The clock could not move fast enough. I had been stuck in this hell for six hours already and I just wanted to go home and check in on my dad. A folded paper flew onto my desk and I look with eyebrows raised at the stranger sitting next to me. She just shrugged and pointed to a boy sitted two rows over. I rolled my eyes, knowing now who it was from, and opened it up to reveal a single word scrawled in messy handwriting in its center. “Breathe.” It was an action I forgot to do quite frequently. My friend who sat two rows over knew this and made sure to remind me of it whenever he could. It got to be annoying, but I knew it came from a place of genuine concern so I just leaned forward and sent him a very awkward thumbs up which was received with a small smile.

It wasn’t much longer before the shrill of the bell echoed through my ears signaling me to pick up my bag and bolt for the door. However, my teacher had other plans. He called my name and before I could pretend I didn’t hear him my friend grabbed my shoulder and pushed me towards the desk before leaving the classroom himself.

“Jax, how are you?” he asked. He gave me a smile which was supposed to be comforting, but it was lame attempt.

“Fine,” I mumbled back. I started to tap my foot, signaling I had other places to be, but he seemed to be taking his time.

“Look, I know your academics may not be a priority for you, but I really think you need to stop slacking off so much in this class. I see so much potential in you and I know you’re capable of better work than this,” he said as he picked up my latest test which had a large F at the top in red. “Just please try a little harder and I promise your work will reflect your effort.”

“Can I go now?” I asked. When he sighed and nodded I turned around and walked out the door, slamming it behind me.

“What was that about?” he said. I wasn’t surprised he had waited, but for some reason I didn’t feel like talking to him. I just wanted to get home and see my dad. He was still in recovery and I felt like I had to always be there to make sure he was okay.

“Apparently I have potential,” I said. We locked eyes and laughed as we had both been told about our overwhelming potential many times. However, we had more important things to do than worry about our potential in school. And, unlike the problems we had to do in class, ours never had one solution and they were never easy to find.

“Jax, will you slow down?” I hadn’t noticed how fast I was going, but I didn’t want to slow down.

“Nope,” was the only answer I gave him as he picked up his pace. We didn’t say anything else to each other until we arrived at the entrance to my apartment. “Are you leaving?”

“You know, a lot of people ask someone if they want to come in,” he said.

“I’m not other people. Are you staying or leaving?” I asked as I turned the key in the old lock and opened the door. I didn’t understand the sight that met my eyes. Everything was scattered and the dishes that had been left on the counter this morning were shattered on the floor.

“Jax mo-” his voice cut off when he saw the state of my apartment. “Jax.”

“Dad?” I yelled, not expecting a response. He was gone. “It’s my fault,” I mumbled. I sunk to the ground and put my head in my heads, not able to process what was happening. I felt a pair of arms wrap around my body and I fell forward onto his shoulder.

“Jax, stop you couldn’t have known,” he said. I lifted my head up and just shook it in response.

“Caden, where is my dad?” I asked like he would somehow know by some miracle. I had a gut feeling that this had something to do with his recovery and perhaps he hadn't been making as much progress as he had been telling me about.

“C’mon let’s look around. Your dad may have left some sort of clue or something,” he said standing up, pulling me up with him. “Think, what would he want you to do?”

I thought about my dad and how intelligent he was, especially in these situations. “The fridge,” I said.

“You really think you’re dad would want you to have a snack right now?” he asked.

“No you dumba**, the notepad,” I replied as I rolled my eyes.

“Right,” he responded as we both went to examine the fridge where my dad always had a notepad hanging. If he knew he wasn’t going to be home when I arrived he would leave me a doodle to let me know where he was or at least how long he’d be gone for. My breath caught as I saw the sketch he had drawn, obviously in a hurry by the quality. It was messy, but the object was unmistakably a gun and below was a symbol I had never seen before.

“What is that?” I asked.

“It’s a gun,” he said. I slapped his arm hard while continuing to stare at the strange symbol. “Oh, you meant the symbol? I’ve seen it before. It’s painted in the alley near my apartment building,” he explained. “Now the interesting thing about it is-”

“Look, I don’t have time for interesting. I just need to find my dad,” I cut him off. “He wouldn't draw a gun if he was just going out to the grocery store.”

“Just listen. I always watch the alley outside my window and there’s this symbol there and whenever there’s a fresh coat of paint over it, there’s a package underneath it, always in the same spot.”

“What’s in it?” I asked, fearful I already knew the answer.

“I don’t know probably drugs,” he said, without much thought. Realization washed over his face as he looked at me. “But, your dad’s been clean for months, you don’t think he would…” He trailed off, not seeming to be able to find the right words to finish his thought.

“I didn’t think he would go back to them, but it’s happened before Caden. What did he do this time?” I couldn’t comprehend the situation at hand and I found myself surprised when I realized we had made our way to Caden’s apartment building and were now staring at the symbol that had a fresh coat of paint on it and a small package lying on the ground beneath it. “How long does it normally take before it gets picked up?”

“Normally less than an hour,” he said, “and no one normally comes here that isn’t supposed to be picking it up so let’s get out of here Jax.” He went to grab my arm but I shied away from him.

“We’re not leaving Caden, I just can’t. Whoever is coming to pick this up might lead to me to my dad. I can’t not wait for them.”

“If they see you here, they’re not going to just pick up their package and then lead you to your father. Drug dealers don’t usually do that sort of service for people,” he said. “Just come on Jax, they might be dangerous,” he said. He could tell his words wouldn’t do any good however and he quickly changed his stance. “Can we at least not stand in such a conspicuous spot?”

“Yea, you’re right come on,” I said as I led him further down the alley and behind a large dumpster. We waited for what seemed like hours, but eventually, as Caden had predicted, a man came for the package. I slowly slipped out from behind the dumpster before running out into the street.

“Jax, slow down will you?” I could hear Caden’s straggled breathing behind me. He never had been very fit, but at the moment I couldn’t slow down so I ignored his complaining.

In that very moment, I had never hated the busy city streets more. It wasn’t easy to follow someone without losing them. I guess Caden was having trouble following me because when I looked around he was nowhere to be seen. However, his absence was no reason for me to slow down if my dad’s life was on the line. I kept going in what I hoped was the right direction when I saw an expensive Mercedes pull out from the side of the road and in the seat, I recognized the man I was supposed to be following. I started to hear my heartbeat in my ears and my breathing ceased. The one person who would help lead me to my dad was in a car driving 30 miles per hour away from me and no matter how hard I tried I’d never be able to keep up.

“Jax, get in.” I turned my head to find Caden in the driver’s seat of his mom’s SUV, waiting for me to climb inside.

“What? How did you-” I started to ask.

“Just get in. come on we're gonna lose him.” I mumbled a thank you as I closed the door and we sped off after the Mercedes. It seemed like hours before the Mercedes finally arrived at an abandoned warehouse miles away from our apartments.

“Come on let's go.” I was quick to reach for the door, but I felt a hand wrap around my elbow and pull me back into my seat.

“Jax, you don't know what's in there. It could be dangerous and I don't want you getting hurt,” he said in a concerned voice.

“Caden, I can't just sit here. What if my dad's in the there? What if he's hurt?” I turned away from his face to look out the car window at the warehouse. The sky had begun to get dark and the growing shadows made the warehouse appear more eerie and dangerous than it probably would in bright daylight.

“Your dad would kill me if I let you go right now Jax and you know it.”

“Well if he's dead that won't matter and if he's alive...well I wouldn't mind watching you get your a** kicked,” I said as I got out of the car despite his loud protests and started making my way towards the large building. I heard complaints about my speed, but, as I did before, I ignored them and continued on towards the front door. I undid the latch and motioned for Caden to be quiet before I made my way inside.

I heard shouts on the other end of the ground floor, but couldn't see who they were coming from due to the large number of shelves blocking my view. There were boxes everywhere and they weren't filled with stuffed animals. I recognized the substances from health class. Every drug they told you not to consume could be found in one of these boxes. I had a pit in my stomach as I heard the shouts becoming louder and knew if my dad was in trouble, I had to hurry. I also knew if I was about to encounter a number of drug dealers, I was overwhelmingly underprepared. I didn't even have a gun, but luckily Caden had already thought ahead.
I didn't even notice his absence until I saw him walking back from behind one of the shelves. The only difference was he now had two pistols in his hands, and although they weren't the most sophisticated weapon, they would do. He placed one into my hand and nodded before darting his eyes to his left, signaling which direction we should head in. I nodded in response before taking a deep breath and following him to where I assumed my dad was.

The entire scene was a blur, but I knew I wouldn't be leaving the warehouse when I heard a shot ring out which was followed by an overwhelming pain in my side. My vision blurred and I felt hands grab me as I started to fall. I blinked multiple times and tried to keep my breaths steady which was extremely difficult. More shots rang out, but none of them were targeted at me nor Caden, whose face I had started to make out through my tears.
“Jax you can't leave me please, not after I just killed those guys for you. What am I going to do without you making fun of me all the time, huh? And who's gonna help me take care of your Dad? Come on you can't leave me Jax. Please don't go,” he said. I felt his tears hit my face as he spoke, voice dripping with desperation, as if his words would be enough to stop the blood from leaving my body.

“Caden please tell me that's not my baby girl.” I heard my dad's voice break and saw his face come into view. “Jax I'm never going to forgive myself for this. Please don't leave us,” my father begged. “I promise I'll stop dealing. I’ll get better I promise. Just please stay.”

I heard their pleas and wanted to stay with them, but I couldn't. The pain became too much and, eventually it started numbing. And slowly, the rest of my body became numb. I tried to breathe, but my breaths became fewer and farther between and my heart began to slow down, until eventually it all stopped.