"Guys wait up, hold the bus" Seth was screaming while running down the wet, slippery road that morning. He was yelling at the two other boys who lived in his new neighborhood that he just moved into about a week ago. His family was moving from the other state down, North Carolina, and Virginia was an entirely different place. He was almost to the bus when he heard the old creaking doors start to shut when he slipped and fell face first on the wet, black road. Seth could hear the kid's laughter on the bus as it began to roll away down the road. He picked himself up off the ground and started walking the same way the bus went. The school was only about half a mile away, so Seth didn't mind walking, at least until the rain started to come down heavy. He kept walking down the mumbling to himself about how he could easily take down those other two boys and just teach them a lesson on manners. The rain poured so hard that he was soaked by the time he arrived at school. His light black hair dripped water as he walked up to the front desk to sign a paper to go to class. The administrative lady looked up to give him the late slip and was surprised when she saw him dripping. "Jesus boy are you okay?"

“I had to walk to school ma’am, but I’ll be okay.”
“Why did you walk to school, the buses come every morning son?”
Seth gave her a blank stare as he was already so exhausted and didn't want to talk about his embarrassing moments, so he just looked her in the eyes and grabbed his slip. "Thank you ma'am," he said as he walked out of the room and straight to his first period class. He went to his first period class and saw the same seat he had taken the day before. Everybody in the class watched him walk to the middle row seat like he was the most exciting thing in the world, mostly because of his soaking wet clothes dripping onto the floor. He had been seated right next to the two boys from his neighborhood, which he could hear that they were talking about him already. The class began, and the teacher assigned them a busy work assignment for the day. It was something about geometry, shapes, and formulas. Seth started working right away; just to get the class over with already.

He was about halfway through his work before one of the boys leaned over and tapped on the hardwood desk. "Hey, new kid, my names Luke," the boy said holding out his hand waiting for Seth to return the favor. Seth always thought that shaking hands was a manlier thing to do, and he never knew why. "I'm Seth," his hand met with Luke's as they grasped and shook. Seth went on throughout his day wondering what went on. He thought about why the boy was nice to him this time, and not while he was  running to the bus. Why would the boy be nice right after being mean? These thoughts ran through Seth's head until the end of the day, but he  never thought anything of it. He got on the old yellow bus with the sun beating down on top of it after a hard rain had hit that morning. He sat down in the middle, keeping to himself, not saying even a word. The bus started up, and the old bus lady was about to close the doors. Seth sat up and looked around the bus, hearing all the loud screaming and looking through the crowd. He kept looking, but the one thing he noticed was that the two boys weren't on the bus yet. Seth felt kind of relieved knowing that they weren't there to mess with him. He slid back down into his seat but shot right back up when he heard the two boys walking onto the bus. They were loud, yelling about how great their day was and that girl who sat next to them and class. Seth saw Luke looking around and then realized that the only open seat was right across from him. The very last seat. The only open seat on this big bus was right there next to him. Seth thought about what would happen next, the rude remarks, the mean gestures, and just all that could occur when Luke and his friend sat down in that seat. The boys, of course, went and sat in the chair, with Luke closest to Seth. The ride was at least 30 minutes before they got to their bus stop, which Seth had to get off with them there too. The two kept to themselves for the first couple minutes of the ride until Luke leaned forward and tapped on Seth's seat.

“Hey, Hey Seth,” Luke whispered through the screaming loud enough to where Seth could hear his voice.
Seth looked over at Luke and gave him a blank stare for a minute or two. "Yes," he said in a curious tone, wondering what Luke would even say next.

“Me and my buddy Rick are going to do something and we need a lookout, we were wondering I you were interested.”
Seth stared again, and before he could respond with a no, Luke continued "We'll even pay you 200 hundred bucks and..."

“Why would I want to help you guys, you barely talk to me and you couldn't even hold a damn door open for me this morning" Seth blurted out in a pissed tone from being pushed around. "Now all of the sudden you want me to help."

“We're sorry about that; Rick was in a bad mood and I told him to hold the door. We're just wanting to get you into some of the things we do, get you to start hanging with us a little man."

Seth thought for a second, being persuaded a little more than he wanted. "Okay, fine I'll do it, but what exactly are you guys going to be doing?"

“We'll explain later; all we need you to do is be a lookout and make sure nobody is coming after us."

The bus flew to a stop, and the bus doors squeaked open. The old lady which, Seth thought of as a witch sometimes, watched everyone carefully as all three boys got out of their seats and walked off her bus (Or at least she called it her bus, which again Seth thought was so ignorant). Luke walked over to Seth before they reached his house and handed him a folded paper before walking away down to his house.

Seth went inside and ran straight up the stairs to his room without saying a word to anybody. He entered his room and shut the door, locking it so nobody would barge in. He unfolded the paper, and inside was an address with instructions to be there by midnight that night. Thoughts ran all throughout his head again, wondering what he would do if they got caught, what his parents would do, but Seth also thought one other thought; what if he became popular with those boys. That one thought drove away everything else, and Seth went ahead and got some sleep for the night to come.

Seth woke up and went downstairs to eat some dinner that his family made. They conversed like any typical family does at the dinner table before heading back to their separate rooms.  Seth made sure to throw on his running shoes, and he also chose to wear a pair of jogging  shorts, just in case he had to do some running. He sat in his room doing some school work and watching TV until it hit 1100. He walked downstairs and saw that everyone was sleeping before sneaking out of the house. Seth looked at the paper (that had directions from his street to the other) and saw that it wasn't too far. He started walking, and it took him about 45 minutes to get there.

As Seth approached the building, he saw that it was a small warehouse. He stopped walking and looked down at the paper again. It told him to meet Luke over on the right-hand side of the building. Seth walked over to the right side and saw Luke standing there with Robert. They walked right over to him and gave him a black mask. "Put this on we don't want anybody accidentally seeing your face."

Seth was scared, but he put it on. He knew that there was no backing out of anything now. He was here and already had the mask on. "Okay, Seth you stay out here, we'll run in and do what we have to."

“ Okay, I'll stay out here and watch for anybody." Seth started getting a little scared, wondering what they were getting, what they were doing. Luke and Robert turned to the window that was beyond them and jiggled it open. "If you hear or see anything, you holler at us, got it?" Seth nodded as the boys jumped through the window and disappeared into the warehouse.

Seth had stood out there for a good thirty minutes before he saw the boys running through the warehouse straight to the window. They had duffel bags on their backs, and there was screaming throughout the warehouse. Luke came climbing through the window first, and Robert followed next.

“What's going on guys?” Seth said in such a scared way as he heard sirens off in the distance.
Robert quickly grabbed Seth right as he finished climbing out the window and Luke stared into his eyes. "We're sorry for this buddy, but it has to be done." Right as Luke finished talking he punched Seth hard in his stomach then again in his face, knocking him straight on the ground and unconscious.

As Seth awoke, he could see himself behind iron bars, in a jail cell. He stood up from the bed and looked around. There was an officer sitting at a desk a couple feet away. "Sir, what happened, where am I?" Seth waited for a response to his question but didn't get one. Then, a voice right next to him started to speak. "Seth you're at the police station."

“R-Robert, is that you?”
“Who else would it be, yeah it's me."

“Why are we here?”
“Me and Luke robbed the warehouse and left you for the cops. But as soon as you were out Luke knocked me down and started running.”
Seth sat down on the bed again, wondering what was happening, wondering what he would do, what would happen to his life. Seth sat there thinking for hours with nothing to do, only to think. Finally, he had realized one thing. The one thing that he should have realized from the first time Luke was nice to him. The thing that Seth had finally realized was that some things are too good to be true, and to never trust anyone without even knowing them.