Angi Somerset stares depressedly into a reflective glass window. The girl who stares back has short red hair and an air of aimlessness. Today would be the birthday of her very best friend. And that's the reason she came to this part of town. R-East has a horrible reputation for being home to criminals, drug-dealers, thieves, and, in general, violence. A strange way to celebrate someone's birthday. But Maya'd always wanted to go to R-East, just to say she'd been, and maybe take a look around. So now it was her birthday, and in commemoration she had gone to the one place her parents had told her never to go. But now that she's actually here-was it really a good idea? Everyone stares as she walks by. There are groups of people whispering in alleyways, smoking on the stairs, glaring and leering at her as she passes...Well, Maya, she thinks, I'm here. Happy Birthday. She stops for a minute in front of a CD shop. There's a man sitting in front, unshaven and smelling like alcohol. She had mistakenly assumed he was asleep; she pauses a second too long. The man grins at her and reaches out. She shrieks and jumps back.
"C'mere," says the man. "Tell you a secret."
"Um, n-no thanks."
"He leans closer to her. "A pretty secret for a pretty girl?"
"No, it's okay, I-" She glances up and down the street desperately but no one is paying attention to her. The man grabs her hand and pulls her towards him. She stumbles, nearly tripping.
"Secrets," says the man right into her ear. "I'll tell you all sortsa secrets."
She tries to pull away but his grip is like iron. He grins down at her and she looks back helplessly. Her heart pounds. Suddenly, a yelling voice blasts from inside the CD store. There's a lot of profanity and she catches the words 'Sid' and 'suicide' before the door bursts open and a man stomps out. Instantly his gaze falls on Angi. Help me, she wants to say, but his appearance is so menacing the words die in her throat. He has long blonde hair, ripped black jeans, tinted glasses, and tattoos covering his arm. He's smoking something that releases clouds and clouds of smoke with every puff. He stares at her and she stares back. When he starts in her direction, she squeezes her eyes shut, wondering if he'll beat her up, or aid the drunken man in his attempt to 'tell her secrets'. Then she feels the man's grip loosen. She opens her eyes.
"Hey Sol, leggo the chick."
The drunk frowns up at the other man. "I'm gonna tell her secrets, Ren. Gonna tell her," he winks conspiratorially. "The location."
Ren glances at Angi. "Nah, chick's not looking."
The man looks confused and releases her from his grasp. She backs up as fast as she can. Ren starts leading her away, back down the street.
"the city!" the man screams after them. "It's in the city!"
The other man ignores this, and steers her around the corner. She stares at the cracked sidewalk, wondering if she should say something. He doesn't look at her, but as they walk down the street, every eye is on them. Some are aggressive, some only curious. The man named Ren glares at them all until they drop their gaze. It makes her nervous. If they're scared of him, shouldn't she be too? He leads her along, hand on her shoulder, without saying a word. She examines him. The tattoos on his arm are comprised entirely of mythical creatures emerging from one another. Interesting. He's rolling the cigarette around on his tongue. His eyes behind the glasses look blue. She squints at them. If they are blue, they're the brightest blue she's ever seen. Suddenly, he looks over, catching her in mid-stare.
"See something you like?" His tone is bored.
Instantly she drops her gaze, cheeks pink. "Um, thank you for saving me."
At first she doesn't think he'll reply. But he surprises her, glancing down at the top of her head.
"Renny Pollack. You can call me Ren, or Rae. You better have a good reason for hangin out in R-East."
"It was my friend's birthday...And she'd always wanted to come here..."
"Then why didn't she go?"
Her voice is soft. "Well, she died. So I went for her."
she asks herself why she's telling this to a complete stranger. But, she thinks, I really shouldn't lie to someone who rescued me.
"Stupid," says the stranger. "R-East is dangerous. If you can't even stand up to Sol, there's not much you can do for yourself."
"His name is Sol?"
Taking his glance as confirmation, she directs her gaze at her feet.
"Um, I'm Angi. I...heard you yelling in the CD store."
He grimaces. "I freakin hate the rat who works there. Name's Tay Westwood. If you see him, run."
"Yeah...you, um, sounded pretty mad."
He shrugs. "Just somethin nasty about Doctor Pin. Seeing Tay makes me lose my temper."
The name has a familiar ring to it. "Doctor Pin? Who's that?"
He doesn't even look up. "If you don't know, keep it that way. Don't mention the name around company."
She doesn't know what to say to that so she remains silent. When she finally looks up, she realizes that he has led her out of R-East. He stops at the street corner. She opens her mouth to thank him, but another voice interrupts.
"Angi! Angi!"
A girl with long black hair and a neon hoodie runs towards her, dragging behind her a tall boy. She releases him as they reach her, and she takes Angi's hands in her own.
"Angi! Omigod, I haven't seen you in ages! How are you?"
The boy standing behind her smiles and taps the girl on the shoulder.
"Let her breathe, Dan."
"Friends a yours?" At his words, everyone turns to look at Ren. The girl and boy's smiles falter.
"Yes," says Angi hurriedly.
Recovering, the black-haired girl grins at Ren. "I'm Danya. That's Ru. We go to school with her. She's been gone forever."
"Fantastic." With no further ado, Ren turns to leave, glaring up the street at something unapparent.
"Um, wait," he calls after him. He turns. "Thank you-again."
"Yeah, whatever. Just don't go there again."
Ru and Danya stare as Ren disappears around the corner.
"Whoa," says Danya in a hushed voice. "That guy was like-hardcore. Do you know him?"
"Sort of. I just met him, so..."
"Wow." Ru and Danya look awed, staring at Angi in a whole new light. Danya shrugs.
"He was kind of hot," she says. "In a bad boy kinda way." She looks over at Ru and grins. "Don't worry. You're the only one for me."
He leans down and kisses her. Angi looks away.
"So, um, what are you guys doing here?"
Ru breaks away. "We're just wandering around, you know. Care to join us?"
"Oh, I don't know if-"
"Nope! Can't refuse! Come on, we haven't seen you in weeks so you owe us that much!" Danya loops her arms through Ru's and Angi's, leading them down the sidewalk into the busier section of town. As they walk away arm-in-arm, she looks back at the corner and thinks of Ren.

"Wow. Look at this." Tammy Harina hands Cori her cellphone, the multiple charms clipped to it swinging back and forth. "Can you believe it?"
Cori shifts the bags on her right arm and takes the phone.
"Gosh. You gonna out him out of his misery yet, or what?"
"Not just yet." Tammy winks as she slides the phone back into her pocket. She glances up and down the crowded street.
"So, where haven't we gone yet?"
"Um..."Cori reads the store names on her various shopping bags. "We haven't hit...Malco yet."
"Good call. Let's go to Malco."
They start to weave their way around people, bags on their arms swaying back and forth. They cross the street just as the light turns red and as they dash the last few steps, Cori sees a head in the crowd. A familiar head, with long blonde hair. Wordlessly, she grabs Tammy's arm and starts to drag her through the masses.
"Cori? What are you doing?" Tammy calls but Cori doesn't answer, just keeps moving towards the girl in the crowd. But then the girl turns and Cori sees her face. Disappointed, she stops walking and turns to Tammy.
"Sorry. I, um, thought I saw Maya."
There's moment of silence.
"Oh." Tammy glances into the crowd, then back at Cori. "I always think that too. I keep forgetting that she's...gone."
"It still seems unreal, you know? Like I'll turn the corner and she'll be right there. I just can't accept that we'll never see her again. Hey, I just remembered. Today's her birthday." Cori looks sadly at Tammy, whose eyes are unnaturally shiny.
"We can't be sad, though," says Tammy after a minute. "Today's her birthday. We can't be sad on her birthday, she'd hate that."
They start to walk again. Cori thinks of Maya, of the way she'd started talking right before she died.
"Hey," she says quietly. "Do you think we should've figured it out? Like, that she was planning on doing something?"
Tammy considers this. "She was always talking about escaping...but I thought she was joking. Sure, she talked like that, but her life seemed fine. No one took her seriously. We really couldn't have known, but..." she glances at Cori. "I feel responsible all the same."
Cori looks around her, at all the people and faces she doesn't know.
"I only wish...that she'd figured out a way to take us with her. No," she adds, catching Tammy's worried expression. "I'm not saying I want us to die too. But remember how we would make elaborate plans, like stowing away in a suitcase on a boat to get out of here? Well, it's just...she left us behind. Beat us to it."
Tammy looks sad. She doesn't seem to know what to say. Cori brushes her short brown hair behind her ear. They walk in silence. Both feel profusely guilty. Both know they shouldn't. They wonder how they can fully enjoy their night with their dead friend hanging over their heads. Thoughts of Maya are banished from their minds when they turn the corner and Cori bumps into someone. Not just an awkward, exchange apologies and leave bump into someone. It was a bag-dropping, full on collision.
"Ah, sorry, sorry," murmurs the other person as Cori scrambles to pick up the things she'd dropped. He hands her the rest of her bags and they both straighten up. She sees he has short black hair and a blue jacket.
"Hey!" She blurts as she catches sight of the boy's face. "I know you!"
He looks her full in the face and his eyebrows shoot up. "Cori, right? And um...Tamara?"
"Tammy," she corrects. "And you're-"
"Mel. Mel Hawkins."
"Yeah! Ashford public school, right?"
"We're in the same grade! But I don't think we've ever been introduced..."
"Oh. Well," Cori laughs awkwardly. "Now we have, I guess."
"Guess so. Sorry I ran into you. Um, see you Monday."
He leaves like he's in a hurry, giving them a small wave. Tammy glances after him.
"Ashford, huh? I knew he seemed familiar."
They start to walk again, Cori adjusting her knit cap. "You know, now that I think about it, I've actually seen him a lot. But he seemed- I dunno, quiet. Shy."
Tammy looks up at the big advertisement in front of Malco.
"It's weird, huh?" she says after a minute. "I mean, we see all these people and they see us and we have no idea who they are. Even the people we see a lot. I guess...we really are unimportant, huh?"
"In the general scheme of things, I suppose. But our own life is really the only thing we need to care about. And...some people don't even care about their own lives."
Cori shrugs, but Tammy looks sad.
"Like Maya?"