Cover Credit @StormRidden (she's amazing right?)
You can't really know just how incredible someone or something is unless you peel back the outer layers. It's more than just scratching the surface, you have to really dig in, get rid off the facade...
Chapter 8: Looks can be deceiving, especially when they come with a beat up Motorcycle!
Since the first time I saw Ryder, I'd thought about him and his motorcycle. How beat up it looked, wondering how many times it'd been taken apart, or where all the parts came from. Now that I was looking at it up close, I realized that Ryder probably couldn't answer those questions if I asked.
The different color metal was bent and twisted in various ways. Pieces carved unevenly to create parts that had been missing. Pipes straightened out to fit into a place that it didn't really belong in. Truth be told, Ryder's motorcycle was scary.
"You don't expect me to get on that, do you?" I asked Ryder as he stood straddling the machine between his legs.
"Did you think I'd push it while we walked?" he countered. I swallowed hard. "I promise you, it's safe."
"Everyone says that until they're lying in the hospital and missing a leg." Ryder laughed but I wasn't joking. "That's not funny. I'll just take the bus home then, there's still another at the stop." I turned to leave, but Ryder grabbed my hand.
"Allison, do you want to come back to school tomorrow still feeling like everyone hates you?"
My heart skipped a beat. Did I? Even if no one said anything, I still felt that way, I still felt like they all hated me and that they were just waiting for the perfect moment to pour pigs blood all over my beautiful white dress.
Ryder released my hand, leaving me with a feeling of loneliness that I instantly loathed and reminding me that I had no one. I looked over the half wall to the parking lot where most of the seniors still were. Some were carpooling with friends, others driving their own cars. I shut my eyes, telling myself that leaving with Ryder was a terrible idea that I would regret, but I did it anyway.
"Fine!" I turned around and climbed over the back of the motorcycle behind him.
"You ready?" he asked over his shoulder. I pressed my forehead against the backpack, nodding. "Alright, hold on."
Holding on wasn't the best term to use, I was clinging to dear life as I dug my fingers into the fabric of Ryder's shirt as he sped out of the small alley and out into the view of the parking lot. The motorcycle was loud, even louder now that I was on it, but it hummed beautifully, creating a rhythmic buzz in my chest that made me want to smile.
I slowly lifted my head, looking up to catch a small glance of the curious eyes that stared at Ryder and me from the parking lot. The quick looks of envy I could see sent a thrill through me that I never thought possible.
Score one for Allison! I thought before a bump in the road startled me back into the safety of Ryder's shirt.
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Time passed and gradually I got the courage to look out at the passing landscape. It was already too late, but we definitely weren't going in the direction of my house.
