Chapter 1 The First Encounter

Tyler's POV

Once again, I forgot to wake up. It was my first day in high school and I was already late. In fact, I wonder why I had to go to school when my future was already mapped out.

My name is Tyler Hale, I am 16 years old and I am the head of The Serpents, a gang in Los Angeles.

My father is none other than the boss of the Los Angeles mafia of which I am the sole heir.

That morning, I put on one of my blue ripped jeans with a black T-shirt and my black boots. I ran my hand through my hair, grabbed my leather jacket and my keys, and left the villa.

My mother had taken the Mercedes, so I went for the Yamaha parked under the porch.

Despite being obviously late by the time I got to school, more than three hours, I didn't bother to be discreet with my big bike. The roar of the engine was so loud that the whole school must have heard it. As I walked to my classroom, the principal stopped me in the hallway.

"Mr. Hale! You're off to a bad start!"

This guy with his glasses like telescopes and his belly that didn't fit well in his crudely-tucked-in shirt was already getting on my nerves

"Well, I'm here now!" I said with a smirk.

"Your class is in Room 1A. Hurry up now! I won't take anymore late coming of yours!"

"Alright, chief!" I gave him a salute like in the army before heading to my class.

Once I reached the room, I entered without knocking. I was already late, so there was no need to make my arrival noticed.

"Mr. Hale, you have finally deigned to honor us with your presence." I pretended not to have heard the teacher and continued to walk towards the back of the class, without looking back once.

I then took a look in search of a seat. A blonde girl at the back of the room motioned to me. I quickly recognized her by her provocative outfit. It was Brenda, my father's best friend's daughter.

I had a pair of sunglasses which, despite being classy, prevented me from seeing clearly. It wasn't until I lowered those glasses a little that I finally saw a friend of mine, Jackson. I went to join him immediately, completely ignoring Brenda.

"Mr. Hale, we are in class and there is no sun." The teacher handed the exam papers to the students in front and to me.

"Damn it!" I mumbled as I took off my glasses.

School was just as I thought it would be, extremely boring. No wonder I was the first to leave the class when lunch time struck.

I was seated on the guardrail near the cafeteria and was busy lighting my cigarette when Evan, Edward and Jackson joined me.

"Hey dude, you left the class like a rocket. I am not sure you even noticed the new girls." Jackson gave me a pat on the shoulder.

"I must admit that there are some really cute babes this year," Evan said.

Edward didn't say anything. He hung out with us out of habit but was not at all interested in our stories. What he actually liked was to go to the gym. That was where he spent most of his time. He was just a no-fuss guy. Ever since he was a kid, he always wanted to become a bodyguard, and he had been working a lot for it. Despite his 6 foot 2 inches height and his athletic build, he was very calm and gentle.

As a matter of fact, I could already see him in the future being my personal bodyguard.

"Look at the girl over there!" Jackson pointed at a group of girls entering the cafeteria.

I looked in the direction he was showing me and saw a little Chinese girl with a tall, curly-haired mestizo. The latter had big, muscular thighs and a beautiful butt molded into her slim jeans.

"Damn! I would pay to see her topless!" Jackson was drooling.

The ever-so-silent Edward opened his mouth for once.

"I will advise you not to mess up with her. She hangs out with Dylan and his gang."

Dylan was the most popular guy in high school. He was tall, blond, just the kind of guy I hated.

"Exactly, she would be a prime target," I said, stubbing out my cigarette.

A swift glance at Edward made me notice he didn't seem to agree. However, he didn't say anything as he knew very well that when I made up my mind to do something, nothing could stop me.

Tara's POV

We went to get our trays and sat down at the table. Isabella had informed us that she would not be coming to eat with us, so we were just four of us at the table.

"Did you see who we're in class with? Are we cursed or something?" I said.

Shin Oh, who was sitting next to me, didn't seem as shocked as I expected her to be. Unlike her, I had never seen that guy before, though I had already heard about him and his gang. After all, apart from my sport activities, I didn't go out much and spent most of my time at the orphanage.

"You're right. I mean, bumping into the famous bad boys in Los Angeles..."

Shin Oh stuffed the shrimps from her dish in her mouth so much so that she could hardly chew them.

"Hey, you shouldn't rush like that, you might choke on them." With that, I handed her a glass of water. Her eyes were red and she was coughing.

"Hi girls!"

I looked up and saw Jackson in front of us. Beside him was that famous bad boy Shin Oh was talking about.

Jackson, who had repeated the class, was older than us. He looked like a brawler with chains hanging on his jeans. He was wearing a black jacket and a cap so low you couldn't see his eyes.

I then turned my eyes to the famous bad boy. He was about five feet tall with black hair that hung down a bit. He was wearing a pair of sunglasses that covered his eyes, and he had a cold look on the face.

I lowered my head back to my tray and continued to eat, ignoring them.

"Well, you girls are not very nice," Jackson said, sitting on the table. "We come over to say hello and you just ignore us."

He leaned over to Shin Oh and took a shrimp from her plate.

"You're disgusting!" Shin Oh exclaimed, pulling back her tray as she stood up. Her face was red with anger.

Jackson looked at her with a smirk.

"What's wrong with the Chinese? She is not happy?"

In the meantime, his friend, the so-called bad boy, was smiling silently. They were just poorly educated kids in my opinion.

"First of all, I'm not Chinese but Korean, stupid!" Shin Oh shouted. One thing she definitely couldn't stand was people constantly deciding on her origins according to her appearance.

I saw Jackson's gaze turn dark at once. Before his hand could grab Shin Oh, I stood up and grabbed his arm.

"What the hell is your problem?" he yelled, pulling off his arm violently. He then jumped off the table and stood in front of me.

I looked at him and I saw his green eyes under his cap turn murderous.

I flinched. I was obviously no match for him despite my two years of Thai boxing. However, I could not let him bully us from day one.

His friend behind him didn't not move though. He was simply observing the scene with a smirk.

Dylan's POV

"What's going on here?"

Tara was up against the worst scoundrels in high school when Connor, Min Oh and I arrived in the cafeteria.

"Here comes the other Chinese!" Jackson said, turning to them.

"Do you want us to fix it now, you little asshole?" Min Oh was seething.

I put my arm in front of Min Oh to calm him. I always prefer to have physical confrontation as a last resort. I looked at Tyler, who was standing there with a smirk, watching the scene.

Jackson in turn smiled and walked over to Min Oh, ready to fight.

"It's okay, Jackson. Let it go," Tyler said finally.

Jackson turned to Tyler; the smirk had disappeared from his face.

"Yeah, better not get dirty by hitting shit!" Jackson exclaimed.

Min Oh, who was having a hard time holding back, couldn't stand this umpteenth insult. He walked furiously forwards Jackson. I saw Tyler take off his glasses, and I just had time to stand in front of Min Oh before he reached Jackson.

"Don't mind him," I whispered.

I knew if Tyler got involved, all this would end very badly.

"See you in class, cuties!" Jackson blinked at Tara and Shin Oh before leaving.

"Phew! You arrived on time," Shin Oh said, relieved.

I looked at Tara and saw her eyes black with rage.

"Seriously, Tara, what were you planning to do?" I asked, sitting down next to her.

She smiled and her beautiful blue eyes regained their glow.

"I knew you would come like always."

"Next time, try to avoid such confrontations," I said.

Min Oh and Shin Oh were talking in Korean. Knowing Min Oh's temper, I'd rather say he was yelling at Shin Oh.

We had been at the orphanage together with Isabella from a young age. Tara joined us in grade five.

At sixteen, we had emancipated from the orphanage, so for a year now, Min Oh, Connor, Isabella and I had been living in a loft since.

"So are the papers ready?" Connor asked.

"Yes, we just have to move in," Tara answered.

Tara and Shin Oh had their emancipation papers today, and they joined us at the loft. That was a good thing, but the bad side of it was that Tyler and his gang were in the same class with her.

Just thinking about it made me angry.

We left the cafeteria and only met again after school, since we were not in the same year.

I watched Tara leave, hoping that she wouldn't get into any trouble in my absence.

"Don't worry, Dylan, she will know how to handle them." Connor patted me on the shoulder.

I wasn't worried about Tara, she had quite a character. What worried me, however, was what Jackson might do. I also knew that if Tyler got into it, it wouldn't be good for anyone.

"Let's go to class. We're going to be late," Connor said as Min Oh had already joined his class.

Tyler's POV

I was slumped on my bench, watching this Tara who intrigued me.

When she stood up in front of Jackson, I had the impression that her eyes so blue had suddenly darkened.

One thing was certain though, and it was that she was fearless. No one in their right mind had ever dared to stand up to us without paying the price.

At the end of the lessons, all four of us went over to our motorcycles in the parking lot. While waiting for Evan, I took a cigarette and Jackson picked up the girls who were waiting for the bus.

My gaze fell on an Audi parked in front of it. Tara and her friend were waiting next to the car, smoking a cigarette.

Looking at her chest, I had to admit that Jackson was right. I, too, could pay to see her topless.

"What are you staring at?" Evan had finally arrived.

"My future prey," I said, smiling.

I stubbed my cigarette and took off my glasses to put on my helmet.

I slowed down as we reached where the girls were. However, when I saw Dylan and the others arrive, I started off again.

'I have all my time...' I laughed in my helmet.

We went to the hangar where the rest of the gang spend the day. We were the youngest but also the most intimidating.

I didn't need to tell everyone that I was the son of the boss of the Los Angeles mafia. I had already proven my worth more than once against other gangs in town.

Jackson was as crazy as me if not more. He had no limits and I was the only one who could hold him. Evan was the brain of our operations. He was fairly calm and preferred to avoid anything that had to do with physical confrontation.

Just as I took off my helmet, my mobile phone rung.

"Yeah..." I answered casually.

"Hello darling! Your father is coming back this evening. Hope you will be there for supper?"

"We'll see. I have things planned..." I answered.

"Make an effort. It's not often that he is around."

"Yeah, we'll see." With that, I hung up.

My mom was head over heels in love with my dad, who fucked with everything that had a bra. She had been on medication for depression for years now. In fact, I couldn't remember a single day since I was a child when she hadn't swallowed tons of pills.

I put my mobile phone away and joined the others, grabbing a beer in the process.

"Jackson, what are you going to do with Tara?"

I looked up at the mention of Tara's name. What the hell were they still talking about?

"I'm going to ruin the life of that bitch! She will regret having ridiculed me," he said threateningly.

"How about having fun?" I said.

Jackson turned to me. He scanned my eyes and understood right away.

"Seriously? Are you going to do that again?" He couldn't hide the excitement in his voice.

"Well, she has a damn good body!" I chuckled.

The guys laughed at the idea.

"Do you really think you can do it?" Evan asked me.

My eyes darkened as I saw he was doubting me. 'Has he forgotten who I am?' I wondered.

Understanding my cold look, Evan added, "What I mean is that with those her friends around, especially Dylan, it definitely won't be easy."

"The game will be all the more exciting." I chuckled.