Happy Reading.
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The Los Angeles night blew in with a warm breeze, hitting a two-story building full of cheering teenage boys and girls. The party was celebrating a big win-one of them had just managed to humiliate a rival biker gang in a betting race. Everyone cheered wildly under the neon lights of the headquarters sipping liquor with satisfied laughter feeling the same happiness as before, as the rival gang accepted its defeat with resentment for having offered such a fantastic bet.
The sound of the engine of the high-performance motorcycle with the best aerodynamic design in its class was suddenly heard roaring in the distance through the darkness of the night, as if to interrupt the cheers that were rising to show their enthusiasm in welcoming the arrival of the black sports bike with blue accents. The front tire of the motorcycle reduced its speed as it cut through the gathered crowd, before finally pulling to a complete stop in the parking lot right in front of the building's door.
Just as her bike pulled into the small parking lot in front of the building, she was immediately swarmed by a crowd of partying people. Two men slowly pulled her off the bike to put her over their shoulders while the other girls cheered her on with increasing fervor. Her full face helmet was removed, allowing her shoulder-length black hair to flow freely in the night breeze. Then she raised both hands in the air to show her pride in the victory she had just achieved in the betting race.
"Mallory!" shouted a man with glasses perched on his nose trying to cut through the crowd to reach the girl, offering to help her by extending his own hand to help her down.
Mallory heard her name being called out amongst the cheering crowd surrounding her. Her chin turned slowly to find who had just called her name. And with a single leap down from the shoulder of the man carrying her, the girl descended unceremoniously and was caught by the bespectacled man who offered her a handhold. The line of a smile on her small lips appeared very thinly as the man hugged her briefly, then patted the top of her head gently.
"Congratulations on winning against Black Aoudra again, Ry." the man said softly showing his smiling eyes behind his glasses.
The shouts of cheers that surrounded them died down upon seeing the interaction. Only a few seconds later, another man with bright blonde hair that glistened in the fluorescent light, came in the middle of Mallory and the man with the glasses named William. He unhesitatingly extended his arm up to put his arm around Mallory's shoulders, and afterwards invited everyone back into the two-story building that stood in front of what they called the headquarters.
Just a few steps past the wide-open doorframe, someone around her age with long, dark brown hair ran up to her.
"MY BESTIE! CONGRATULATIONS FOR YOUR VICTORY!" Claire, one of her closest friends, came running with a bottle of cold drink followed by a small, stifled scream. She immediately handed over the cold drink and after it passed to Mallory, she spread her arms and hugged the girl tightly.
The girl with short shoulder-length hair, with a small face shape just smiled crookedly raising one of her eyebrows accepting the hug from her best friend. One of her hands searched for something from underneath the black leather jacket she wore, retrieving a wallet and pulling out a bank card.
Claire Delaney didn't wait twice to throw her arms around Mallory's neck when she heard the word 'money' come out of her best friend's mouth. She grabbed the bank card that was held out near her face with the tips of her index finger and thumb slowly. She raised an eyebrow at Mallory's eyes for a glimpse and then turned her body around to flick the card alternately in front of the faces of several other girls standing around Mallory.
"LET'S GO, GIRLS! We'll spend this bet money to cook a special meal for all the Randzion members!" Claire exclaimed in her ever-sweet tone of voice.
Claire quickly turned her body around, striding with her legs half-open wide towards exiting the headquarters building through the door unceremoniously. Mallory witnessing it all just shook her head softly, staring at the back of her best friend who had almost disappeared from sight with a faint smile. The group of girls Claire had invited passed Mallory who was standing silently with her back against the wall, all of them patting the girl's shoulders gently as a sign of support.
After the group of four girls walked away, Mallory breathed in slowly with her head up leaning gently against the wall. After only a few seconds of trying to calm her head that was still a little euphoric from the smell of vehicle fumes from the wild race track earlier, she heard the sound of stacked objects falling simultaneously which she suspected was coming from the slightly deeper side of the room. Mallory straightened her back away from the surface of the wall, lifting her chin as she walked slowly past the other people gathered along the hallway of the building, until when she finally reached the side of the building, Mallory raised both eyebrows followed by a smile that curved her lips downward.
Mallory's eyes roamed around the room filled with weapons hanging on several walls for a few seconds, before dropping her gaze on the man with blonde hair sitting behind her on the floor. "Why are there so many weapons? Aren't they out of stock, and there's no income from me yet?" he asked Azrien quietly, the man shrugging his shoulders for a moment.
"This is the stock from my shipment, Ry, that arrived here this afternoon. So I immediately cleared it with William," he explained without turning around, still struggling with the pile of submachine guns in front of him.
Mallory didn't say anything else after hearing the answer, she nodded briefly before actually turning to walk out of the side of the room. At the headquarters section of the living room near the stairs to the front yard several people were still gathered in conversation and lost in their drinks. But Mallory ignored choosing not to join in and took a step towards the stairs to the second floor of the headquarters, leading her feet into the room used by the leader.
After making sure the door was closed a little tightly without the sound of the commotion downstairs, Mallory laid her body down on the wide mattress that was there. Laying on her back that felt a little tired for a while. She then pulled out her cell phone from her pants pocket intending to look through some of the photos taken by her members, who were at the race track to watch and cheer her on. His thumb scanned the photos very slowly to see a portrait of himself standing on the bike after reaching the finish line, signaling his victory. The more her fingers scrolled through the photos, there was one that immediately made her eyebrows come together. There was a man captured in the photo-but his face somehow looked very familiar to Mallory.
"This is right, a lineup of Black Aoudra members. But this guy, he looks very familiar. Lorenzo?" she said almost in a whisper. "But I guess... no. Considering how his image is in the eyes of the people at school," Mallory spoke to herself looking at the face of the man standing in the audience row, without showing any expression painted on.
Mallory scanned through the other photos looking for one that more clearly showed the man's face. But there was no clearer image at all, compared to the initial photo which was only slightly blurry. There was a slight heat inside Mallory, making her unconsciously bite her lower lip lightly. Moments of staring at the phone screen, as within a few steps of her current position she heard faint footsteps approaching the door to the room she was in. Her gaze dropped down to the bottom of the door, through the opening she could clearly see the shadow of someone approaching.
The door was knocked several times slowly from outside as if not wanting to disturb more.
"Mallory, are you sleeping?" asked someone outside.
Mallory took a slow breath still staring at the phone screen in her hand, but the voice out there made her immediately darken the flat object. She knew whose voice it was. Lowering her legs off the bed with a bit of force, Mallory got off the bed walked over to open the door, and leaned her body against the wall. "I didn't sleep, just laid down for a while. What's wrong?"
"Hestia left you this message earlier. She said she was sorry she couldn't send down the Eagle Scouts and didn't watch your race against Black Auodra again earlier," explained the man with glasses.
Mallory nodded slowly and carved a faint smile. "Just tell Hestia that she doesn't need to apologize like that. I have no problem at all. There were also those of you who came to the track to watch and support me." Mallory said until she raised her hand to pat Willam's shoulder several times.
William lifted his face to look at the girl in front of him with a look of pride in his eyes that made her smile, amazed at how Mallory was so sincere in her words. He turned his back and walked towards the stairs while typing his finger on the screen sending a reply message. Mallory stood still without saying anything for a few moments after William's back had disappeared down the stairs, until she pulled the door knob shut completely before following William downstairs.
The sight that greeted Mallory once she returned downstairs and headed towards the less crowded gathering space, made her draw a slight smile line on her face. There were three men sitting in the middle of the furry carpet playing UNO cards together. Mallory immediately walked over and sat next to Azrien, watching the three of them play UNO without showing any interest in playing.
"Don't you want to play this, Mallory?" asked Mattheo as he pulled out a +4 card that he targeted at Azrien.
Mallory just shook her head softly as she propped up her chin with one hand, her gaze fixed on the deck of cards in the center of the circle of four of them. The game continued for several rounds, every time the game was over and the cards were about to be dealt, the three took turns asking Mallory to play, but the girl looked very lazy to play and told the three to continue playing without her. Several times the game was played again until the girls who had previously gone shopping had returned home, the sound of an oncoming car engine could be heard faintly. One by one, their faces appeared with each of them carrying a brown paper bag, not too big in size, the three of them stepped inside and immediately carried all the purchased items towards the kitchen.
Mallory's body unceremoniously stood up with her palms resting on Mattheo's back, approaching her three best friends who finished shopping towards the kitchen. Arriving at the kitchen Mallory leaned her body against the wall.
"What are you shopping for?" asked Mallory briefly, her face looking a little sleepy this time.
The girl with back-length black hair took out a card from her wallet and held it out to Mallory. "Claire said she wanted to make pasta, but she didn't know what kind of pasta she wanted to make. So she bought some sauces, and... a lot of snacks." Victoria explained.
Claire carved an innocent smile and continued to take out the cooking items from the bag to avoid Mallory's gaze. "Don't be so grumpy, sweet sister."
Mallory did not respond to any more words and laughter from them, she just stared flatly before focusing on calculating the shopping bill on her phone with the amount of bet money left and then transferring the total amount that was still available as savings to Randzion's joint account that was still with her.
She let out a long breath. "Claire, Victoria." Mallory called softly while still focusing on the cell phone in her hand, both of them turned their heads almost simultaneously. "After eating, go straight home. Tomorrow we go to school with that killer biology teacher. No more long chats, it'll be late when we get home."
The words released from Mallory's lips instantly made the two girls stop stirring the fried food for a moment. Claire groaned softly as if trying to laugh that almost came out, Victoria released her laughter patting Claire's back next to her. In a corner of the kitchen that was slightly away from everyone, Aesira was still preparing the fries sauce when her ears caught hearing her name being called. She immediately turned around lifting her chin, her eyes staring flatly at the source of the waiting caller.
"After taking care of all this, accompany me to Black Aoudra headquarters for a while. Can you? I want to pass by to see something there," Mallory explained.
Aesira nodded in agreement to his request and finished preparing the sauce, then took a paper towel to clean her hands. "It's better now if you just want to pass by. While waiting for Odessa, Victoria, and Claire to finish cooking."
Mallory thought about the suggestion for a moment and then nodded in agreement. Aesira tidied up her work once more before washing her hands before turning to walk out of the kitchen area after Mallory's back. With one motorcycle key in each hand, the two of them also briefly glanced at the gathering room as they went to get their jackets. Passing by those who were still playing in the UNO card circle.
William, who was watching Mattheo and the others playing UNO, turned his head towards the two girls who seemed to be about to go out. "Where are you two going?" he asked probingly.
"I'm going out for a quick spin, please take care of the base." Mallory replied quickly. He immediately moved his feet out of the building quickly to get on the motorcycle first and put on his helmet. Then he waited for Aesira, who was still inside, to come out and bring him a canned drink.
"Why are you going there? After all, you just finished betting with them." asked Aesira, stopping her steps to leave Mallory some distance in front of her.
Mallory accepted Aesira's offer to hold out a can of soda, pulled the lock on the can, and drank it in a few gulps. "There's something I want to find out, so let's just pass by there. Never mind, let's hurry." she explained briefly.
The can, which was almost gone after Mallory took a few more sips, was immediately crushed with both hands, after which she threw the crushed can towards the trash can and it went right in. Aesira wasn't going to ask any more questions and chose to obey and hop on her bike that was parked not too far from Mallory's. The sound of the two bikes' engines broke the silence of the Los Angeles city night that stared at them silently in its roar.
See you in the next part!
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