~time skip to the end of school on friday~

"ugh finally. the weekend is here." katelyn remarked as we stepped out of the building.

"tell me about it. i've only been here for three days yet i'm still exhausted." i sighed. "how do you all live?"

"it gets easier as the days go by. anyway my mom's here! see you guys tomorrow!" teony exclaimed and waved at us as she rushed over to a blue van.

just to explain. the girls and i are going to see a movie tomorrow.

i looked at the time on my phone. 4:06. i need to get home before 4:25, and the walk from the school to my mom's house is 15 minutes. "ugh, i need to get going! bye guys!" i waved and started running in the direction of my house.

"hey, princess! wait up!" i cringed as i hear someone behind me say. i stopped dead in my tracks and turned around to face gene and his crew.

"what do you want, re-gene-a?" i mocked.

he raised an eyebrow. "don't call me that."

"one, don't call me princess. two, we have a deal." i replied.

he looked like he was thinking for a moment. "now that is something i can't promise."

i smirked. "so what are you really here for?"

"we have a proposal." sasha explained.

"guys, im 16! way too young to be married." i said.

they stood in silence.

i coughed. "that was a bad joke, im sorry."

"Ha ha." zenix replied with no emotion. gene elbowed him in the stomach in return. "oof!"

"anyways, hurry up your proposal, i'm bored, not to mention i have to get home super soon!" i snapped at them.

"fine. we'll walk with you since you're in such a rush." gene rolled his eyes.

"what? no! i don't want you guys to know where i live. you could murder me in my sleep or something!"

gene shot me an annoyed look.

"Again, another joke." i gestured them to follow me and they crept up beside me.

"anyway, we were saying.." sasha started.

"we want you to join the shadow knights." gene finished.

"unfortunately." zenix muttered under his breath.

"shut up, zenix." gene hissed.

"you want me to join your squad, huh?" i replied.

"we're not a squad, we're a gang." gene explained.

"gang? with three people? sure." i said sarcastically. "what do you guys do together? do arts and crafts after school?" i sister stated sarcastically.

gene was visibly annoyed. "i'm starting to regret this."

"my irene!" i slapped his arm.

that brought out a tiny laugh from him. "so what do you say?"

"sure, i guess." i replied.

"so, do you want to come with us to the movies tomorrow?" gene asked.

"i'm actually going with my friends to the movies tomorrow." i replied. "maybe i'll see you guys there? we're going at seven."

"we are too. how convenient." sasha replied.

"great! i'll see you guys there!" i smiled. "anyways, this is my mom's neighborhood. i can walk from here."

"no can do, princess. we want to see where you live." gene said.

"ugh! why the hell do you call me that anyways?" i asked him.

"because you look like a princess with that real silver cartier love ring." he replied. "you must be rich."

"my dad's rich, not my mom." i replied.

"they're not together?" zenix spoke up.

"nope." i sighed.

"oh." gene said awkwardly.

"anyways," i said as we approached my house, "we're here." i stepped up the front porch and took a key out of my bookbag to unlock the door, and it creaked open. "hey mom!"

mom came running downstairs. "hey sweetie." and she hugged me, then noticed the three behind me. "who are they?"

"those are my new acquaintances, gene, sasha, and zenix." i explained.

"hello." gene stuck out his hand for a handshake. my mom took his hand and shook it really hard-as she always does.

"y'all better treat my daughter right." she started giving them a lecture. "you know, she got expelled from her old school because she was hanging out the wrong people."

gene smirked at me, then looked at my mom. "yes ma'am. we'll take good care of her." he said.

my mom turned to me. "i got to go upstairs and do some work." she turned back to my friends and waved. "nice meeting y'all." and with that, she walked inside.

gene chuckled. "expelled, huh?"

i looked away. "yeah, sure."

"just as we thought; you'll fit right in to our group."

i smiled. "you guys are bad people aren't you?"

"you could say that." he replied.

i turned my head to look back at them. "i have to go now, bye you guys. see you tomorrow-maybe." i waved and walked through the door and closed it.

~time skip to dinner~

my mom prepared spaghetti with unseasoned steamed broccoli. she set the plates down on the table, while i set down the utensils. we both took our seats.

"so caroline i see they're very handsome boys at your school." she said.

"i don't know what you mean?" i said and started to take a sip of my arizona green tea.

"sweetie! i don't want to sound weird or anything, but that gene, he's hot!"

i choked on my drink. "i-i-well i mean-" i said in between coughs. after i was done coughing, "i mean, um, well, you're not wrong. but it's just that-" a light blush spread across my cheeks. "gene's my friend! and that's-that's WEIRD." i stammered.

my mom just laughed. "well you clearly agree with me."

"can we just change the subject?" i giggled nervously.

my mom and i just talked about random things for the rest of dinner. when i was done, i excused myself and when up to my room to do some homework. but i couldn't help but think of what my mom said about gene. gene? hot? i mean, where's the lie? but at the same time.. maybe i was thinking too hard about this, but my thoughts continued like this for the rest of the night until i fell asleep.