The Black Orchid — Susan Rubin

Meet Val DeSantis,
one cool dude. If anyone asked him how it was going, he'd say,
“No problem, man.” He had an image to protect. The truth was,
nothing was going right for Val. The police were hassaling him
for skipping school. His mom was about to marry a flake. His
girl's father didn't like him. And that was just the everyday
stuff. Val had real trouble. To help out his best friend, he was
tangling with a tough street gang, the Black Orchids. Val knew
what to do even if it meant risking his life. One thing was sure,
Val was no loser.