Page 33 of Ride or Die (The Shores #1)

CHAPTER

THIRTY-THREE

POP, POP, POP

LAYLA

Today, I look around and feel immense joy at how my life has turned around, even if it is on the other side of the tracks.

It’s New Year’s Eve, and we are having the usual people over to hang out and party in the garage. The TV plays silently in the background, ready for the ball-drop at midnight, and we moved the car into the driveway to make room for a table to play beer pong, flip cup, and cards.

The music is blaring, and I can hear firecrackers going off at the various parties in The Shores. The suburb comes alive for celebrations like New Year’s Eve. That’s the thing about living here, life can be shit, but everyone lives for a good party.

In the past, I remember being envious of all the gatherings taking place.

Skulking past them on my way home after work, wishing I had some sort of group to celebrate with.

Instead I would sit at home by myself, hearing all the different parties in the distance.

Watching Simone excitedly do her hair and makeup and throw on a new sexy dress always made me jealous of her and her social life.

Not once did she invite me to join her, and it definitely made resentful that she never tried to include me.

So I would order food, get a new book and put on a movie, usually a comedy, in order to forget what day it was. I’d end up falling asleep early, ready to work the New Year’s Day morning shift at the coffee shop.

Even though I never wanted to be apart of this world, I was so damn lonely.

Missing such a crucial part of life: socializing, friendship and love.

And now that I am with Colt, he gives me all of that and more.

I would never go back to the life I had now that I’ve had his companionship.

I know that whatever challenges come our way, I’m doing it with him, and we will get through anything.

I smile as I look around at the group who have joined us tonight.

They always intimidated me, but as I’ve gotten to know them, these are good people just doing what they have to in order to get by, managing the cards life dealt them.

I’ve come to value them so much in the short time I've known them.

“I don’t know, it just seems like I work so hard for nothing and can’t get ahead. I’ve even thought about working at the Velvet Room,” Krissy says, flipping her blonde hair over her shoulder. The Velvet Room is the strip club Franky owns.

“Really? I don’t know if I could do that, stripping. Doing favors…” Gina shudders.

“I heard he gives you free coke, though. So that would save a ton of money.” She tries to defend her reasoning, then takes a sip of her drink. Meanwhile, if she just quit using coke, she’d save a ton of money. But I keep that thought to myself.

Out of all of us, Krissy is the most into drugs and the most volatile, alongside Axel.

I’ve already seen them do a couple of lines tonight, and it’s not even midnight.

I have no intention of trying it. I’m happy with a few tokes of a joint and a drink.

I admire that Colt doesn’t use drugs, considering how often he’s around it. I wouldn’t date him if he did.

“Of course he does, so it’s easier for you to dance and do favors to make him money!” Gina argues, shooting her friend a judgmental glare.

“I don’t know. Maybe some guy could come and rescue me just like a romance novel.” She giggles, looking at her nails.

“Dream On. Besides, you have Drai!” Gina remarks with a giggle of her own.

“Oh yeah!” She rolls her eyes and looks over at Drai, who's shoving food in his mouth, munchies in full effect. She huffs, widening her eyes when she turns back to us.

We all have a laugh at her reaction. I am so fortunate to not be in a position where I'd have to consider becoming a stripper to support my life and partying habits. Hers is a common problem here. It’s why the cycle never ends.

Thankfully not being into that shit, Colt and I save as much money as we can.

I was lucky my full-blown scholarships paid for my tuition and a few living expenses.

It put less pressure on me to work all the time to support myself.

Being from an underprivileged community opened the door to so many more grants if you were smart enough to access them.

Rich people love taking credit for an underdog success story, and I took full advantage of that.

I look over at Colt having a full-fledged belly laugh with Drai, Adam, and Axel across the garage.

The girls are now talking about their shitty Christmases spent working, but all I see is Colt.

His gorgeous smile, displaying his perfect teeth.

He catches my stare, and his eyes meet mine.

He gives me a wink, and like always, it makes me blush.

Without him, I wouldn’t be here, I wouldn’t be happy. I’d be getting by. Tonight is not just New Year’s Eve, this year is the start of the rest of my life. Of our life.

We eventually play flip cup, guys against girls, and we beat them, best two out of three.

The guys playfully attack us all afterwards, causing a fit of giggles and shrieks.

Drai looks fucked up beyond belief. He couldn’t flip his cup, which lost the boys both games, so everyone is busting his balls as we stand around the table.

"Fuck, Drai! Really man? You're fucking terrible at this game!" Axel razzes him.

“Oh, come on! I am not! They're cheating!” Drai shouts, pointing at us.

Gina is dying of laughter after watching that sad display. It really was hilarious watching him grunt out every swear word in the book as he attempted to flip his cup.

“How can we cheat? Admit it Drai, you just suck!” Daya says, doubled-over laughing.

“I do not! Another round!” he slurs, twirling his finger.

Colt and Axel roll their eyes, knowing it won’t make a difference. Drai stands up to the table, and Adam grabs him by the shoulders, pushing him away.

“Nah man, you go last so maybe we have a fucking chance at winning this time. Just watch what we do, okay?”

“Hey! Fuck you!” he argues as he positions himself last in line. “Enough of this shit. Let’s do this!” he booms, slamming his hands on the table.

So we begin again. The race is tight…until it gets to Drai, who once again can’t get his cup to flip despite having a good lead, and Gina beats him again.

“What?! No! See? Cheaters!” He points at all four of us.

“Can't handle being beat by the girls? Drink up, Drai!” Krissy shouts, and we laugh as he reluctantly slugs back his drink along with the other boys, shaking their heads at him. These guys are all getting super drunk just because of Drai.

“Man, I’m fucked up. Enough of this. I’m done, I’m done, you win.” He surrenders and moves over to take a seat, belching as he plunks down. Krissy follows him, dropping into his lap and draping her arm around him.

“It’s okay, babe. Even though you’re shit at flip cup, I still love you.” She gives him a kiss, and he wraps his arm around her waist.

“Y’all are just trying to get me fucked up so I pass out before midnight so you can fuck with me,” he mumbles. “I remember waking up with dicks drawn on my face, Adam.” The boys chuckle, surely remembering that night.

“No, you're getting yourself so fucked up you might pass out before midnight. Here, take a bottle of water.” Krissy hands him the bottle, which he gladly takes before grabbing a handful of chips. I smirk, watching him.

I look around the room to see everyone partnered up. Adam and Gina, Drai and Krissy, Axel and Daya. Everyone looks so happy and content. It’s amazing what love can do to even the most hardened personalities.

As we near midnight, everyone gathers around the TV. The music is turned down, and we crank up the volume. Colt finds me and wraps his arm around me, his smile beaming as we near the countdown. We all watch in anticipation and start counting down before the ball finally drops.

“3…2…1…Happy New Year!” We all yell out, and Colt wastes no time embracing me, kissing me deeply as we ring in our first new year together.

“I should have been here years ago,” I whisper to him as our mouths separate.

“I know, but you’re here now, babe. Now and forever. I love you, Lay. Happy New Year.” He kisses my lips gently.

“Love you, Colt. Happy New Year.” I kiss him back, and he smiles.

Fireworks and cheerful screams erupt in the distance, everyone else in the suburb ringing in the new year. After the excitement, our party resumes, and we turn the music back up. The girls and I play beer pong, perfecting our game, while the guys look at the cars, discussing upgrades again.

About an hour past midnight, I notice they stop talking, and turn to look down the street.

A second later, I hear screeching tires in the distance, which is nothing new, but the rapid popping accompanying it makes me feel sick.

The girls also stop chatting once they notice the commotion in the distance.

The harsh roar of racing engines and squealing tires comes closer and closer, the rapid, irregular pops that sound an awful lot like gunfire becoming louder. Still standing in the driveway, Colt’s head whips in my direction, his eyes wide with fear.

“Layla! Get down!!” he yells before I see him drop and disappear. Everyone at our party hits the dirt at the same time. I crawl on my stomach to hide under the shelf against the back wall. The sound is excruciatingly loud as gunfire from some sort of automatic weapon rains down on us.

Bullets zip through the garage, puncturing the wall above me, piercing through objects and shattering glass, sending debris everywhere.

Continuous bursts of rapid-fire shots crackle through the air for what feels like forever.

Screams echo from the others around me, everyone on their stomachs, covering their heads or lying in the fetal position.

I squeeze my eyes shut, screaming in fear. All I can think about is Colt, wondering if he is hurt.

More bullets ricochet, and my trembling hands fly to my ears, covering them against the piercing ring that assaults my eardrums.

Then everything goes silent.