Into the ring

10-Biking

When I woke up that morning, I could feel the pain from yesterday all over my body. As I undressed, I noticed that ny stomach had taken the worst of it all. I had bruises of various shades tainting my abdominal skin and every movement made me cringe. Well, there goes nothing.

There was a slight bruise on my cheek as well, but nothing major. A little concealer would cover it easily.

I got ready, and decided to prepare Noah's favourite breakfast: pancakes. As I made the batter, he came to the kitchen, already dressed.

"Hey love. Did you sleep nice?" I asked him with a hug.

"Yes. I dreamed about a dinosaur and..." I listened attentively as he narrated his dream to me, throwing in a comment here and there. When my mother had died, I had had to replace her in his life. But now that my dad was gone as well, I had to fill in an even greater gap. My role as a guardian was even more significant.

"So there. Can I have my pancakes?" he finished with an adorable smile.

I laughed. "Sure," I told him, ruffling his hair and placing his nutella pancakes infront of him.

"Will I go to Cameron's place today?" he asked me with his mouth full.

"Don't you want to?" I asked him, a bit worried.

"I do. Nate's so much fun! Can I bring my toy cars there?" he asked me.

"What toy cars?" I asked him. I don't remember bringing them with us.

"Cameron gave loads to me. I'll show you." He said and rushed to his room. He came back a few seconds later, carrying a dozen of Hot Wheel of different colours with him.

"That was nice of him. Did you say thank you?" I asked him sternly.

"Yes. Promise." he replied.

"I hope so. Come, I'll drop you to school," I told him seeing that he had finished his food. He nodded and got his backpack.

"Let's go!" He told me, and I took him to school.

On arriving at CFC High, after dropping my brother, I went straight to my locker to meet with Kiara. She was a bit fidgety and seemed nervous as she stole frantic glances towards the door.

"What's up?" I asked as I met up with her.

"It's Ryder. He's..." she didn't have time to finish her sentence as Ryder, Cameron and Parker came barging in. Ryder was angry. Very.

They stopped at our level and, at that time, I could clearly see a dark bruise on his cheek where I had punched him yesterday.

"Fuck!" He finally said, puching the nearest locker, indenting it.

"Calm down, mate," Cameron told him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

Ryder's jaw was set tightly. "I'm bunking. You guys coming?" They all nodded and he suddenly turned to face me. A frown etched on his face for a split second, but it disappeared as soon as it came.

"Join us?" he finally asked me.

"Okay." I said, cracking under his intense stare.

He nodded. "Let's go, then," he said slinging his backpack over his shoulder.

We walked silently to the parking slots and I saw that the guys had all come with motorcycles. I gulped. They were of the same brand except that Parker's was red, Cameron's grey and Ryder's black.

"Guys, we don't have bikes. Two of you will have to drive us," Kiara said.

"Come with me and Katharynna will just have to get with Ryder," Cameron replied.

I looked at Ryder's stoic expression. "I can go with Parker, if you like," I offered. He shook his head.

"It's fine. Besides, Parker's such a bad driver, you might get traumatised and just never get on a bike again." Although he sounded serious, I couldn't help but notice the playful glint in his eyes. Well, maybe he's bipolar or something. We all burst out laughing at Parker's scowl.

They all climbed on their respective bikes and I tried imitating Kiara, ending up seated uncomfortably behind Ryder.

He handed me a helmet and watched me pull it on.

"Let me guess, you've never ridden a bike, have you?" he concluded, wearing his own helmet.

I shook my head. "Hold on tight," he said, switching on his engine and it roared to life. I clutched at the back of his leather jacket tightly as he sped up, and my arms just wound around his waist due to the impact. It was exhilarating. We were on the road, behind the two other bikes.

"Faster?" I heard him say, though the helmet muffled his voice. I just nodded and closed my eyes as he overtook them, initiating a race. When I felt a little more confident, I opened my eyes and watched the blurry scenery as it sped past us. My heart rate increased with each second. And I loved it. The adrenaline. The rush. Everything. We suddenly stopped outside a pizzeria. I was dizzied by our sudden hault and slowly let go of Ryder's waist.

"Fucker!" Cameron exclaimed at Ryder as he got down his car, probably becouse he had come in last. Kiara whacked him on the head.

"Language!" She exclaimed sternly, following him. Ryder got down and watched me struggling to do so.

"Is it even humanly possible to be that short?" Parker said teasingly as Ryder lifted me off his machine. I flipped him the bird and we walked into the fast food.

The asshole!