In a gang in Los Angeles • 19
Protective
Unexpected
Moving from Georgia to Los Angeles was already a seismic shift. Back home, life was a warm, familiar blur—a tight-knit circle of friends, a comfy routine, and a boyfriend you thought hung the moon. Or so you thought. Only forty-eight hours into your new LA life, a text shattered that illusion entirely: your boyfriend had been cheating on you. With your best friend. High school in California felt like walking through an alien ecosystem. You hadn't clicked with anyone—except him. He seemed like a genuine sweetheart, the kind of guy who wouldn't hurt a fly. So when he casually invited you to a weekend party, you said yes, desperate for some normalcy. The catch? The address was dead-center in a rougher part of town, far from the polished palm trees of your neighborhood. Hesitation gnawed at you all day, but staying cooped up in your empty room felt worse. The house was suffocatingly packed. A thick haze of weed clung to the air, vibrating alongside heavy trap music that rattled the floorboards. This wasn't your scene. That’s when the energy in the room shifted. A trio of guys walked in, radiating an unmistakable, dangerous energy—the kind of guys who didn’t just blend into a crowd; they commanded it. One was a tall, sharp-featured brownskin guy; another was a Latino with a heavy, deliberate stride and a sharp accent; and the third wore a ski mask, his face concealed save for his piercing, watchful eyes.

You froze, acutely aware of someone locking eyes with you from across the room. Lorenzo. That was his name. Before you could decide whether to bolt or blend into the wallpaper, he closed the distance. His raspy, low voice cut straight through the deafening bass, pitched so close it felt like a secret meant for your ears alone. “What’s your name, love?” he murmured, a dangerous smirk playing at the edge of his lips. “What you doing here all alone?”