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8- Handlebars

Jeremy

"Have a good night," declared Dave as I walked out with my new album.

I should've known that my trip to the music store wouldn't be quick. It never was. Dave always wanted to talk about music. He always had something to say. Nevertheless, I had a nice time with Dave. Now that I had my hands on my album, my ears could finally give the album a good listen. With my CD Player in my grip, the CD Case was ripped open. This was it. The CD itself! Getting the bike out of the bike rack, it became apparent that the bike wasn't strong enough and it would be hard to listen to the CD with the way my bike was. Should I just walk instead? No. This album would have a listen later.

Getting on the bike, the music player slowly began slipping out of my pocket. Oh crap! Couldn't let that happen. Maybe it would be best to leave it in my backpack. Maybe I should leave everything in there. The ride home wouldn't last too long anyway. Of course, with the condition of my bike, there was no telling how this ride home could turn out. But my eardrums were craving music. They wanted to hear something. Anything at all. Even if it wasn't Blink 182, it would be fine.

"If only I could ride a bike without handlebars," I thought out loud. "That would be sick. I could hold on to this music player with ease."

It was like the music player was secretly listening to me. Once it was in my backpack, a random song began playing.

"I can ride my bike with no handlebars, No handlebars, No handlebars."

My foot instantly pulled on the breaks and got off the bike. Was this the music player? Was it playing a song based on my comment? What kind of music player was this? What was I supposed to do? For a brief moment, I wondered if this was somehow created by the government. Was Clinton out to get me? Was it safe to even go home?" Although, it was a pretty cool song. After a little thought, my butt was back on the bike.

"Look at me, look at me, Hands in the air like it's good to be alive

And I'm a famous rapper, Even when the paths are all crookedy."

While all this was strange, it did satisfy my craving to hear music. Couldn't complain about that. With that, I took off on my bike. For some reason, the bike was slower than usual. It was going to take a while to get home. Maybe I could call Emma to come to pick me up. I'm sure she'd love that. Probably not. Oh well. With every effort, my muscles were going to have to get across the crosswalk. Thank goodness traffic was light right now considering rush hour wasn't far off. Once on the crosswalk, my legs used all their might to peddle like they never peddled before. The song about riding bikes was going to get me through this.

Bump! My bike drove over a pothole. Seconds later, my front tire went flat and at this point, my bike gave up. It didn't help that I was in the middle of the crosswalk. My stomach grew uneasy. Would I be able to carry my bike to the other side before any cars drove by? Maybe it would've been smart to walk my bike across the walk instead of riding it. At that point, it didn't matter.

Vroom! It was the sound of a loud and fast car. Whoever was driving that car wasn't paying attention. Crap, it was Hailey! And she was one of the few who had a cell phone. Talking on that phone was more important than paying attention to the road. And while she talked on that phone, the girl was also fixing her lips. Crap, her sight was definitely not on the road. My heart was beating like there was no tomorrow. My whole body just stood there as stiff as a board. It was like I was a deer in the headlights. Was she ever going to notice me? Was this how it was all going to end?

"Dude, watch out!" shouted a voice coming out of nowhere.

With a strong force of energy that sounded like a thunderous explosion, the hands of this stranger pushed me and my bike off the road and onto the sidewalk. Just a couple of seconds later, Hailey zoomed across the crosswalk. All I could do was lay on the ground and catch my breath. The random stranger saved me. Part of me wanted to pass out.

"Dude, what the heck is wrong with you?" asked the random stranger who helped me up. "You realize you could've gotten yourself killed? Like seriously, that car was on point to kill you."

"Yeah," was what I could say. "I'm sorry."

In front of me was my savior. Some random girl that I had never seen before. Not to mention she was dressed a little strange. The stranger wore a large sweater with light blue jeans that had a couple of holes. I liked her Vans though. Somehow, she was still attractive. But yet, she looked burned out.

"Excuse me," she commanded. She took a moment to find a nearby trashcan to release her puke. And boy, did she vomit as she had been at the biggest party of the year."

"Are you alright?" I asked once she finished her puking.

"I'm fine." No time was wasted for her as she found a seat on the ground and leaned against a building.

Seconds later, a car drove up with the window down and it was none other than my own dad in his doctor uniform. Must be five already. 

"Jeremy. I thought that was you," he spoke looking relieved. You alright? I saw what happened." His eyes grew focused on my savior. "You certainly have a lot of strength. What's your name?"

"Melissa, my name's Melissa."

"Well, Melissa. I'm Jeremy's father. Dr. Phillips. You're not looking very well." My father sat there a moment and thought to himself. "I've never done this before, but how would you like to come over for dinner. Perhaps I can take you home once we get you cleaned up."

Melissa accepted the invitation.

Wow! That's quite a chapter. Don't forget to comment and vote!

Can you ride a bike?

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