Biker Class (27 page)

"Because the Jake you see isn't real!"

"
Yes
, he is! He cares about me, Rachel! I know he does!
You weren't there!"

"I don't have to be there to know what he's thinking about, Melanie!
And it's
not
the same thing you're looking for in a relationship! I can
tell you that right now! Did you see the way he got you in trouble in class
today? That'll keep happening, and it'll only get worse from here!"

Melanie shook her head. She couldn't believe Rachel was trying to use
her love for school against her.

"Of course you only notice the
bad things
," she
rolled her eyes exasperatedly. Melanie slammed her books back into her locker.

"I 'only notice the bad things'? REALLY? Well, where are the
'good things'? Yeah, that's right, there are none!"

"Yes, there are! You'd know that if you listened to me once in
awhile instead of just doing what
you
want to do!" Melanie
screamed. "Did... did you notice how he took the blame for me?"

Rachel was silent, lip bit in anger and eyes full of frustration. She
knew Melanie had found a notch in her complaining. Finally, "Yeah.
So?"

"Taking the blame for someone, let alone a girl, let alone a girl
who is his
tutor
, doesn't exactly match up with your characterization of
Jake, now does it?" Melanie asked, brows
raised
,
daring Rachel to contradict. "I'm telling you, there is
things,
attitudes, sides
of Jake that you could only dream about. He really isn't
so horrible deep down."

"Oh, really?" Rachel hissed. "Well, then, let's
hear
some of these 'other sides' then?"

Silence.

"I...I can't tell you," Melanie looked to the ground. It was
at times like this that it was hard to keep a secret.

"Oh. Really? You can't tell me? Interesting," she nodded
curtly.

"They aren't my secrets to tell!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," she rolled her eyes. "You 'said
you would not tell'. How convenient that
your
only
proof you can't tell."

"Well, that's the way it is."

"I'm sorry to burst your bubble, Melanie—" (though it
was obvious she wasn't) "—but he doesn't care about you. Not the
same way you care about him."

"
Yes
, he does!"

"Really? You don't seem too sure."

Melanie had felt the smallest itch of doubt, and apparently it had
shown in her eyes. But she pushed it down. "I
am
sure. And I can
tell you something else that I'm sure about. I'm sure that a best friend would
be happy for me, and accept my decisions! I'm sure that a best friend would
support me, no matter what I decide!" Rachel was quiet, refusing to meet Melanie's
eyes. "So... I—I guess you aren't my best friend."

Melanie turned to walk away, but Rachel called after her. "Melanie!
Melanie, come on, don't be like that! MELANIE!"

She continued stomping quickly down the hallway towards her last
class, pretending to hear nothing at all. Melanie wiped a single tear from her
cheek as she approached her classroom.

So much for 'best friends'.

Melanie sat on the edge of her tree house, legs crossed, chin in her
hands, the wind blowing back her thick and wavy hair in spurts. She bit her lip
as she sat there, thinking. Although she knew that her mind should be on her
supposed 'date' with Biker Boy, her brain couldn't focus on that for long
before she remembered her fight with her best friend. It was because of Jake
that Rachel practically hated her now, wasn't it? Technically? She wasn't
blaming
him for anything. Jake couldn't really help the fact that Rachel was
totally overprotective. It was just her personality.

But... she couldn't help but think... Rachel has known him for such a
longer time than she, herself, had. What if her was-best-friend had a point? Melanie
had only been in California for a little over two months, and she automatically
assumed that she knew everything about one of the school's baddest and most
emotionally complicated guys? Rachel has known him for
years
. Was Melanie
really over-shooting their relationship?
If you could call it
that?

Was
Jake playing her?

She wanted to not believe it. And for the most part, her gut told her
that that wasn't the case. But there was the smallest inkling of doubt that
Rachel had brought out into the open, and she couldn't shove it away, no matter
how much she wanted to or how hard she tried. Melanie totally wasn't his type,
but like her used-to-be-buddy had said, he always wanted something he felt was
unobtainable. And when she was compared to
him, that
was her definition: unobtainable.

But... Jake was a biker, not an actor. He wouldn't make himself nearly
cry the other night in the tree house just to get a girl! He wouldn't be
willing to (by a
guy's
definition, not her's) act like a sissy just to
get lucky, right? Guys had a moral code, and one of the most important always
seemed to be to look and act tough, especially in front of girls.

Plus, you couldn't
fake
being able to play piano! And he was
way too good to just have recently learned to try and impress her. Plus,
neither of them knew that piano was in that room, so there was no way that he
would have
known
to prepare. Even if, somehow, he
had
done all of
that as a ploy, he had his chance to try something the other night. And he
didn't. If anything, it seemed like Melanie was the one making moves, not him.
She had to be over-thinking this. Melanie decided to stick to her original
belief, and that was that he was genuine.

"Melanie? Sweetie?"

She glanced down, and saw her mother standing below her. Ms. Hart was
glancing at her watch.

"Yeah, Mom?"

"What time was he supposed to pick you up again? And
what—what time did he say he would have you back? Where is he?"

"He's coming," Melanie answered, rolling her eyes. Her
mother was so impatient, especially when it came to her going out with a guy.
"Why didn't you just let him pick me up after school was over? It would
have been quicker and I would have been home earlier."

"Na ah ah," she wagged her finger at her daughter, smiling
slyly, "I don't think so! There is no way I'd let him give you a ride
anywhere
until I have a talk with that young man first!"

"
Mom
," Melanie groaned, lying down with her hands
over her eyes in embarrassment.

"What? Don't think I don't know what's on teenagers' minds, Melanie!
I was one at one point too, believe it or not," her mother nodded curtly.

"Oh my God, Mom!" Melanie shrieked, covering her ears, face
red. "We—we were
just
going to go get a bite to eat! Nothing
else!"

"Well, these days, you never know what's going on—"

"MOM! Ah! Stop it!"

"I'm not saying I don't trust you, Melanie. It's the boy. You
always
have to keep an eye on the boy."

"
Mom—
"

"No offense, sweetheart, but if you're looking for a guy who
won't make a move, Jake's doesn't exactly
send off
that message at first
glance, ya know?" she laughed a little cynically. Melanie just decided to
stop trying to get a word in, considering it was really no use until Ms. Hart
was done with her little 'are-you-sure-you-aren't-making-a-big-mistake' speech.
"—
and
he wears all of that
leather
, Melanie!
Why would
anyone
need all of that leather?" She closed her eyes and
messaged her temples, waiting for silence to finally come from the never-ending
sound generator that was her mother's mouth.

"He's fine, Mom. Trust me," she finally said, after what
seemed like at least thirty minutes of endless rattling on her mom's part. Ms. Hart
raised a skeptical eyebrow. "You know me. Do you really think I'd go hang
out with someone who I thought was bad influence?"

The woman below grinned. Her daughter always had been very mature for
her age. "No, I know you'd steer clear of them. But you didn't really have
a choice with Jake. The school office assigned him to you."

"But I have a choice
tonight
," Melanie grinned at
her. "No one's making me have dinner with him."

Ms. Hart sighed, leaning up against the tree underneath the ladder.
She smiled cheekily, in an almost easy-going way, at her daughter. "Yeah.
I know, I know."

As if on cue, the sound of a motorcycle's engine was approaching down
the long driveway. Melanie could see a single headlight coming. Sure enough, it
wasn't long before he pulled to a stop in front of the tree that Melanie sat in
and her mother leaned against. Jake dismounted and pulled off his helmet (which
was surprising since he barely ever wore one). Jake must be trying to get on her
mother's good side. He flipped his dirty blonde hair from his eyes and sent a
brilliant smile towards Ms. Hart. He glanced up towards Melanie, being coy.

"Hey, Hart," he said in that silky voice he always seemed to
have when he sneered her name. Melanie's mother's brows raised in a surprised
way, mistaking the invitation to be towards her. She hadn't caught his subtle
glance towards her daughter. "Oh!" Jake said quickly, putting his
hands up in a defensive way, pointing upwards, "M-Melanie." She
smiled in understanding, laughing at her mistake. Jake turned towards Melanie
who was now lying on her stomach, chin in hands, smiling down at him.
"Hey, you," she grinned.

"Hey, Hart," he smirked. "Ya know, I could've sworn
we've been over this already."

Ms. Hart watched them with vague interest as Melanie stuck her tongue
out. "Ha, so?"

"
So
," he emphasized, looking down at his watch then
back up to her, "we need to get there soon if we want to have you back
by...
ten o'clock
," he grinned in a forced way, turning to Ms. Hart
at the end of his sentence. He wasn't used to girls with a curfew... or with
parents, really. This was terribly awkward for him, and he was actually a
little
nervous
. Well, this was a new feeling.

"That's right," Melanie's mother nodded, smiling in a
self-satisfied way. She knew Melanie was coming back much earlier than Jake was
used to—or
liked
. Melanie climbed down and Jake steadied her as
she reached the bottom. She smiled at him in thanks.

"So," her mother cut in suddenly, "I guess you two are
riding on...?"

"My bike, ma'am," he grinned in an almost awkward way.

"That's what I thought," she nodded critically. She walked
around his motorcycle a couple of times, surveying it. "But I'm afraid Melanie
can't ride on this."

"
Mom—
!" Melanie began to whine, but her mom cut
her off.

"—
without
a—"

Jake held up a finger and stopped her. He reached behind himself and
pulled out two black helmets, smiling. "Already got it covered, Ms. Hart."
For perhaps the first time since he'd arrived, she smiled for real.

"That's what I like to see, Jake," she nodded in approval,
patting his arm. "That's all. Have fun, you two."

Jake climbed on and took Melanie's hand as she followed behind him,
making sure she mounted all right. He cranked it and revved it a few times, just
to irk Ms. Hart for a moment, and waved to her.

"See ya at eleven, Ms. Hart!" he called, taking off down the
driveway with Melanie's arms around his waist.

"
Ten
, Jake! TEN O'CLOCK! Jake Cooper?" she yelled,
trying to be heard over the engine of the Harley. When they were out of sight,
she shook her head, smiling. She wouldn't even be around and she knew this
would be an interesting night.

When they came to a stop sign out in the country, Melanie propped her
chin on his shoulder and asked softly, "Where are we going, Jake?"
Most of the thoughts that made her panic were out of her head since she was
99.9% sure she could trust him, but she couldn't keep the
slight
fright
out of her voice.

At this, he turned his head to the side, so he could peer at her. He
heard her tone, but he didn't let on. "How does
Chik-Fil-A
sound?"
he asked just as softly, smiling gently. Melanie giggled in excitement, making
his smile grow.

"It sounds fantastic!" she laughed. "How did you know
that was my favorite?"

"Uh... lucky guess?"
How lucky can I get?
he
thought, laughing to himself.

As they weaved through the small road, on their way to town, Melanie
leaned her cheek against his shoulder and tightened her grip around his waist.
His smell was addicting. A goofy grin overtook her face. She sighed in
contentment. Rachel had to be wrong. She just had to be!

Suddenly, the
bike jolted, snapping Melanie out of
her dream-like state and making her hold
on tighter, but this time in
fear. Jake gripped the handles tighter, cursing under his breath as the
motorcycle began to slow.

"No!" he yelled. "C'mon, baby! Don't go out on me
now!"

But his 'baby' did not listen. After making a few spitting and puffing
noises that did
not
sound good, it slowed to a stop.

"What's going on?" Melanie demanded, gripping Jake to almost
the point of pain for him.

"I—I don't know," he stuttered. He kicked the stand
down and climbed off, and Melanie followed. "
Shit
! Crap crap
crap!" he cursed, kicking the wheel, then wincing in an almost apologetic
way. "I can't believe this!"

"What? What's wrong?" Melanie panicked.

"I... I think it might be the belt or wheel alignment," he
said unsurely, leaning down and inspecting it. "But I could've sworn I
fixed that this morning! What the hell?" After a few more choice words
that Melanie was sure she'd never repeat, he stood back up and ran his hand
through his hair. "God, Melanie, I'm sorry."

"Oh, it's okay, I hear those words on TV all of the time,"
she laughed uncomfortably, appearing to swat an invisible fly. Jake looked at
her in confusion, then just continued as if she hadn't of spoken.

"We aren't going anywhere anytime soon," he muttered apologetically.
"I'll have to work on this almost all day tomorrow."

"So... we're stuck?"

"Pretty much."

"So, do we just walk back to my house or something?"

"If you want to walk an hour at night, alone, sure."

"Well, hey!" Melanie smiled at him, trying to make the
situation seem better. "I've got my phone!" She began rummaging
through her pockets. "We could—uh oh, where is it?" After a few
more minutes of looking, Melanie groaned. "Aw man! I left my phone at
home, too!"

Jake took a seat on the grass beside the road, exhaling deeply and
staring at his bike's engine. "This'll take forever to fix," he
muttered irritatedly. "I can't freakin'
believe this
!"

"It's okay," Melanie said gently, taking a seat beside him
in the cool grass. She put a comforting hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged
it off quickly, not making eye contact with her.

"No, it's not, Melanie," he growled. "We were supposed
to have a good time tonight, and it's over before it even starts!"

"It's fine! I'm okay," she shrugged. She laughed to herself.
"I kind of think it's funny."

To her surprise, he didn't laugh along. He
glared
. Actually
glared
.
It was a look she hadn't received since he and his friends had watched her at
the gas station. She recoiled, suddenly not feeling
quite
as safe as she
had been only minutes before.

"Do you have
any idea
how long this is
gonna
take to fix?" he demanded. "I've probably got to order a new belt!
Shit!"

Afraid to say or do something else that would set him off, Melanie
pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, tentatively
glancing at him every now and then, scared his eyes would be dark. She
hated
when they were dark. It was terrifying. The dark blue was so unnatural in his
irises. It was as scary as
heck
.