.

               Ace doesn't even give me the chance to think before he answers. "The other week his parents received his head and the rest of his limbs in a bag." After those grim words left his lips, I found myself paralyzed.

              "I won't let that happen to you." Ace reassures me as he made a small turn.

              "What makes you so sure?" I ask, watching as Ace pulled up at a small house.

              Ace lets out a frustrated sigh as the car comes to a sudden halt. He cocks his head back and looks at me. I find myself melting under his stare.

              I half expected him to snap at me for asking questions or for him to ignore me. Ace just rolls his eyes at me good naturedly before opening the door.

              "I just know." Ace reassures me vaguely as he steps out of the car. I do the same.

              My gaze fixes on the house before me. Before us was this two story, red brick house that looked brand new. We had to be at Washington Square West because I've never seen a house look this nice...in my life. Below the windows had beautiful roses that were boxed.

              "Something wrong?" Ace asks me, he was now on the shiny black steps of his home, ready to go inside. I had my hands held together in front of me as I admired this beautiful home. Something I will never be able to live in.

              I blink. "Nothing....your house looks amazing..." I complimented. Ace grins slightly before rubbing his neck.

              "Are you nervous?" Ace asks out of nowhere.

              "Maybe..." I answer timidly, slowly walking to his house. Ace opens the door and waits for me to walk past.

              "No need to be, my family is good people." Ace promises before closing the door behind us. Ace starts to lead me down the narrow hallway. All I could see were pictures of people I don't know.

              As Ace leads me into his kitchen, there stood a girl with her back turned to us. All my eyes could focus on was her minty green hair that was tied back in a short ponytail.

              "Yo Jene." Ace chirps, the girl turns around, a whole bunch of hot sauce spread across her mouth as if she was done eating.

              "Ace! Where have you been?" The girl who appears to be Jene asks, taking the napkin and dabbing at the messy parts of her mouth in embarrassment.

              "Out." Ace responds vaguely. Jene walks over to us. She glances at me, a wide smirk growing across her face.

              "And who is this?" Jene asks, raising an eyebrow at me.

              "Meet Lyric, my friend. Lyric this is my sister Jene, she can patch up some bruises and gashes that you have." Ace introduces us both. Jene walks up closer to me, she was pretty tall, nothing compared to Ace, but pretty tall.

              Her big brown eyes scan me up and down. There was a small faded scar across her forehead. She grins at me as she took a stand of my hair into her hands.

              "Lyric." Jene practices my name off her tongue. "Cool name."

              "Thank you..." I said nervously.

               Jene gives me a small smirk as Ace walks past her towards the staircase. "Finally. You have good taste Ace." Jene cooed.

              "What was that Jene?" Ace asks-more like dares without even turning around.

              "Oh nothing!" Jene chirps with a high pitched voice. As Ace ascended up the stairs, she looks at me one more time. Her smile slowly turns into a frown.

              "Now. What the hell happened to you?" Jene asks me out of the blue, her voice becoming a bit threatening as her eyes ran up and down my body.

              I try to open my mouth but Jene shakes her head. "Stupid question, I shouldn't have asked that." Jene apologizes, trying to correct herself.

              As Jene led me through their modern styled home. I can't help but wonder to myself.

              Am I trusting the right people?