Him and Me.

Him and Me- Eleven.

 This was such a rush!

Speeding down the highway on the back of Colby’s big bike was exciting. It was exhilarating! I had never felt so light, so free, so invincible. The wind was whipping at my clothes, bathing me in coolness and warmth all at the same time. I gripped Colby’s shoulders tighter as he increased his speed, and I was glad that Colby’s black helmet on my head was hiding my face. It was probably filled with excitement and glee. I had protested initially—I could not wear his helmet. After all, I was sure it was contaminated by his sweat and hair dirt or whatever. I told him that, and he just rolled his eyes at me. The next thing I knew, the helmet was already covering my head. It was a bit big for me (okay it was gigantic, considering Colby’s huge head), and it was obvious that Colby noticed that. He was chuckling as he fixed the helmet and tightened the strap around my chin. He also joked that the helmet was going to ruin my hair. Yeah right, it was in a ponytail. And like I cared that much.

Colby led his bike out of the shop after thanking the mechanic who had worked on it, with me trailing behind him, helmet on and all. I must have looked like a mushroom. Once outside, he mounted his bike and looked over his shoulder at me. I approached his bike and tried to mount it as if I had done it a thousand times before. It was an utter failure, of course. With legs like mine, it was a kind of hard to mount a big bike. Having noticed my misfortune, Colby chuckled again and said, “You should grab on to my shoulders as you mount. It will help in hoisting you up.”

“I know that,” I snapped. I really did know that I should hold on to him to help me in getting on the bike. I just didn’t want to do it without him telling me to. If I had touched him initially, he would probably start on his Kayla-is-insanely-attracted-to-Colby teasing routine again. He raised his eyebrows at me and gestured to get on the bike with his hand, making me roll my eyes. Taking a deep breath, I mounted the bike again, this time pressing my hands on Colby’s shoulders. It was a success. Even though I could wish for more space between Colby and I, I couldn’t help the small smile that lifted the corners of my mouth as I felt the cool metal seeping through my jeans. Colby turned his head toward me, and said I should wrap my arms around his waist. Like that was going to happen. I brought the front part of the helmet down, hiding my face from his view, and settled on a firm grip on his shoulders. He shook his head and turned to the front. I noticed a little smile on his face though. He turned the key into the ignition and gunned the engine, resulting in it roaring to life. I frowned when I realized he was not wearing a helmet.

“Hey,” I cried out above the noise. “Where’s your helmet?”

“You’re wearing it,” he bellowed out back.

“What about you? You can’t drive without a—whoa!”

You could guess we took off at that. The bike jerked forward, making me circle my arms around Colby’s neck. I recovered after a few seconds and replaced my hands on his shoulders, slapping them as hard as I dared considering the fact that he was driving a motorbike. Stupid, stupid boy.

After that start-up jerk, I began to relax as we cruised smoothly down the road. Unlike most members of the female population, I was not afraid of bikes. I had never ridden one and I had seen on the news people involved in accidents while riding their bikes, but it was all about how responsible the driver was. There was nothing wrong with bikes, it was just a matter of safe and careful driving. I could say the same with all car types. At least, that was how I saw it. And Colby was definitely a safe driver. Sure he sped up once in a while, but he made sure he was still under control of the bike, not the other way around.

As we neared an intersection which we were supposed to cross, I felt the bike turn to the right. Colby was making a detour. Where the heck were we headed now? My heart was thumping, but it wasn’t from the excitement anymore. It was from being concerned about where we were going. A thought flashed through my brain, and I felt my cheeks suddenly drain down of color. He wasn’t going to do anything… bad to me, was he? My body must have noticeably stiffened since Colby reached one hand to pat mine that had a death grip on his left shoulder briefly as if saying, “Relax you psychotic idiot, I’m not going to hurt you.”