Biker Class (16 page)

"Hmm," the biker contemplated, crossing his arms. Jake
looked at the knob for a while, studying it.

Melanie couldn't help herself. "Is all you're going to do is
stare at it?" she asked lightly. "Because I can do that."

"No," he said a little testily, shooting her an irritated
glare. But instead of fear, she realized, she was feeling a sort of
satisfaction. Perhaps it was because the glare was more joking and less…
lethal
.
But that didn't mean she wasn't going to be careful about how she pushed her
luck and his temper.

Jake leaned down and looked at the doorknob closer up, fingering it
gently and turning it slowly.

"What are you doing?" Melanie asked curiously.

He ignored her, looking at the old thing from all angles. Finally, he
did the oddest thing. He kicked the door twice, twisted the knob right and then
left, then pulled it towards him. A strangle popping noise came from inside the
levers of the problematic door, and it seemed to separate slightly from the
frame. Melanie watched in befuddlement as he twisted it hard to the right and
the door swung open with a loud creak.

"Whoa," she breathed, which earned a satisfied smirk from
the now-door-expert. "How did you do that?"

He shrugged. "I just looked at it."

"But how does that make you know what to do?" she demanded,
amazed.

"I guess I'm just good with doors," he said a little
uncomfortably, knowing that he was lying. He couldn't tell her why he was so
good with doors– specifically locked ones. It wasn't so much that he was
talented when it came to
doors
themselves, but really the knob and the
lock that they held. Let's just say that he had plenty of practice opening
locked doors.

"I don't understand
how
, though–"

"Do you know what's in there?" Jake interrupted her, trying
to change the subject. Melanie looked away from him and into the suddenly eerie
room. All she could see was a small window on the other end of the attic-like
space, casting a dark blue ray of light across the floor. But all else was dark
black. Warm, dry air came rushing out of the room, fanning their faces. It made
Jake curious, but it repelled Melanie.

She stared into the
pitch black
abyss.
"I… uh… have
no idea
what's in there. It, um, came locked with the
house."

They both heard the fear in her voice, but instead of Jake being
concerned or trying to encourage her, he found it funny.

"You scared?" he laughed, smugly looking down at her. Color
drained from her cheeks.

"No!" she said too hastily, which gave both of them the
clear answer.

"It's just a room, Hart," he laughed, putting a hand on her
shoulder. She didn't like the vibe she was getting from the situation (his hand
on her shoulder, his laughs, the dark room seeming to be trying to draw her
in). She was venturing out of her comfort zone.

"Well, you know…" she trailed off, hands twisting together
as she gazed into the malicious-looking space. "Maybe there was a reason
it was locked." She shrugged nonchalantly, but it was a little shaky. A
dry laugh escaped her lips.

Jake rolled his eyes,
then
smiled. His eyes
were shining with devilish glee. He had an idea, and the outcome was always…
interesting
when Jake Dylan Cooper had an idea.

Without a second thought, Jake took both hands, placed them on Melanie's
shoulder blades, and shoved her into the room with all of his strength.

Melanie's scream of terror mixed with Jake's amused laughter as she
hurtled into the unknown and potentially dangerous, dark room. The dry, hot air
engulfed her like a hand closing in around
it's
long-awaited victim. She sucked in terrified breath, coughing as the
unfamiliar, sinister air scraped against her lungs. She coughed roughly,
then
made sure she continued screaming as soon as the
coughing fit was over. Melanie turned back around and rushed towards the door,
but there stood Jake's tall and looming figure, preventing her escape. The bad
boy stood there with arms crossed, his figure visibly shaking in laughter, but
the sound of it drowned out by Melanie's shrieking.

"What are you doing?" she cried. "Let me out, Jake!"

She, even though there was no space between him and the doorframe,
tried to push him out of the way or squeeze past him. Of course it came to no
avail. He stood there, leaning against one side of the old door's frame, arms
crossed coolly and a smirk gracing his face. He refused to let her out,
laughing the whole time as she frantically tried to rush past him, but was
blocked by a leg, arm, or his tall body. He gently pushed her back into the
room without much effort required on his part, but Melanie was trying as hard
as she could to resist him. Jake had easily pushed her back far enough to step
in, laugh, and close the door behind him without any interference from the
frantic girl he had forced in.

Oh my God, what is he doing?
she
panicked, watching as he closed their only way out–
her
only way
out. They were inside a dark room. Alone. If her mother hadn't heard her
screams by now, she wouldn't hear them later… and she had a nagging feeling
that there would be more.

Suddenly, her screaming ceased. She felt
a closeness
to her… a breath on her ear. She didn't know who's it could possibly be besides
Jake's. But what scared
her the
most was that she
didn't know if she'd
rather
it be him or some unknown presence. That
made her concerned that she didn't know what she was scared of more. Shivers
ran down her spine as she felt the breath on her ear again. The room seemed to
grow hotter.

"I'm making you face your fears," the voice breathed
huskily, fanning her neck. Melanie's breath hitched. The voice was clearly Jake's.
But the worst part was… this fact did
not
comfort her. When terror was
beginning to wash over like a drowning, suffocating wave, suddenly the feeling
of invaded personal space disappeared. The hot breath was gone, her body's
involuntary defenses lowered, and she heard footsteps walking away from her.
She choked out a sigh of relief.

The lights flicked on to reveal a conflicted and irritated-looking
Jake,
fingers on the metal light switch on the opposite
wall. He took a deep breath before he spoke.

"Melanie, what's wrong with you?"

"What do you mean?" She answered his question with another.

He was angry. She could see it in his eyes. They were becoming dark.

"I go up and say something to you, and you act like I'm about to–"

Jake stopped himself before he became too angry, which wouldn't be
good for either of them. He also wasn't sure he needed to finish that sentence.
He didn't know if he
could
.

"Like you're about to… what?" Melanie whispered. He watched
the fear grow in her brown eyes the longer the silence dragged on, but for some
reason, he didn't find it funny.

"Nothing," he finally answered, deathly quiet. "Nothing
at all."

Jake looked away from her eyes, for the first time noticing the
now-illuminated room around them. It was quite big, incomplete wood beams
covering most of the wall and a hard, wood-shaving covered floor beneath them.
There was also a large, boarded-up window on the wall. But it wasn't the
incomplete room that caught his eye. It was what sat in the middle of it,
behind a girl of whom he was barely paying any attention now.

There, in the middle of the dirty space, sat a grand piano. Unique,
light-stained wood shined, polished, in the light of the uncovered bulb hanging
from the ceiling. The lid was closed, and so was the key cover, but as he
stared at it, he heard music.
Music of the past.
He
stared at the grand instrument and it was all he could see. Nothing and nobody
else was there.

"
No, sweetie, like this…"

He no longer saw the attic. The ceiling was gone. The shaving-colored
floor was gone. Melanie was gone.

"
What are you doin', Mommy?" a small, blonde-haired boy
asked, running across the shining hardwood floor towards a large, gleaming
piano. The light-colored wood reflected the sun and seemed to make the room,
and
it's
player, glow. The seven year-old watched in
wonderment at the head of luminescent blonde hair as he approached. Light blue
eyes met his as he stood beside the piano's bench, watching the perfect fingers
dance along the white keys.

"
I'm playing my favorite song, sweetheart," she answered
lightly, giving him a stunning smile as she hit a final chord and put her hands
in her lap. The sun shone behind her, making the boy smile as he gazed upon his
own personal, loving angel.

"
Wow," he smiled, hitting his hand down on the keys,
producing an ear-splinting sound that earned nothing but a proud smile from his
mom. He laughed gleefully as he continued with both hands, making it sound like
an animal was walking across the keys. He slowly came to a stop, frowning.
"I still don't sound as good as you, Mommy."

"
Oh, sweetie, come here," she cooed, wrapping her arms
around his waist and pulling him up into her lap. He smiled as he hit another
note,
it's sound echoing in the large, spacious, sun-covered
room. She lowered her mouth to his ear, whispering, "I'll tell you what. I
will help you learn to play if you give me
THE HONOR
of letting me play
for you every afternoon when I get home. Would you like that?"

The boy smiled brightly, vigorously nodding. "Yeah!"

"
Okay," she chuckled, lifting him up again and setting
him down on the bench beside her.

"
I wanna play as good as you when I'm a big kid."

"
You just might, baby. You just might."

The little boy hit the note again, and it rang.

And rang.

And rang.

There sat the piano. He knew it couldn't be the same one. It couldn't
be his mother's. That wasn't possible. But it was
just like it
. It
glowed in the same way, it sat in the same way,
it
had
the same sheer
presence
that would draw anyone in a room.

"Jake?" Melanie whispered, hesitant.

He ignored her. He unblinkingly gazed at the masterpiece, not wanting
to forget it. He was imprinting the image in his mind.

It was like the last connection he had with his mother.

Melanie turned around (not that Jake noticed) and gasped quietly. She
smiled, running her fingers across the beautiful, flawless wood. She lifted up
the lid and stared down into the depths of the instrument's inner workings. She
smiled, quietly breathing in awe,

"It's perfect."

No broken strings. No misplaced hammers or a cracked frame. The piano
bed was scratchless, and the dampers were dusty but in good shape. Without
thinking twice, Melanie skipped to the bench excitedly. She grinned her
signature face-eating smile and sighed happily. She hadn't played a piano, let
alone a grand, in quite a long time.

She grinned brilliantly as she ran her hands over the smooth, dustless
keys. The afternoon sun was coming through the small window across the room,
shining on her back and on the piano itself. It was an unnatural beauty, one
that made you want to stare for hours. And that's exactly what both of them
were doing.

Melanie closed her eyes, relaxed, and pressed a key. The sound rung
through the room like a loud, clear bell. Jake, in an instant, snapped back
into reality. Everything was sharper, more real, more
there
than it had
been the past ten minutes. He was responsive now. He took a deep breath and let
it out through an exhausted exhale.

She sighed and spread out her hand, eyes still closed, and played a
relaxing, cheery C-chord. Jake's eyes slowly floated from the piano and hovered
over to the girl in the sunlight, testing the chords. Without even meaning to,
he began to stare. Melanie smiled and opened her eyes, putting both hands to
the keys and playing a C-major chord.

"I can't believe that I was
scared
to come in here," Melanie
laughed
loudly,
the boisterous sound bouncing off of
the walls. Jake's lips lifted just slightly at the sight, but it was still a
smile. His hands were in his jean pockets, his eyes on Melanie, with a
half-smile and his head barely tilted to the side, observant. She played a
short tune that was light and airy, dreamy almost.

"You play, Hart?" he breathed. It was almost too quiet for
her to hear. Melanie didn't look up from the glimmering keys; just smiled in
response. It was odd how she didn't realize how much she missed playing until
she sat down in front of it and felt the electricity run through her fingers.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes yet again, slowly beginning
to play something beautiful, yet almost unfamiliar. The melody floated through
the room, dancing around the walls, and through their hypnotized ears. Jake
stepped slowly towards the piano and the girl playing it, watching with
addicted eyes.

The room began to fade once again, but the piano and
it's
player did not. His tutor slowly morphed into the
beautiful, blonde-haired woman.

"
This is hard!" the small boy cried unhappily, quickly
drawing his hands back from the black and white keys and crossing his arms.

"
Well, honey, it will take more than five minutes a day…"
the woman chuckled.

"
But… but… it takes
forever
!" he scowled, his
bottom lip protruding.

"
I didn't learn it all in one day, baby."

"
I can't reach some of 'em!"

"
Sweetheart–"

"
I can't do it!" he whined, and he would have been
stomping his feet if the piano bench had allowed them to reach the floor.

"
Can't never could and could never can't," she grinned,
tickling under his arms and making him giggle.

"
Mommy! Ha ha ha! Stop– stop it!"

Melanie's fingers flew across the keys like so many times like he'd
seen before, but not for almost three years. He watched the smaller, younger
hands float across the instrument with the same vitality and
love
that
he used to see… every day… but not anymore.

The melody and harmonies entrapped the senses–
his
senses–
and he couldn't look away. It wasn't that he didn't want to. He literally
couldn't
.

She slowed to a stop.

The room was quiet. It couldn't have been anymore quiet, especially
after the beautiful tune had floated through the room that had been silent for
so long. It was like the gorgeous sound still echoed in the walls, but it
couldn't have been more silent there. Impossible.

"Not bad, Melanie," said Jake softly, his too-cool
personality and deep emotions conflicting in a never-ending battle.

She opened her eyes again, sighing. She met his eyes for only a second
before they snapped down to the ground.

"That felt good," she giggled embarrassedly, looking at her
hands. "I haven't played in forever."

"
But… but… it takes
forever
!" he had scowled, his
bottom lip protruding.

They sat there for neither was sure how long, staring at the glorious
piece of musical history in front of them.

"Do you play?" Melanie asked suddenly, trying to make
conversation.

"
I can't do it!" he had whined, and he would have been
stomping his feet if the piano bench had allowed them to reach the floor.

He laughed to himself for a reason that Melanie didn't understand.
"I'm no good," he chuckled to himself, a half-smile gracing his face.
She decided not to ask. For whatever reason, this piano obviously struck a
chord with him– no pun intended.

"Oh, come on," Melanie smiled encouragingly.

"No," he shook his head seriously, "really. You don't
want to hear me
try
to play."

"Come on, Jake," she laughed, scooting over to her left and
patting the empty space beside her. "I want to hear you."

"Trust me, no you don't."

"I'm not taking no for an answer," Melanie grinned
determinedly. "C'mon. Take a seat!"

Jake sighed deeply, almost a groan, rolled his eyes, and took a seat
beside his tutor. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't even consider
letting their personal space dwindle to this point, but this was different. She
could just tell that his mind was elsewhere… somewhere far from anything along
the lines of perverseness.