Chapter Five

I looked over towards the voic and gasped. It's Riko! He's here! He must have skipped school just like Rosa and I did. If he told on me, I would be so dead! He seemed to have seen my panic and held up his hands.

"I won't snitch if that's what you're thinkin! I look out for the skippers." He said.

"I am NOT a skipper!" I snapped with wide eyes.

"Then...what are you doing here instead of at school? I don't know what your definition is of skipping, but I am pretty sure when you are not at school during open hours well...that's skipping." He answered.

I hated this, but he is right, and I cannot deny what he has said. I glared at him. He took notice of my lack of reply and smirked. I glared harder. Oh, the nerve of males and their hubris. I see several other males, three in total, come up behind Riko.

None looked friendly. The male in the middle had black hair with a scar across his right eye. On the right side, the male had dark brown hair and sun kissed skin. The last one has brown hair with pale white skin. All wearing t-shirts jeans. I noticed Riko's smile faded as he caught sight of them. Rosa looked at me and narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Both of us were one edge now.

"Ayee me amigos!" Riko laughed softly.

I know it was just to lighten the mood. Funny how that turned out. The main male stepped dangerously close to Riko and Rosa stood up and slid in-between then with a sly sense of ease. God Rosa! Why couldn't you stay seated! Rosa just smiled wickedly.

"Take one more step and I'll consider it a threat." She said deathly low.

I noticed the two males on the side of him step toward Rosa. I glared and stood, my emotion drained from my face. My body reacted without my mind's approval. Before I knew it, I had stepped forward, and then I had shoved the middle guy back a few feet. I watched as he struggled to catch himself, but sadly he didn't fall on the floor.

"Touch her and you'll regret it." I snapped.

He scowled at me before he got right into my face. His two buddies held both of his arms. They mumbled words in Spanish. Something about later, and not now. I couldn't seem to catch all of what they were saying. What could they be talking about? His friends eventually managed to drag them away. Riko was the first to break the silence.

"I should get outta here. I'm sorry this all happened." Riko said.

"We should get going as well Aria. Your mom's probably wondering where you are." She said.

I could only nod in agreement as we decided it would be best to separate, and then we left. Rosa and I were out in the parking lot of the mall. It was really dark. It might as well have been pitched black. I clicked my tongue. We really stayed out this late? Even so, I was thankful for the lights in the lot.

I was fiddling with the keys in my hand when I saw shadows rush behind my car. Rosa and I quickly stopped. We looked at each other, and it was then I knew we had both seen it. At least I was certain of that. I looked at her as she looked back at me. Then we looked at Rosa's car.

Rosa walked towards the car before I could stop her. Two shadows lunged out of hiding and both tackled Rosa. I gasped and I ran towards Rosa. I managed to yank one of the guys off of her and threw him to the ground. I heard him shuffle to get on his feet, but I slammed my foot into his gut. I heard him groan in pain. I kept kicking.

Leave none alive. Then I felt it as I was tackled to the road. I screamed and hit the ground hard. My head slammed into the road and I gasped in pain. My vision was a bit blurry, but I had to stay focused.

"Aria!" Rosa yelled.

Just as the man is about to slam my head into the road once again, he is lifted off of me.

Thank you, Rosa, I scrambled to my feet in time to see who it was. It was the guys from the food court! Rosa locked the man in a death choke hold. I see him struggle for air.

"Rosa don't kill the guy!" I snapped.

"Why? The asshole deserves it for coming after you!" She growled.

I ignored that comment because to be honest, I couldn't deny that. However, I didn't want to draw the attention of a murder in this town. I looked around in time to see an old rusty crowbar in the shadows. I quickly grabbed it without a second thought and slammed the bar down onto the guy's back. I felt the impact vibrate through the metal and I heard the guy curse loudly. I hit him again but harder and saw him hit the ground.

I dropped the crowbar. I didn't even wait for it to move on the ground before I unlocked the car and Rosa jumped in. I shoved the keys in and turned the key roughly. The engine roared loudly. Some say it's a sexy song, but tonight it meant life or death for these guys. Move out of my way or stay the fuck there. Luckily for them they move out of the way just as I floor the gas drifting out of my parking space.

I heard the tires screech before I smelt the burnt rubber. I shook my head checking to see if they're following us in my side mirrors. I heard Rosa curse for me. She sees it too. Three bikes just pulled out of the parking lot and were fast on our trail. I narrowed my eyes and shoved my foot all the way to the floor.

"Um... Aria....there is traffic like 20 feet away! You might wanna hit the brakes!" She said, clinging to her seat.

I shook my head and grabbed the steering wheel harder. Better hold on Rosa.