DeAndre just walked into Physics. Mr. Anderson nods and says the usual, “Good morning DeAndre, ready for a rockin day?”
“You know it!” DeAndre says with a big smile across his face. He sits down at his usual desk and begins to write down his homework. Today was the day that lab partners were picked. Just Mr. Anderson knew who was gonna be with who. He runs through the class list and reaches DeAndre.
He looks at the paper closer and says, “DeAndre you will be with Darnell.” Darnell was the school thug. He was arrested the most, failed the most, and did the most drugs. The class shuffles while DeAndre stays put.  Darnell sits down next to him and stares.
“Before you say anything, we need to get this straight. You just stay away and I will do the project. I don’t need you messing up my scholarship.” said DeAndre.
“Ease up white boy. Y’all need to chill the hell out. Like I wasn’t gonna help anyways!” says Darnell. Darnell starts messing with the flames as DeAndre goes through the papers and reads the directions. Being called white angers DeAndre because he is a black teen yet gets called white due to the things he does. He is smart, likes chess, and doesn’t party.
DeAndre yells, “Knock it off, that tube has to get to 100 degrees celsius. I don’t need the data to be skewed!” Darnell sits back in his seat and plays with a lighter he pulled out of his pocket, he then takes the paper and stands it up to light it on fire. Right as he strikes the lighter, Mr. Anderson snatches the lighter from his hands.
“You will participate in this lab or you won’t be passing this class you hear!” says Mr. Anderson. Darnell straps on the goggles and begins to follow the directions as DeAndre orders them.  The bell rings and everyone rushes from the room with clean desks. Darnell shoots out the door while DeAndre stays behind to help clean up. DeAndre walks out of the school being shoved here and there.
Darnell stops him and says, “Look, help me get through this class and I will get your back.” DeAndre agrees because school is as sketchy as the streets walking home. He heads home on a safe walk as everyone leaves him alone.
The next day, DeAndre finishes the project and Mr. Anderson gives the two of them an A on the project. They stick together as partners and Darnells grade slowly goes up. The final project was just ahead and a B would give Darnell a passing grade. Darnell was gonna pass the class and planned to hold up to his end of the deal.
It was a late Friday night and DeAndre planned to walk home since no one was giving him any trouble now that Darnell had stood by his side. The only problem was that Darnell wasn’t by his side. Tony who was one of the biggest guys followed DeAndre home. DeAndre texted Darnell his location explaining to him that Toby was following him. No response. The read sign didn’t even show. DeAndre was in deep. He takes off running towards the area Darnell hangs out at. A loud ring to the ears and a piercing pain had landed on his thigh. DeAndre drops to the ground screaming. His leg is bleeding and numb. He can’t even move it it hurts that bad. Toby stands over the top of him with his 10 mm glock. He softly says, “You shouldn’t be messing with Darnell. Doing his homework and letting him pass. What a pansy!” Toby holds up the gun and points it at DeAndres head. DeAndre begins to beg for his life as a loud ding rings and toby fires the gun to the left of DeAndre. Toby crashes to the ground and smashes his head on the curb. DeAndre looks up and sees Darnell standing over him with a piece of pipe and a look of anger that gives DeAndre chills up his back. Tobys head was slowly gushing out blood and they knew he was going to die and they needed to leave immediately so no one saw them. “Oh my God he’s dead! What are we gonna do?” Deandre yells frantically.
“We are gonna get the heck out of here, that’s what we’re going to do.” Darnell says. He reaches down and puts DeAndre over his shoulder and runs back to his house where they would be safe. DeAndre was still bleeding from the bullet wound. His pants were soaked and dripping with blood. Darnell hiked for what seemed like miles trying to get home. He got to the steps at his house and laid DeAndre down opening the door to a confused sister. She freaked out to the sight of DeAndre bleeding out. Luckily she had attended nursing school for a year at a community college and could stitch him up. This was the first crime DeAndre had been part of and couldn’t confess or he would lose every chance of staying alive without Darnell. The only problem was now he was risking going to a nice college and getting out of Detroit so he could be safe forever with his mom. The next morning, DeAndre gets a ride to school from Darnell considering walking isn't the easiest for him. They drive by the scene where cops and bright yellow tape square off Tony's body. The cops don't even look at them as the roll on by in the lowered lincoln with loud music. Darnell seemed confident to DeAndre but down inside he was a little shaken up.
The school announcements came on in the morning talking about Tony's death.
Principle O'brien said, “I encourage anyone with knowledge of the Tonys death to come forward.” No one in their right mind would rat on Darnell, but would they rat on DeAndre? That was the scariest part about his situation. What if someone had seen him? Would they actually go to the police? The day went on like nothing had happened, at least that’s what DeAndre thought. He begins to walk down the stairs outside of the school only to see police lowering Tony's head and placing him into the backseat of the cruiser. DeAndre runs as fast as his injured leg will let him, only to arrive at the car and get a small glare from Darnell. DeAndre went home after school and watched the news to see if anything new had popped up; a report on the murder had just showed up. They had actual footage of the police arresting Darnell. It was reported that him and another partner had murdered Tony. This person was unidentified for now and Darnell was in the station for questioning. DeAndre got sick to his stomach. Would he throw DeAndre under the bus or take the blame and do the time? If he did do the time, who would help him stay alive on the streets for the last month or so of school?