Chapter 1

Long live the walls we crashed through

I had the time of my life, with you...

"Long, long live the walls we crashed through..." I vibe with Taylor Swift like I was doing for the past hour.

A slam of the door downstairs caused me to drop the hairbrush I was using as a mic, down on the bed.

I hurriedly ran up to the speaker and lowered the volume into zero.

"I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS!" my mom screams loudly from downstairs.

And just like that...the vibe just died.

I sigh to myself. Why couldn't they stand each other for just one night? It can't be that hard.

It's almost like this for every single night. Dad would go home and him and mom would start a fight. Screaming, shouting, and fighting. Every. Single. Night.

I was starting to think they never even loved each other in the first place. I was always loved by both of them, but somehow they couldn't give that to me when they're together. When I was a kid, they weren't like this. Yeah, maybe a little bit of fighting but for a couple of days they would be okay again. But now, it's just a routine.

I kneeled down and dropped my hands under the bed, trying to reach my backpack. The moment I got a hold of it, I dragged it out and started packing some stuff.

Since both of them want to start a fight, I want to start trouble. Have I told you that 'trouble' is my middle name?

Walking to my window, I grabbed the black hoodie that had a small purple stain on the lower back and put it on. Once I zipped the jacket, I put the hood on and wore the backpack, as I climb down safely, my rubber shoes hitting the grass.

I waved my hand to a taxi cab. Closing the door, I told him my destination almost right away.

My house is in the city, meaning it's very crowded. We used to live by the ocean side, but we moved here when I was eleven for my father's business. I remember being so excited to leave the countryside and so excited to join the crowded area.

I still remember the joy that was plastered on my face as i grinned happily, holding my small koala stuffed toy that my grandmother sew for me.

And now that I'm eighteen, I want to go back to a peaceful and chill life like it used to be, before all the fighting, and all the screaming.

They would be getting a divorce soon. I know it. I just have to prepare myself when they finally drop the news.

"Miss. We've arrived." The taxi man made a brief eye contact with me through the rearview mirror.

I hand him a few dollars and mumbled a small 'thank you' as I went on my way.

Opening the glass doors, I felt a wave of cold air struck my face as I entered the police station.

"Hey, kid. What are you doing here in the middle of the night?" A man with a brown mustache was quick to approach me.

Officer Chan. The name tag read. No doubt a middle aged asian man. I see him briefly on the streets with a bag of donut and a cup of coffee. It's a police officer's usual routine. I mean, I'm sure you've at least seen one in your life.

Don't mistaken me to be different from kids my age. I'm just like them, like a normal teenager would be. I go to school, and don't study, but somehow I still pass my exams. Sometimes I party, because why not? And sometimes i have a side in me that only i know. And most of the time, I like risking everything for fun. Like what I'm planning to do tonight.

"It's an emergency. I need to speak to officer Stones." I faked a worried look.

"Isn't this like, your 6th emergency? Why do you always need to speak to officer Stones? You're getting a 'lil suspicious, kid." His voice sounded threatening. "If I were you I'd stop faking emergencies." He took a bite of a bread.

I fight back the urge to rolled my eyes at his stupid attempt to threaten me.

"I'll buy you a glazed donut tomorrow if you keep your mouth shut." I stated smiling, knowing he can't resist such thing.

He eyed me suspiciously before speaking up. "You better." he said before making a way for me to walk through.

"You got it." I winked.

The huge hallway had a giant bulletin board. Missing posters pinned on them. Pictures of old people, adults, and kids.

I made my way to officer Stones' office before knocking with a pattern so that he'd know it's me.

I heard him sigh. "Come in, Saydriel."

Entering the door, I quickly noticed a tall black haired boy that was sitting, about to stand up to leave the office.

Once he turned around, my breath sucked in. A pair of memorizing grey eyes burned into mine. His stare was intense. He wore a black hoodie, almost the same as mine, and a pants. I couldn't help but notice his facial features. Sharp jaw, sharp nose, and a perfectly shaped lips.

I composed myself. He started walking and went right passed me, hitting my shoulder.

Someone didn't pass his driver's license.

Once he closed the door with a loud bang, I settled on the chair he sat on.

"Woah. Who was that?" I let out a sigh as I remove my bag, placing them on the floor beside the chair. I placed my feet on the desk as I crossed my fingers and placed them in the back of my head, leaning back down to chair.

Officer Stones dropped his pen and and rubbed his wrinkled forehead with his finger, looking stressed out.

David Stones is like a father figure to me. We met when I got into a fight with a street food vendor. The old lady wouldn't give me my change back so I threatened to kill her cat. And being the Karen that she is, she snitched on the officer that was across the street, which happened to be David.

"So...can you like, cover up for me again if I mess up?" I smile innocently at him.

He let out a sigh. "Mitch, I don't think I can do this anymore." His response made me frown.

"Why not?"

I've been caught by other police officers a bunch of time for doing something illegal. Not drugs, but more of a 'I piss people off' act.

I got arrested for three times now. The first one was me being me, because I painted a huge graffiti on an wall. The second one was when I took officer Finnley's donut because I was hungry. And the last one was me stealing from a book store because the owner of the store told me that I'll be prettier if I wasn't fat.

And mind you I was not fat at all. I have a slim waist and a perfectly healthy body that I get from exercising. And the person who said that to me is literally ten times bigger than I was.

"Do you know that officer Samuels is still investigating you?" he asked me.

Officer Samuels. The sheriff. A very scary and intimidating man, if I say so myself. He caught me doing something illegal a lot of times. But thankfully for me, I wore a hoodie and I run faster than him. He never saw my face. But all my deeds are assigned to him. So once he founds out it's me, I'll be sent to jail.

"If he caught you without that goddamn jacket on, you'll be in juvie right about now." he said. "You're lucky you're a fast runner or something-"

"Officer Stones, relax..." I rolled my eyes at him. "...besides, Dylan O'Brien trained me how to run fast. I think I got it covered."

"The three other times you were caught says otherwise." he stated as he point on the wooded table. "And who the fuck is Dylan O'Brien?" he added.

"Someone cute. Anyways, please? Come on, please?" I plead him. "I would never snitch on you even if I did got caught anyways." I frown and gave him the puppy eyes.

"I could get fired for this." he replied.

That's a hundred percent true. I've known Stones for three years now and he's been doing this for me for two years. But now, lately, it's becoming more dangerous each time since he recently got promoted for a higher position.

"Just one more night. One more." I formed my hands into a praying gesture as I removed my feet on officer Stones desk. I sat up straight.

"You asked who's the kid, yeah?" he questioned.

Who's he talking abou- oh. The pretty boy that just left?

"Yes. What about him?"

"He knows." he admitted. "He knows you've been bribing me. He said he saw your face when you were painting the walls one time."

Huh? Well, that's the first. Did I at least have a clean face? How about my painting? Did he at least like it? Okay joke.

"Okay, so? Tell them he's lying." I suggested. "I mean, what's the worst thing that would happened if he snitched, right? Just tell 'em-"

"He's Gerold Samuels' son."