RIM OF THE WORLD | Gabriel

chapter four

We decided that we were going to go to the sheriff's station that was in the city only a few miles away and give them the key. We found some bikes in the shed and Gabriel crouched down next to the lock.

"They gave us the code at registration, it's, um... six-six-nine," Dariush told Gabriel who began to mess with the lock.

"Come on. Hurry up, dude. Come on, it's six-six-nine."

I watched as Gabriel turned the numbers on the lock, putting in the right numbers but in the wrong order. "Six-nine..." he began to mumble.

"Dude, what are you talking about? I said six-six-nine." Dariush said, staring at Gabriel with a weird expression. "Come on, man. Dude hurry up! Just put it in there. What are you, dumb?"

I smacked Dariush's arm, "shut up, he isn't dumb." I snapped, looking between him and Gabriel. "I'm not dumb," Gabriel says, looking up at Dariush.

I crouched down next to him and grabbing his hand that was on the lock. "It's okay, we know you're not dumb, but let me help you out," I tell him, giving him a reassuring smile.

Gabriel stood up and back away as I unlocked the bikes. "I want this one, it's got a 'Wakanda Forever' sticker," Dariush said, pointing at the black bike.

We each pick a bike and I look over at Gabriel who seems to be in a daze. "Hey," I say as I walk over to him, "don't let what Dariush said get to you, if anything, he's the dumb one," I told him, smiling slightly. "Come on and pick a bike."

As soon as we all have a bike we go out of the shed but notice Alex isn't following. "Alex, what's wrong?" I asked, noticing that he doesn't even have a bike.

"I can't go with you." He says lowly. "Why not?" Gabriel asks. Alex swallowed, "I can't ride a bike. I never learned." He admitted shyly.

Dariush made a face and rolled his eyes. "But it's okay. You guys can go without me." Alex said quickly. "Cool, we out!" Dariush said, beginning to walk off.

"No. No, we got back down to your camp and everyone left you, how did that make you feel?" Gabriel retorted, staring at Dariush.

"Okay, guys, before we leave can we change because we look disgusting." I groan, looking over our dirt covered clothes.

ZhenZhen nodded, "good idea. Gabriel, go with Dariush, he probably has some clothes borrow."

ZhenZhen and I ran back to our cabin. She changed into an all-black outfit with combat boots with a leopard print bandana as a headband. I changed into blue jeans, a black shirt, and grey sneakers.

After about twenty minutes, the five of us met at the front of the camp, Gabriel, Dariush, and Alex were already there waiting. My eyes found Gabriel's. He was wearing black jeans, a white shirt with a jean jacket on top. He looked hella attractive.

"Like what you see?" He asked, smirking. I blushed, rolling my eyes and looked away. Gabriel cleared his throat. "All right, ZhenZhen, you get on one side of Alex and Dariush get on the other, and we'll get him up to speed from there." He says, pointing at ZhenZhen and Dariush who nodded their heads in agreement.

"Gotcha," Alex said, with a worried expression. "Alex it'll be alright, you can do this." I encouraged with a smile as we continued to walk our bikes up the hill. I watched as Alex looked at ZhenZhen who smiled, " I won't let you fall."

I smiled and slapped Gabriel's arm, giggling with excitement. "They would be so cute if they weren't so oblivious," I whispered, looking up at Gabriel with wide eyes. He laughed, grabbing my hand, "you're right, Alex needs to start making some moves." He winked.