Above All Else

Chapter 9: Probably For the Best

Bailey

A couple days after fall break, our school was going to watch the 3rd swim match of the school year. Sam, Reggie, and I are in the bleachers with the rest of the student body.  Swimming is kind of big deal in Juniper. They even brought  the younger kids to see it. This year the team is at its strongest and with Jonnie leading the team they are expected to win the conference. 

"Its craazy how fit Jonnie is... Sometimes i forget..." Sam says as she takes pictures on her phone. Reggie starts cracking up. 

"You acting like he ain't your man all ready. Stop being thirsty!" 

"I can be thirsty with my own boyfriend as much as I want thank ya very much!" Sam sassily says. "I need more getting off material anyways." I nearly choke on my water. Who just says those things?! 

Reggie pats my back as she gives Sam an evil glare. "You can't show him your freaky side like that! He wasn't ready!" 

" I don't think i would have ever been ready for that." I mutter. But she is so sweet! Whyyyyyyyyy!?

The buzzer goes off and the swimmers are going. Everyone starts screaming and standing up watching them go. Jonnie's reaction time was spot on and he is gliding through the water. 

Reggie and Sam are screaming on the top of their lungs. Jonnie touches first and someone from our team finishing second. Jonnie high fives his team mate and gets out of the water. 

"Oh my god." says Sam who immediately turns pail. "Reggie." Reggie and I look where Sam is looking. 

"Shit." Reggie says. Victor, Tiago and R.Crew are rolling into the meet. The people in the audience knows exactly who they are and there was a wave of anxiety that went through the whole facility. Some people even left. 

"Do you know why they are here?" Whispers Sam. Reggie shakes her head. I watch Jonnie's reaction when he saw R.Crew rolling in. His face looks confused and then looks out in the crowd looking for us. 

"Im going to see whats going on." Reggie says as she slowly gets up. I grab her arm. 

"I don't like this." I say to her. She kisses the side of my face. 

"I know." She heads down and joins R.Crew. 

The next round of swimmers go. A man gets up and stands in front of everyone. 

"Oh my god. Its Victor." Sam says. Victor pulls out a gun and shoots it in the air 3 times. Everyone screams and duck. I pull Sam down. The swimmers stop in the middle of the race. Everyone was dead quiet. I look to see where Reggie is and she is sitting next to her brother trying to stay calm. 

" We have been trying to get Juniper's attention for a while now and ya'll think you can just shove us to the side and forget we exist. River siders are tired of being treated like second class citizens!" River siders started coming in from all angles locking the door behind them. 

"This isn't good." I mutter. 

"The cops last month shed some riverside blood..." A couple men hold random hand guns and points them at the crowd. "We are going to Shed some Juniper blood."