I Was Saved... by the Jerkface

A Little Joy Ride

Blake and I stood outside his apartment at approximately 9:30pm that Friday night. It had been way too long since we hung out, so he suggested we do something. This, of course, required lying to my mom and telling her that I had a "study session" with Gabby and that I was sleeping over at her house. I wasn't entirely comfortable with lying to my mom, but I did it anyway.

Yesterday, I managed to tell Gabby nearly everything about these past couple weeks. She knows my feelings towards Blake (as if she couldn't have guessed) and she knows about the drama with my mom. She agreed that if my mom calls over to her house, she would cover for me. I was so grateful for a wonderful friend like her.

As for right now, I was simply trying to live in the moment and not worry about what I had going on at home. Of course, the drama at home was affecting my social life and my friendship with Blake, but I tried not to think about that. He didn't seem to bothered by my mom's prohibition of our friendship, and was positive that there was a way around it.

I followed closely behind Blake through the practically deserted street outside his house, careful to stay right on his heels. It made me uncomfortable to be outside in the dark ever since the mugger incident all those months ago. It was a good thing I had my bodyguard with me.

"Where are we going?" I asked him. I had been wondering for the last five minutes as we walked farther and farther from his house.

"The parking garage where my dad and I keep our... vehicles," he told me, and I found myself wondering at his cryptic expression. What did he mean by that?

"How is this hanging out, though?" I pestered. We were supposed to be having fun, and when he proposed the idea to me I had kind of pictured hanging out at his house and playing video games or something.

"You'll see, just trust me," he told me, although he didn't seem annoyed at all my questions. In fact, I think he loved keeping me in suspense.

We walked another thirty seconds to the garage he told me about. There were so many cars in the underground lot I had no idea how he would find his car, but he did. I saw his dad's red sports car first. And then my eyes landed on something else.

I got a nervous, dreading feeling in the pit of my stomach as I watched him stride over to a motorcycle that was apparently his. I remembered him telling me what seemed like forever ago that he owned one, but I hadn't seen it up until now.

It was a sleek-looking sports bike, painted a glossy and metallic blue. I had to admit, it was pretty - but there was no way in hell I was getting on it.

"Come over here, she won't bite," Blake told me, rolling his eyes.

I was a good ten feet away, but I didn't really want to step any closer. I took one half-step forward and called it good.

Blake huffed at me, annoyed. He reached me in three steps and took my arm to lead me to the motorcycle. "It's not going to kill you to stand next to me."

I crossed my arms as I watched him survey his bike, occasionally doing something to it. This took a good five full minutes, and I finally got tired of waiting. "What exactly are you doing?"

Blake's eyes met mine as he looked up from what he was doing, but his hands still continued to work. "Checking it over. I haven't ridden it in probably two or three months," he told me, and then stood up as if he were done.

"Why are you checking it over?" I asked, completely confused until it hit me. Blake must have seen the realization dawn on my face, because he gave me a huge smile. "Oh, no no no. I am not getting on that thing!"