Biker Class (10 page)

"Okay."

He grinned.

"So…
Melanie
," he said her name with extra vigor.
"You
ever ridden
a motorcycle?"

"Connie, I just
love
your earrings today," Mrs.
Taylor grinned, following her newest coworker to the elevator of the large
skyscraper. The dark-haired woman turned around to her new friend, grinning
bashfully.

"Well, thank you, Rosie," she shrugged, fingering the small
blue stones. "They're nothing special."

The two women's heels clicked and clacked against the shimmering tile
of the lobby. It buzzed with life, many women in business suits and men in
classy ties walking around. Rosie Taylor smiled genuinely, replacing a
hair pin
in her red locks that had come undone. A small curl
framed the right side of her face, giving her a child-like appearance and
quality about her.

"Please, tell me where you got them," she begged, smiling.
The golden elevator doors slid closed, the small space jolting as it began its
ascent upwards.

"It was at the
cutest
little store in Middleton," Ms.
Hart gushed, seeming to shoo away an invisible fly.

"Was it just a local store?" Mrs. Taylor asked, frowning.

"Yes, it was. Sorry!"

"Oh, just my luck," she snapped, stomping her heeled foot.
"But California is
filled
with little stores and major names, is it
not? Hopefully I'll be able to find something."

"I'm sure you would," Connie nodded encouragingly. "I'm
sure with your figure it's pretty easy to find clothes, hmm?"

"It's not
difficult
," she said dismissively, quickly
shrugging it off. "But, Connie, I simply
demand
that you allow me
to take you shopping this weekend."

"I don't know…" Ms. Hart shrugged, biting her lip.
"This is the first weekend that my daughter and I are both free since we
moved here. We were actually planning on–"

"Oh,
please
, Connie,
please
!" she asked
desperately, clasping her hands together, begging. "There will be
plenty
of more weekends for you and Melanie to go out and have fun! Many of the stores
are having sales this weekend and giving free perfume samples!"

"I don't know if I could do that, Rosie. We've been– did
you say free samples?" she asked suddenly, her brows
raising
in enthusiasm out of nowhere.

"Yes.
Yes
, I did," she grinned persuasively.
"You know you want to, Connie."

"It sounds great, but–"

"
No
, no buts! Come on!"

Ms. Hart bit her lip and glanced back and forth between Mrs. Taylor
and the floor. She heaved a long sigh.

"…Fine," she finally muttered. "But Melanie will be so
disappointed…"

"Oh, she'll be fine,"
Rosie
grinned, playfully hitting her new friend's shoulder. "I'm sure that–"

"Hello, ladies."

A drawling voice met their
ears,
bringing
instant scowls to their faces. They put on superficial grins as a tall, thin,
blonde woman stepped through the slowly opening doors.

"Hey, Leanne," they said at the same time, their voices
drawling as well. But of course she didn't notice.

"How are you two?" she asked, not making eye contact at all,
pushing one of the light-up buttons on the wall.

"Great."

"Fine."

They muttered their responses, sharing exasperated rolls of their
eyes. Leanne was the one woman in the office that had to ruin their quiet
tranquility of the ideal work area. She never really looked at anyone's
face,
only spoke to most people when it seemed unavoidable,
and talked about others behind their backs. The mean girl of the hard life of
The Office, one could suppose.

To all of their relief, the doors slid open to their floor. They all
rushed out, Ms. Hart and Miss Taylor turning right and Leanne turning left. All
three of them breathed a sigh of relief at the escape.

"Are you inviting her to that cocktail party you're having
soon?" Rosie asked, wincing. Her red lips pulled down in a scowl.

"I
have
to," Connie tried to explain as Mrs. Taylor
rolled her eyes and groaned as loudly as she could without receiving odd looks
from other workers. To Rosie's aggravation, one of the office's phones began to
ring
it's
dull tone and she hissed. Ms. Hart sighed.
"I'm inviting everyone from the office. It can't invite everyone
except
her. That wouldn't be fair and it's completely immature."

"We
all
need to become more in touch with our childlike
side once in a while," she grinned largely.

"
No
, Rosie," she repeated for the umpteenth time. She
sat down at her wooden desk, giving a sparing glance to her. "Everyone has
some good in them
somewhere
deep down, and I am determined to find it in–"
she whispered "- Leanne."

"And you said you wonder where Melanie got her giving nature
from," Miss Taylor rolled her eyes. "Do you
gotta
?"

"Yes, I '
gotta
'," she hissed under her breath. Now it
was her turn to roll her eyes. "I am going to be an adult about this. I am
not
going to just gossip about someone behind their back like we are a
couple of teenagers!"

"Oh, pffft," Rosie scoffed, shrugging. She turned and walked
to her desk next door, waving at Connie through the glass. Giving a persevering
smile, Ms. Hart waved back. She loved her new office, she really did, but it
was full of drama just like high school.

***

Melanie was sitting, breathless, on the living room couch, staring at
the TV screen but not really seeing anything. Her mind was still processing
what had just happened.

And
she wasn't harmed!

It was a miracle. She supposed it was at times like these when one
knows there really is a God. Melanie, without thinking, reached to her hair and
smoothed out some fly away pieces, still not able to breath nor speak. She had
just ridden a motorcycle. A
motorcycle
. On the back of one, no less! And
the driver was some crazed, hormonal, dangerous, eighteen year-old male biker!
Who was supposed to be practically stalking her! And, when he did see her, she
wasn't meant to come away unscathed!

What
in the world
was going on?

Wasn't Jake supposed to harass her? Or ride her out to some abandoned
place where no one could hear her cries for help? Or… or…
something
bad
and scary? Weren't his eyes supposed to grow that shade of dark blue that made
him look demonic the second she climbed on? Even when he swore he wouldn't try
anything, it wasn't supposed to mean anything, was it? Wasn't it supposed to
just be a well-disguised lie? Melanie was almost positive he had done his fair
share of lying in his lifetime. Why was this any different?

Unless…

He wasn't
quite
as bad as everyone made him out to be…

But no, that couldn't be right. The way he shoved her against the lockers
days before drilled that truth into her head. But why did he have a sudden
change of heart? Why did he actually
keep
his promise? The only touching
that took place was
her
against
him
, and it was just wrapping her
arms around his torso (not comfortably, she might add) so she wouldn't go
flying off the back. At first, she was unsettled and shaking, but one of the
few times he spoke to her, it was to ask if she was all right. She used the
excuse that the wind was cold, but she was sure he didn't buy it.

They were in
California
, after all. Not Wisconsin.

Jake tried no funny business, no pulling over,
no
rude or perverted comments. In fact, he didn't say much of anything at all.
Even more of a shock.
Melanie didn't know Jake well the
smallest bit, but even she could tell that it was uncharacteristic of him. But,
to both of their surprises it seemed, he
did
say
one
thing. And
the pure shock of it almost
did
make her fall off of the back.

"
Hey, uh,
Melanie
?" he asked as they neared a
stoplight, the bike coming to a gentle stop. He was still enunciating her name
with unnecessary vitality. It was the closest thing to flirting he had done the
entire ride.

"
Um, yeah?" she replied, quietly, barely audible over the
roaring engine of the motorcycle. He ran a hand through his dirty-blonde hair,
sighing heavily.

"
I was thinking…" he trailed off, and her heart began to
pump wildly. He wasn't about to try and ask her out, was he? He promised he
wouldn't try anything! But what came out of his mouth bewildered her more than
that question would have. "Maybe… maybe I
could
use a little
tutoring," he muttered. She could almost picture him wincing. "I was
thinking about it, and I can ride my bike anytime I want. I do anyways. It's
not like Wednesday is any special time or anything. And… uh…" he
formulated a story on the spot, but naïve Melanie had no clue, "… my
parents are really getting on my case about it." Melanie let out a breath
she was holding.

"
Oh," was all she could say. All breath seemed to have
left her lungs.

"
And it's annoying me like crap," he threw in for good
measure, revving the gas and making her tense in uneasiness.

A moment of silenced passed between them, awkward to Melanie but
predictable for Jake. He hadn't expected anything different.

Melanie was having an internal battle within herself. What was she to
do? She couldn't refuse an opportunity like this; when someone like
him
wanted
help! But at the same time, she knew accepting would be terribly unwise on her
part, for her safety. But she couldn't just abandon him! He was like a
short-tempered fighting dog who was being taken in by a shelter and given to a
loving owner to change it's life. And
she
was that caring owner.
Changing other people's lives for the better was what she did, but… was she
willing to take the risks that came along with helping this dangerous ticking
time bomb? Rachel certainly wouldn't approve, and she's known Jake for
much
longer than Melanie had. She'd watched the puppy make the transformation from
innocent puppy to rabid pit-bull. But this was Melanie's opportunity to change
that.

Deciding to suck it up, Melanie inhaled shakily and uttered the
fateful words.

"
All right. I'll help."

But, for her own sanity and fear she was about to over-analyze, she
decided to ignore the smirk in his voice when he grinned,
"Fantastic."

Did she make the right choice? She certainly hoped so. Because he was
coming over next Wednesday night for their first little… session. What would
her mother think when she saw him? What would she think when she saw what
transportation he used to arrive? The
motorcycle
. What would Ms. Hart
say when she saw his rough leather jacket, his signature smirk, the flash in
his eyes? The thought of the look on her face was enough to make Melanie gulp.

Her life was so dramatic at the moment, Melanie was halfway expecting
for a long-lost half sister to come bursting through the door, telling her that
her mother ran away to be with some one-legged tennis player. And then her
unknown uncle, a tried felon, came running in telling her that
Rachel, who was really a vampire, had gotten burned at the stake by
Jake and his buddies
. Insane, huh?

Taking a deep, stress-filled sigh, Melanie turned on the television
for a distraction.

What
had she gotten herself into?

***

"Jake!" Lawson roared over his cellphone. "You're an
idiot
!"

Jake looked at his phone in disbelief, his blue eyes dark with
disappointment. "How? I took her for a ride on the bike, which she
completely
agreed to! Which means she trusts me, at least a little! And she was okay with
me doing tutoring with her! It was like she didn't know who I
was
!"

"Well, that's all fine and dandy, Jake," Lawson rolled his
eyes. "But did she seem
interested
in you, at
all
?" He
sounded torn over the phone.

Jake thought about how Melanie acted the other day on the motorcycle.
He had seen fear in her eyes, which had transformed into expectancy, to
curiosity, and finally to wonder. What did that mean?

"Well..." Jake replied. "Not...
exactly
. But I'm
gonna get there, man."

"You gotta step up your game, bro! Don't act like big and bad Jake,
a'ight?" Lawson demanded.

"But I wasn't!" Jake contradicted.

"Well, you gotta act like
something
, man! C'mon, you gotta
be able to tell what kind of guy Miss Goody Goody would like!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded, gripping his
phone a little tighter. Jake crossed his arms, unhappy, as he leaned against
his bike that was parked on the side of the road. "Are you telling me that
I'm gonna have to go through a freaking 'makeover', man?"