“Jackson, Liam, Carter, and Izzy. We need you downstairs now.” I hear my Mother call.

I get up off the couch and headed to the kitchen where my parents were sitting. My brothers were scattered across the room no one was looking at each other.

“I’m here. What do you need?” I ask awkwardly. It seemed like everyone knew what was going on except me. That’s why it sucks to be the youngest.

“Izzy, there is no easy way to say this.” My mother says.

“Say what?” I ask her.

“Me and Your father are splitting up.” Mother says.

“About time.” I mumble.

“What did you say, kid?” My father asks.

“Nothing.” I say.

“I’m taking your brothers and you’re staying here with your father.” My mother says.

“What? You’re leaving me.” I say starstruck.

“Yeah, you’re leaving her?” Liam says.

My older brothers are shocked. We all know that my father is not the nicest person to be around. Especially when you’re seven. I understood more than I should. Liam and Jackson are nine and Carter is eight. So they chose the seven year old to stay with the wretched father.

“Yeah. She is staying with me and there’s nothing you can do ‘bout it, kid.” Father says.

I ran up to my brothers and hugged them unaware that was the last time I would see them for a long time.

It has been nine years since I have seen my brothers. I have changed a lot since then. My father is abusive along with my stepmother. He got married a year after my family left.

I have turned into a gangster-girl. I have three amazing besties. Carly, Emma, and Ally. They are in my gang.

Rumor around school is that the boy band ‘The Kings’ are coming to our school. I honestly hate their music. I mean, who listens to petty love songs?

When I arrive at school Ally is waiting for me at the door. Her short brown hair is covering her black eye she got yesterday. “The rest here?” I ask her.

“Inside.” she says nodding toward the door.

We go inside and Carly and Emma are waiting right by the door. I give them the signal to follow me to the roof. We go up and Devon is waiting for us.

“You called?” I asked to make it known I had arrived.

My high ponytail was swinging with delight. Devon wasn’t walking out of here with a few scratches. He turns around real quick. “Izzy.” he says mockingly.

“Spit it out Devon. You‘re wasting my time.” I say.

“Slow your roll, ‘babe’.” He says with his air quotes.

I hear little gasps in the background from my friends signaling there are people around. That didn’t stop me from punching him square in the nose.

“I said stop calling me that, cheater.” I say.

He throws a left hook and makes me bleed over my white uniform. “She was better than you anyway.” He says.

Then we all knew what was coming, a fight. Me and my ex have had quite a few of these and everyone knew it. Mr. Cox came out and just stared at us. He even knew not to interfere but he always did. “Ms. Blevins and her posse my office. NOW.” He said in a stern voice.

Devon was huddled on the floor now. His friend was taking him to the nurse when we left. When we got to the office there were 4 boys sitting there behind us.  He sat me and my gang into chairs in front of his desk.

“Mind explaining, Izzy?” Mr.Cox asked me.

I started to twirl my blonde hair in between my fingers. It was now blood stained. “Do I really need to explain how big a butt Devon is?” I ask him.

“Yeah, Mr. Cox, we all know Devon is a butt.” Carly said beside me. My girls laughed.

“NO, WHY IS DEVON COVERED IN BLOOD AND BLACK AND BLUE?” He screams.

The guys behind us are shook, I can tell because of the gasps. “I mean at least he’s not pink and yellow.” I say, cunningly.

“Izzy, tell me what happened.” He says again.

“Why do I have to do it?” I ask.

“You’re the one covered in blood.” He says.

I forgot about that. “Well you see here Devon was taunting her about their break-up and she was fed up about him cheating so she punched him and then he gave her a bloody nose. And the rest you saw.” Emma says.

“Way to dig into my love life, Emma.” I say.

“At least we didn’t go into your home life.” Ally says.

“Well as punishment for the fight, you will all tour the new kids.” He says.

“Wait a minute, those guys?” I say gesturing to the strange people behind us.

“Yes. Izzy, Carly, Ally, and Emma meet Jackson, Liam, Carter, and Damion.”

They shoot us a nervous smile. My friends are fired up beside me. I covered my ears knowing what was coming next. “THE KINGS??” They yell in unison.

I run to each one of them and slap them as if to say snap out of it. “There will be no fan girling while I am here, okay?” I ask them.

“Yes ma’am” they say in unison while rubbing their cheeks.

“Okay now back to the other subject.” I say calmly. “I will politely decline.”

“Do it or we’ll suspend you for a week.” Mr.Cox says.

I am shocked. At least he doesn’t know what goes down in that hollow house. “Mr. Cox, you can’t.” Emma says defensively.

“Why not?” He asks.

A tear slowly goes down my cheek. “We don’t speak of the reason why. But fine, I’ll do it. I am not getting another suspension any time soon.” I say, defeated.

He sent us out of the office and we do a small group hug. “Umm sorry to ruin the moment, but the tour?” The one with ginger hair asks.

I shoot him a death cold stare. “Okay, let’s start over.” I say, pushing in front of my friends. “I’m Izzy and this is my group, the Black Diamonds.”

The girls introduce themselves. “Oh, like a band?” The one with brown hair asks.

“I guess you could say that.” Emma said.

“Izzy Blevins where the heck are you?” Devon's girlfriend says, screaming down the halls.

I turn around. “Right here.” I say.

She comes up and slaps me. “What the heck did you do to Devon?” She asks.

“Gave him a piece of my mind, Barbie.” I say.

“You rat, my name is Kira.” She says.

“Scram.” I say.

“Why should I?” She asks me.

“You don’t want me to ruin that face of yours, do you?” I ask.

She gets lost. I turn back to the group. “Who was that?” The tall one asks.

“That’s not important. Now who is who?” I ask them.

“I’m Jackson.” the one with brown hair says.

“I’m Liam.” the one with blonde hair says.

“I’m Carter.” The one with shaggy dirty blonde hair says.

“I’m Damion.” the one with ginger hair says.

“Ages.” I say.

Jackson and Liam are 18. Carter is 17. And Damion was 16.

“Pick.” I say to my girls.

All of them are older than me so they each went to the guy that was their age. Emma and Jackson, Liam and Ally, And Carly got Carter. “Guess I'm with you, ginger.” I say.

We have a miniature staring contest. Everyone was just staring at us in disbelief. “Yeah, guess I'm with you, Blondie.” he says, breaking my focus.

We all split. I give Damion his tour and point out who to steer clear from. “And that's it.” I say at the end of the tour.

“Do you know where class 103 is?” He asks.

He’s in my class. I honestly thought this would be the last time I would see him. “You’re in my class.” I say.

“Well, that’s great.” He says sarcastically.

I grab him and drag him to first period. When we get to the door, I’m breathless. “You’re heavy.” I say, wheezing.

“Rude.” He says in response.

I ignored him and walked into the room. “You're late.” Mr.  Lenny says.

“Does it look like I care?” I say, heading to my seat.

✂✂✂

“That was boring.” Damion says, when he catches up to me after class.

“Tell me.” I say, “What do you have next?” I ask him for no reason.

“Lunch. My favorite subject.” He says.

“Now that is one thing we agree on.” I say.

“Izzy.” Someone calls in the hallway.

“Seriously, how many people are after me today?” I mumble as I spin on my heels.

It was my Father. Mr. Cox must have called him. “Izzy, I need you for a second.” He says.

“F-Father, I have school now. Could it wait?” I stutter.

Damion was just watching the scene unaware of who this was. “No, young lady, we need to have a talk now.” He says dragging me into an empty classroom.

Damion must have seen how scared I looked because a second after my dad grabbed me he was off looking for my friends.

Once we were inside the classroom he struck me down. “What were you thinking?” He said.

“O-ow. Dad stop that hurts.” I pleaded.

“Shut up, useless mistake.” He said striking me again, giving me a scar across my eye.

“S-stop. Please it hurts.” I pleaded over and over again while he kept on striking me.

“Get. Away. From. Her.” I hear Carly say from the door.

Emma and Ally rushed to my side as I started to cry. The wound on my eye hurt a lot. That wretched man left as soon as Carly pulled a gun on him. Emma and Ally helped me up.

I walked a few steps and then blacked out.

I awake in the dim lighting of the nurses office while Mrs.G huddles over me. “W-what happened to me?” I ask her.

She jumps back, startled. “You fainted again, Izzy.” She said in a calm, professional voice.

“Thanks Mrs.G. What time is it?” I ask her.

“Three thirty.” she says.

I wiped away sweat, I wasn’t late for today’s meeting. I jump off of the cot and thank Mrs.G again. I headed off to the alleyway and my friends met today. The mission was easy. We have to find the person who is doing massive robberies in the area. We have a lead on him already but it’s up to us to catch him in the act.

When I got to the alley I was the only one there. So I put my book bag down and got out my phone. I started looking through my old photos. I came across one with me and my brothers. A tear slowly traced my cheek. I sure did miss them.

The next picture was the one I took when I first met my friends. I was really shy and didn’t really talk to anyone. My old friends were fake but I didn’t see that. So when I found the group I asked them to be my friends and they said yes.

“Is the Swan in the nest?” I hear Ally call over the walkie-talkie.

We gave ourselves code names and the nest is the alley. I’m the Swan. “The Swan is in the house, Bunny.” I say. Ally is a bunny because it’s her favorite animal.

“We’re on our way, Swan.” Carly said.

“Nice to hear, Pineapple.” I respond.

When they got there I was looking at our target’s name and where he was going to strike next. The dark web held all this, only criminals used it. The police didn’t know about it, but me and my team have used it since we were kids.

“Where is our adventure today?” Emma asks.

“The target’s house. Says on the dark net he’s gonna sell it all. We need to get there and tie up the target and exterminate the middle man. Then we leave them to the proper authorities.” I explain.

“That doesn't sound too hard.” Carly says.

“The middle man is Drent Burpular.” I say.

“Never mind.” she says.

Drent Burpular isn’t his real name. It’s Drent Leek. I gave him that nickname when we were in kindergarten. I sat right next to him and he wouldn’t stop burping so I gave him that nickname. He was a good kid until middle school. He started his life of crime on the first day of sixth grade. He pulled a knife on a teacher and threatened her. Ever since then, he has a body count of one hundred. He dropped out in eighth grade due to his time in juvie, but shortly after, he escaped.

“Honestly, how long have we tried to catch him?” Emma asked.

“Ever since I was eleven.” I said.

We get up and head to the address he posted on the dark web. The house looked sketchy. I mean, who uses yellow on a house anymore? It looked like a dollhouse came to life. I was disgusted.

I could see Drent walking up in a suit and tie, but he looked like Bert from Mary Poppins. Man, they really take heists seriously.

Ally was already waiting in place. She was wearing a yellow sundress and a big bow to make her look younger. The plan was simple Ally distracted Drent and told him she lives around here and flirts with him. Then Carly does a sharp shooter move and takes Drent out. Then I would go to the door and say I was the middle man. Or women in this case. He would buy it because I looked the part. The only thing he knows about the person receiving the money was that the person was sixteen. Then we would take things from there.

Ally hopped off of the front porch she was on. We got one of the neighbors in and he agreed to help us. Ally and Dent started to mingle. She started her classic flirting routine and he was engaged just like I knew he would. Carly came out of the bushes. She was playing the mother of Ally. Her blue dress was nice and casual, so she was fine. She called Ally and told her to not disturb Drent. He was still facing Ally when Carly reached into her light blue purse for her gun. Ally was distracting Drent by her apologizing over and over again. She was heading to the porch while Emma was sitting there acting like she was on the phone.

Then all I heard was a loud boom. I looked up and Drent was face down on the ground covered in blood. Phase 1 complete. Now, the hardest part: getting the loot. I stepped out of the bush in my lavender dress. I brushed off the leaves nestled in my hair.

I walked up to the house and knocked on the door while my handbag clutched to my side. A middle aged woman walked up to the door. “What do you need, sweetie?” She asked me as the scent of freshly baked cookies filled the air.

“I am looking for a Jeremy Dall.” I say.

“Oh well he’ll be down in a second dear. Please come in.” She offered.

I stepped into the house and the cookie smell got stronger. “So you must be the interceptor of the objects my husband is selling.” She says.

“Yes ma’am. Are your kids home? I don’t want to cause too much of a fuss when I leave.” I say, remembering something about how they had kids.

“They are home but they are too busy working on the older ones' music and they have friends over too. What a toughie.” She says.

“Lillian, is the person here yet?” I hear a man call from the top of the stairs.

“Yes, dear.” She says in a cheery voice.

Footsteps trod down the stairs. Then a man turns the corner. His ginger hair is sticking up every which way but he is still smiling. “Now let me ask you how many items will I be transferring?” I ask him.

“Well all the good stuff. Your boss pays well for stuff like this. Now tell me, girl,” he pauses. Not ever a good sign. “Have you called the police yet?”

“Ah so you’ve finally caught on. I don’t know how much longer I could have kept on this prissy attitude.” I say.

He threw a punch. I dodged it quickly. I got my handbag and pulled out my gun. I also got my walkie-talkie we use to communicate. “The Swan needs red and blue.” I say, signaling to them we need the cops asap.

“Calling the cops? The swan is going shallow aye?” The woman says.

I held my gun out showing I wasn’t afraid to shoot. The man kicked. I flipped. “Thought you were getting away easily, Swan?” He said.

“Is this how you treat all your guests? Or am I getting the special treatment?” I ask them, “If so, I'm flattered.”

I hear more footsteps descend from the stairs. I kept on dodging there hit but every now and then one landed on me. “Kids, please stay upstairs Mom and Dad have company over.” The lady said.

“Mom, why does it sound like there is fighting going down stairs?” A very familiar voice called down the stairs.

“It’s nothing, son.” The man says.

The footsteps go back up the stairs and fade away. “Wow, am I still not worthy of beating you fair and square?” I ask them.

“Swan, if you knew how many criminals were out to get you, then you wouldn’t even think about wasting your time.” the man said.

“Apparently everyone likes to throw my name around like its cake.” I say.

Footsteps start to descend the steps again except its multiple. The couple doesn't seem to hear. I started for the door but I was stopped,“Where do you think you're going? We are just getting started.” The man asked.

I was already bloody and probably had a bloody nose. “Apparently giving the graceful swan a bloody nose is code for getting started.”

We keep fighting until someone turns the corner. “Mom, Dad, what's going on in here?” The same voice from the stairs asked.

“Man, y’all ruined my dress.” I say, ignoring whoever just entered the room.

“You are fighting criminals and the Swan is worried about her dress?” The man said.

“Again with throwing around my name. And, yes, I am worried about my dress. It was one of the last things I bought from Target.” I say, stalling.

“I heard so many stories about the fierce Swan and come to find out it's a weak teenage girl.” the woman said.

“NOBODY. CALLS. ME. WEAK.” I say.

I slid under them then it became a war in the kitchen. When I saw some guys and a little girl standing at the entrance of the kitchen I had totally forgotten there were others here. “Not setting a good example for your kids, aye?” I say, signaling to the watches of the fight.

The woman looked over and saw the kids standing there looking frightened. “I thought I told you to stay upstairs.” She said.

“You should have listened to your mother.” The dad called to his kids. I could tell who the friends were, they didn’t even look alike. I didn’t really get a good look at their faces though. I am not really good at multitasking. Taking down criminals is one thing.

“Mom, I will ask once again. What is going on?” the same guy asked.

“What's going on is this girl is trying to rob our house and me and your father won’t allow it.” The lady said.

“That doesn't sound right now does it?” I ask, “Last time I checked you were the one trying to kill me for stopping your illegal trade.”

Police sirens started to come up the road. The kids who look familiar but I can’t quite put my finger on it are still to the side. Except the one who kept asking questions. “Why are the police here?” He asked.

“Swan, it's time to fly.” Emma calls over the walkie-talkie.

I grab it. “Thanks Phoenix.” I see the kids. “It isn’t safe. You should run and let the proper authorities handle this.” I tell them.

“Swan you're not going anywhere.” The man says grabbing my arm.

“Let go of me you insane man.” I say struggling to get free. “The Swan is in need of wings.” I say into my walkie telling them I needed help.

“Phoenix, Bunny, and Pineapple reporting for duty.” I hear Carly calling from the door. They had time to change so they looked a little less girly and more ready to fight.

Ally stormed up and took the mom while Carly took the kids who by the looks of it she was shocked and so were they. Me and Emma had the dad. Seconds later, officers were entering the house and taking care of the parents.