Lead Me Out of the Dark

Spilling My Guts

“Is that a…” I gasped, staring at the thing in front of us when Deck had stopped walking. He nodded, sitting me down on the huge black Harley. It looked like a machine engineered to bring death and injury to whoever rode it.

“Get on,” Deck said. He straddled the bike and gestured for me to do the same. He began digging through a box for something.

“Hell to the no!” I yelled back. He raised his eyebrows at me. I looked at my car out of the corner of my eye. It was an entire parking lot away. I wouldn’t even make it halfway there without Deck catching up to me.

“So you can go on crazy rollercoasters in the middle of nowhere when it’s pitch black outside, beat a random stranger with a pipe, and snort lines of coke but you can’t ride a motorcycle? That’s pathetic, Skye,” Deck declared, shaking his head ruefully. I knew he was baiting me, but I wasn’t one to back down from a challenge.

“Fine!” I harrumphed. I sat beside him, giving him a little bit of room. I was hanging halfway off of the back of the bike. Deck turned around and frowned disapprovingly.

“You have to hold on to my waist, or you’ll fall off,” he said. I reached forward and gripped his sides lightly. Deck groaned at my hesitation as if I was taking up his precious time. He lifted my hands and used them to yank me forward, so I was pressed flush against his back. He moved my hands so that they were rested lightly on his waist.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” I questioned. I bit my lip. What if I fell off and died? My intestines would be scattered all over the highway. I would be a statistic, one of many who died in an accident whilst not wearing a helmet on a motorcycle. Deck snorted, as if he thought I was kidding. When he turned around, though, the smirk fell off his face. He realized I was honestly scared to ride this thing.

“Do you trust me?” He asked. The question caught me completely off guard. I didn’t know how to answer. Yes, of course! My brain screamed at me. I paused at this reaction. Did I trust him? And if I did, did that mean I was braking my own rules? Deck waited patiently for my answer, searching my eyes carefully. I could trust someone without being friends with them, right? That wouldn’t be too much to ask of the universe, I decided.

“Yes,” I said finally, and I meant it. I did trust him. His face broke out in an exultant smile, and I couldn’t help but smile back.

“Off we go, then!” He cheered, revving the engine and taking off. He didn’t start me off slowly. He made the motorcycle go fast. And when I say fast, I mean 60 miles an hour, and he was only just getting started. My breath seemed to be yanked from my lungs. My hair whipped out behind my face. It felt like we were flying. Deck weaved in and out of traffic expertly. When he increased the speed to 80, I was laughing and cheering. It felt like riding a horse at inhumanly fast speeds, like we were gliding across the ground without ever touching the ground. I didn’t even pay attention to where Deck was taking me. I just focused on the feeling of freedom. Adrenalin buzzed in my veins. The wind was cold as it whipped across my face. Deck slowly parked the motorcycle. We were at my cliff. Deck walked over to a large rock. I knew from experience that it was the best to sit on, so I sat on it, waiting for Deck to say something.

“I never said thank you,” Deck said finally. What? Why would he thank me? He had just saved me from doing something stupid. The need for the drug was gone now, and for that, I would be forever indebted to him.

“Why would you thank me?” I wondered. He turned to me, his hands in his pockets. It was then that I realized he had a lip piercing. I guessed he had never put something in it before now. He had a small silver lip ring at the edge of his gorgeous lips.