Rules of Surviving

Chapter One

Dylan

"Come on dude, you owe me." I say to my best friend. She bits her lip worryingly and then agrees.

"Call me dude one more time, I'll cut your balls off, got it?"

I just smile at her. Adyson is my best friend who I've known since I was born. Her parents and mine were best friends when we were born and we've stayed with each other ever since. Even when the affair came out that my mom had been sleeping with her dad and it all just feel apart, me and Adyson stayed the same.

We walk into my house where my papa is furrowing over books at the kitchen table. "Hey papa." I say bending down to kiss his cheek, Adyson does the same.

"What you two kids up too on a Friday night?" Dad looks at us suspiciously.

"You couldn't possibly be spending it with me."

"Papa of course we'll love to spend it with you but we have social events that we just cannot get out of." I shake my head.

"Get out of here" Papa rolls his eyes.

"Right on that, just gotto grab a few things." I say and walk into my bedroom where my little brother Benny is waiting for me on the bed. Benny is only two years younger and has just started High School. "What do you want Ben?" I ask.

"I want in."

"No way. You're fifteen, forget it."

"You're such a hypocrite; you were doing this before you were fourteen!"

"I said no."

"Yeah well you can't control me." Benny pushes past me but I drag him back by his shirt.

"Get off me."

"I said you're not going."

"And I said I am."

"Do not make me tie you down to the bed." Adyson threatens him.

"And how you going to explain that one to dad?" Benny sneers.

"You're not coming." I say. "And nothing you say will change our minds. You wanna go complain to papa, fine! Be a snitch."

Benny froze. "Fine." He mutters darkly, looking down at the ground.

"Now get out of here." I tell him and close the door behind him. Adyson grabs what we need throwing it into a black rucksack

"I bet you ten dollars that your brother will show up there tonight." Adyson grins at me.

I groan. "Why don't I just give you the ten dollars now?"

Adyson puts the rucksack on my back and walks out my room. "Whoa are you kids running away?" Papa jokes as we walk back through the bungalow.

"Do you think we'll get far?" I say. "Look at us."

Papa frowns. "Don't remind me Dyl. You think I want you to have holes punctured all over your body."

"Lets go." I say to Adyson. "He'd start on your tattoos next."

I do have a lot of piercings, against my papa's wish while Adyson has tattoo's covering her almost entire body. We know we look good and that is all that counts.

Adyson is beautiful in a unique way. She has natural wavy blonde hair that every girl is jealous of and she is always wearing a beanie hat with hoodie and short shorts. She loves displaying her body and told me once that she wanted to be a glamour model.

She could still be a model, despite her tattoos which only make her look hotter. Me, not so much. I look more emo although I swear I'm not with my long hair that I just can't seem to part with. It's not that long, I swear.

We got back onto Adyson's motorbike which I dread being on. I prefer cars but I can't afford one and my papa would kill me if he found out I stole one. Someone that my dad knew would see me and the town was so small I'll be found out within a day of getting it.

I burrow my head into Adyson's back, my arms tight around her waist. She never complains even when I'd give her bruises.

We give each other bruises every week in the ring so it doesn't really matter.

Adyson and I are boxers, it's something that we both love and have been doing since we were kids. It's professional boxing but that doesn't mean my papa is happy about it.

Papa is over protective of me unlike Adyson's mama who's a drunk. My mom and her dad ran away together the year the affair broke out and they haven't talked to us since. We don't care, we have my papa.

We pull up on the back roads and I feel the thrill go through me as I see all the flashing cars and people swarming around. Adyson isn't into the illegal races like me.

"Yo man." Beck slaps my back. "And Ady, you're here." Beck laughed and shook her shoulder. "Great to see you."

"I think he's on the drugs." Adyson smiles leaning against me.

"He's always on the drugs, I can't see my brother."

"He'll come." Adyson grabs my hand and pulls me towards the others.

"Dylan." Kaye Scofield of the criminal family Scofield grins as she saw me and clasps my hand. "Come, I'll introduce you."

Adyson stays back with Matt and Josh as Kaye introduces me to her family. "Papa, mama this is Dylan Erickson."

Me and Kaye are friends in school despite her being a senior although I had never met her family before, only one of her older brothers and younger sister.

"This is my brother Dante" I shook hands with the brother I hadn't met. He is dressed in a suit which was unusual, not many people turned up in suits even the Scofields. "My aunties Rosa, Lea and Michelle."

I shook hands with all three women trying not to linger on Lea who has dark curls all the way to her waist and long legs clad in tight jeans.

All the Scofields were all polished, attractive and tall. I felt out of place standing before them.

"It's nice to meet you Dylan." Mr. Scofield claps my shoulder. "But I must go, my sisters know more about the cars then me. I'm better with money."

"It's because you don't want to get dirty Phillip." Michelle grins.

Ms. Armstrong kiss's me on the cheek. "Hopefully we'll see you again. I'm like Phillip, I just about to know how to change a tire. That's how we met, wasn't it Phil?"

"Until you found out who I was and refused to marry me."

"You'll lucky, you have me."

"I'm so sorry about my parents" Kaye presses a hand to her forehead once they're gone.

"There in love Kaye." Lea says. "So hotshot." Lea looks at me. "Let's see what you got."

Kaye walks me over to where the car I would be racing in is. "I hope you make it Dyl. You're a good racer."

"Dylan wait up" Elle, my girlfriend of the last three months runs up to me. "Good luck." She kisses's my lips and then draws back.

"Thanks," I look across at Adyson who's standing next to our friends Shane, Mattie and Iñigo and then at my opponent. It's Mr. Diablo, my maths teacher who has it in for me, 24 and good looking his hot attraction with the girls and gays. I don't know what I've done to him but for some reason he just detests me.

I wish I had a drink to calm my nerves down, I've never been so nervous before a race but then it never has been so important before. To be a racer for the Scofield family is my current goal and can set me for life. All I need to do is win this race and show the family how good I am.

I take a deep breath and get in the car. Me and Diablo move the cars into the starting positions. I keep my eyes on Kaye as she counts down and then press the pedal down. Let's do this.

I go flying off down the road, not concentrating on the crowd either side but Diablo. He gets the jump start but I'm not bothered about that.

I feel in my element as I press my car to its limit with Diablo in my sight. My hands on the wheel turn to magic knowing when to turn and what pressure to imply. My hands doing their work I'm free to figure out when exactly to overrun him.

We turn off the tracks and into the normally bustling traffic in day but now at night it's not so much bustling however still traffic. The Scofields don't want an easy race.

I'm a natural at this and zooming in and out between cars like it's nothing when I bump my car into Diablo's. He looks at me with a grin and then smashes into me. I growl and smash back into him causing him to go crashing into a lamppost. Grinning I run the car down the road watching out the side mirror to see Diablo spinning his car off the road the lamppost sent him down.

I'm ahead of him now but were only a quarter of the way through it. It's the race of my lifetime, the toughest one I've ever taken but I need this, need to win.

Diablo comes at me but I miss the glint he has in his eyes and that is my huge mistake as four police cars come cantering at me from one direction as Diablo corners me in. My eyes barely take in the building before me until my vision goes black.

000

"Why you doing this to me, Papa?" I smash my fists down on the table. "Why do you hate me so much?"

"Hate you?" Papa laughs. "Are you fucking kidding me son? You're lucky you didn't end up in jail."

"I was set up." I scream. "And my own father doesn't believe me."

"Don't you yell at me." He jabs a finger into my chest. "I believe you were set up son and I don't care."

"Oh that is just great, you don't even care now!" I hook my fingers behind my head and pace up and down the room.

"God sake kid. You don't get the real picture, do you? So what if you was set up so that you was caught out, the fact of the matter is you were in a illegal street race. I told you to stay away from trouble and you didn't.

I have no choice son. You've received warnings; the only way you didn't end up with years in prison was REACH."

"I don't want to go to Colorado. I don't want to leave."

"You should have thought about that before you decided to get into trouble for the last time. And for the record I rather you be several states away then stuck inside a jail cell."

I stomp out the bungalow and into the arms of my best friend. "Ady, I can't do this."

"Yes you can" Ady pushes me back so she can look at me. "You are Dylan Erickson, you're Adyson Michelson's best friend and the two of us are tough and handle anything."

"Ady."

"Dylan, were stay in contract every day. And I'll get the train, hell I'll ride my motorbike all the way to Colorado to see you."

I smile. "I know you'll do that Adyson, that's why I love you."

"Please don't be sappy brother"

"Then I won't." I kiss her forehead and then turn as my papa walks out with my brother. Benny runs over and envelops me in a big hug and for once I feel like crying but I don't.

"Hey Ben." I get him to look at me. "Do not make the same mistakes I did okay?"

Benny sniffs and I wipe the tear away. "Benny." I pull him close to me and lean down to his ear. "I'll be back with you in no time."

I take a deep breath and stare at my papa. "Let's go then"

Next Chapter: Cecilia- Lying is easy, to your boyfriend, you're over-protective parents, the more important the lie is the easier it gets to tell.