“I was born ready.”
Unlike the other pledges of Phi Kappa Mu, Ava gave me a heads up that hazing started tonight. There were perks to being best friends with the president.
“You sure?”
I snorted at the twinkle in her grey eyes, “I can handle anything you throw at me.”
The only response I got was a slight curl in her pink lips, which was not a good sign. Ava may look like a sweet innocent blonde, but underneath that killer body was maniacal genius. She had something planned. Whatever. Bring it on. If Ava knew one thing about me, it was that Naomi Prescott didn’t break. Ever.
My ears twitched at a loud bang in the distance. I looked around for the source but didn’t see anything. We weren’t exactly in the gated community of my hometown. Lord knows what people here did for fun. I sat back, prepared to let it go, when I heard the same sound echo through the air again.
“What was that?”
“Probably just a car backfiring?” Ava shrugged, “This isn’t the best neighborhood, Nay.”
She got that right. I didn’t even know what half these places were. Everything on this street was written in Chinese characters.
I cocked a brow at her. “Did you seriously bring me here for spring rolls?”
I could see Ava pulling some prank on me. Dropping me off to volunteer at a soup kitchen or something. She tried a stunt like that a couple years ago, but Naomi Prescott didn’t serve. And if I did, it wouldn’t be to a bunch of homeless people. I donated to various charities, wasn’t about to add manual labor to that.
“Mr. Chang makes the best in Miami.”
The fact that Ava knew someone in this neighborhood by name didn’t surprise me at all. She was always ending up in strange places. Once, she called me from Bangkok. How she got there, no one knew. Not even Ava.
There was another pop, this time much louder.
“Ava,” I sat up and looked around at the empty streets. Where was everyone? I got that this was a rundown neighborhood, but it was the middle of the afternoon. People should be out and about. “Something isn’t right.”
Ava groaned and rolled her eyes, “Stop complaining, Nay.”
Three more bangs rang out in quick succession as something whizzed past us.Was that a bullet?
“Ava, seriously.”
“Trust me, when you taste these spring rolls…”
Her voice drowned out. All I could see was the small round hole in the door by my feet.
Oh.
My.
God.
She didn’t just bring to the armpit of Miami, she drove us into gang territory.
“I don’t care how good the spring rolls are!” I shrieked while my heart picked up pace. Pounding in my chest like a drum. “Take me back now!”
“I’m not driving all the way back,” Ava argued. “We’re almost there.”
Was she serious right now? I couldn’t believe her. “I am not getting shot because you have a craving!”
“Oh, calm down,” she rolled her eyes. “Honestly, Nay, you hear a car backfire and lose your mind. It’s not like we’re in the middle…”
When Ava steered around the corner, she stopped and cocked her head. Down the street were three guys in leather, arms raised with guns in their hands. I couldn’t breath. Each gun shot rang through my body, stirring the pit churning in my gut.
“Huh, would you look at that? Okay, Nay, you were right.”
