after class to see each other for a while. She got to school right on time and had tests most of the day. Franklin was a year older than her and was already going to the local community college, so when Stella was done, she made her way over to Campton Community College to wait for his last class to get over. He was a few minutes late, but then she saw his face and it was worth the wait. “It’s good to see you here Stella. I didn’t know if you were going to make it with the testing going on. How was it?” She shrugged. Stella was sure it was fine. She had made it a big deal the night before when she was talking with her father, but Stella knew that her college was on lock and that it was going to happen. “It’s fine, nothing that I was really unsure of.” “Should be that way. You have been studying for a whole week. I was hoping that you would want to go out tonight and celebrate?” Stella remembered what her father said, but she was sick of Carl’s mistakes costing her in the end as well. She wanted to go out with him and was hoping that Franklin would finally get up the courage to give her more than a chaste kiss. It was hard to act like she didn’t want what she knew she was missing, but there was a part of her that knew that he wanted the delicate flower he thought she was. “Sounds good. I can’t stay out too long because of all the testing, but I would love to go out. When did you want to go?” “I don’t know. We can go now if you want.” She agreed, but wished that it would have been more planned and she would have had more time with her clothes. If it was a night time date, Stella figured that there would be more chance of him making a move, but in the end she was going to have to settle for an early evening dinner that she hoped turned into more. Franklin curled her fingers in his own as they went towards his sleek new car. “You look beautiful today Stella, though you always do.” Stella couldn’t help but smile, wishing he would have stopped and gave her a kiss to show her how much he liked her. Her mind was far from the problems at home and with her brother. All she had eyes for or time to think about was Franklin. He was the kind of man that could change everything and take her away from her sullied past.
Chapter 3 Lance was pacing, something he found himself doing more and more as of late. A whole day had passed and he had heard nothing from the four men he sent out to collect information. He wanted to know what the Demons were doing. There had been some activity at the main house the night it happened, cars leaving late, but then there was nothing. It made him nervous and though he was still pissed, he was past the point of listening to Billy any longer. The next day he called all his runners and had them bring in their takings. He was short to pay the supplier and unlike the punks in the Demon gang, he was actually worried about what would happen. He had never been late or short before and Lance’s only choices was to raise the money by putting up some property or going to his Columbian connection and seeing if they will give him a little more time. The very idea of doing the second thought made him cringe and he knew that their ten year relationship would fall to the wayside quickly. Money was the only loyalty in the drug game. Billy came back in with some information. The son had been moved upstate to a relative’s house and he was apparently the one that had done the grab. For years Lance would leave his product out and no one ever had the guts to take from him. He had known as soon as it happened that the Demons were to blame. They were the only ones that were that stupid to do such a thing. “So what do you want to do boss?” Lance gave him a look. He was sick of being asked that question, even though most of the time it was he himself asking it. “I am still thinking about it.” “We can go pick up his son. He is the one that did this anyways. You know that