The World Outside

It was finally the end of the first day of the class. The teacher dismissed the class and the feet of the chairs scraping the floor filled the room. The students are visibly excited to go home or somewhere with their friends. Slowly, the students get fewer and fewer in the room. Caitlyn finished reading their textbook and put them back in her bag. As she stood, she saw Clara staring at her. "You forgot the teacher dismissed us already?" She asked. She looked very curious.

"Um, no? I'm aware..." As Caitlyn answered, she immediately understood what Clara meant. "I just like reading a bit more before I leave the classroom..." She added. "Huh... and why is that?" Clara tilted her head slightly. "Um... I don't know... It's a habit that I grew up with" Caitlyn swirled her hair as she replied. "Oh... You really are a bookworm, huh?" Clara chuckled slightly.

"Books. glasses, bashful... It's all in you" She smiled and Caitlyn did the same. "Yeah... I guess you can call me that..." She nodded. "What's so interesting about reading anyway?" Clara asked as she took her bag and hung it on her shoulder, which weighed almost nothing. Caitlyn did the same. "Well... Mostly learning something new" She replied as she followed Clara outside. Michael stood up while grabbing his bag and followed them.

"I get the learning part, but staying in one place and not moving, just reading like that? How can you do that? Isn't that, like, boring?" She asked with a slight discomfort on her face. "Not for me, I guess..." Caitlyn replied shyly. Michael was watching them walk side by side and decided to walk beside Clara. She didn't notice him at first.

"You must have a lot of patience, being able to sit like that doing nothing" She raised a brow, her eyes glued to Caitlyn. "It's not like I'm not doing anything..." Caitlyn chuckles a bit. She then saw Michael waving at her, so she did the same. Clara's expression turns into confusion and looked to her right. "H-hey... Do you mind if I walk with you home?" He asked with a shy tone.

Clara didn't respond and only raised a brow on him. "Sure thing!" Caitlyn on the other hand agreed with enthusiasm. "Oh, what? We're a trio now?" Clara's gaze returned to Caitlyn, still keeping her brow raised. "I think so!" She could see Caitlyn's happiness, so she sighed and agreed to let Michael walk with them.

"Also, it's like, creepy when you walk up on girls like that, do you know that?" Once again, Clara raised a brow on Michael, now with a hint of disgust. "Sorry... I just, uh.." "He's shy!" The two snapped to Caitlyn as she spoke. "Can't you see he's shy?" She giggled. Michael went red all over. "Shy, huh?" Clara turned to Michael. "You're east side. How the hell did you grow up there, being a shy boy like that?" She asked.

"East side? I'm not into that sort of thing" He shook his head. "Well, that's how Samson rolls, dude. We got our hoods and we hate each other" Clara rolled her eyes. "Not everyone wanted to be hooligans like..." Michael managed to stop his words. "Like who?" Clara smirked at him while furrowing her brows slightly.

"Well... are you one of them?" He asked curiously. "No, I'm not. But I grew up around them. Unfortunately, my neighbors were the big shots of the West side, so I kind of adopted their habits" Clara replied. "So you ARE one of them?" His response made her glare at him. "No, I said I'm not! I don't go around swinging guns at anyone who I think is from the ops!" She raised her voice slightly at him.

"I guess you're right" As the two relaxed, Caitlyn spoke up. "Ops?" She asked. The two smiled at her. "Opposite gang, or hood. It's a street term, Caitlyn" Clara replied. "If I remember right, you graduated from Clarkins Middle School? If memory serves, that's like, far south... And we are all aware that most of the workers and employees in the city live down south" Caitlyn suddenly went red at him hinting that her family is wealthy.

"Say, how was it down there?" Clara was interested in his question and turned to Caitlyn to hear her answer. "It's fine there, I guess" She replied. "That would be 'It's the best there' Caitlyn" Clara's words gave Michael a chuckle. "It's a lot better than Samson, that's for sure" He said. Caitlyn looked at him with a raised brow. "Why?" She asked.

"Caitlyn? Do you even know anything about Samson?" He asked back. "Well... No, apart from being a popular place for house and apartment rents, especially West Samson" Caitlyn spoke what she knew. "Well... Every rental place nearing the cities is always popular, Caitlyn" Clara smirks at her, making her blush. "I guess you know little of Samson, Caitlyn. I bet the news barely shows the rampant gang-related violence happening in Samson all the time" Michael frowns.

"Samson is infested with gangs. The West and the East. It doesn't matter what your race is, you were born in the hood, you're one of them. Even if you're not an active member, they are still your 'homies' as they call them" He explained. "You say that last part as if you don't use that term at all" Clara smirked at him. "Well, that's because I do avoid using that term. I'm not a gangster" She chuckled at his words. "You don't have to be a gangster to use the term, homeboy..." She smirked.

Michael just scoffed at her. Then they both turned to Caitlyn, who was smiling although having no idea what they were saying. "Well, that's the whole truth about Samson. Gangs and violence. We're unfortunate to be born in a poor neighborhood" Michael smiled slightly. "That's why I was asking what the hell were you doing in these parts, Caitlyn. This is not the place for wealthy people like you. Matter of fact, this school is within the territory of the Kings" As Clara mentions the name, Michael sighs.

He then starts to explain after Clara. "Ringnest Kings. It's a unified system of multiple gangs that used to reign small parts of Ringnest. One gang won and they took over. The winning gang took the chance to increase their influence and established 'The Ringnest Kings'. It's a more 'modern' gang, beating the Samson gangs in terms of manpower, connections, and maybe technologies like weapons" After his explanation, the two looked at Caitlyn for her reaction.

Sure enough, Caitlyn had a terrified look. Her eyes tensed and staring at the ground as they walked. "We don't have to worry about the Kings or any gangs, so chill out, okay? The only thing you should worry about is being picked on in this school by them stupid clowns" Clara chuckled as she reassured Caitlyn. "Thanks, that's very nice to hear" Caitlyn replied softly.

"Yeah. There's a lot of things we can worry about than gangs" Michael gave Caitlyn a reassuring smile. "Okay..." Caitlyn nodded and went on to walk beside the two in silence. She would break the silence later by asking something.

"Why are gangs made?" She asked. The two looked at each other and then back to Caitlyn. "Brotherhood. What makes such brotherhood? Poverty. It brings people together and finds their way to survive another day, and that is crimes" The two girls stared at him as he explained. "I mean... if they had the opportunity to live better, they wouldn't be joining any gangs in the first place" He added. Clara turned to Caitlyn. "He's right, but not all people think the same. There are other people who just like gang-banging like that" She scoffed.

"Gang-banging?" Caitlyn repeated the word. "Gang. Banging. You 'bang!' gangs. You shoot other gangs" Clara explained almost jokingly. "In easier terms, shoot other people" Michael added. Understanding the term, Caitlyn did not ask any further. They walked home silently from that point on, parting ways on a specific road later on. They waved their hands as they all went into separate ways.