Chasing Stars ✔️

7.

"Magic exists. Who can doubt it, when there are rainbows and wildflowers, the music of the wind, and the silence of the stars?" - Nora Roberts

She

This is such a bad idea. The sentence kept replaying on my mind since I woke up in the morning. But that was an understatement. It was the worst idea ever in the history of Sabrina's bad ideas... and she had a lot of those. She had a way of making people agree with her bad ideas, too. And given my recent behavior, she didn't even have to try very hard. Plus, Sienna and John were not so happy with me either; even Brian gave me a hard time.

I officially had a babysitter. Great! He couldn't even babysit the cat, and I was his new assignment. It was borderline offensive and embarrassing. After all, I was screaming bloody murder when we first met, not to mention the clothes that I was wearing, or should I say the clothes that I was not wearing...

I let a row of curses echo inside my head before shutting the door closed with a heavy bang.

Dr. B decided that I couldn't drive yet. Although predictable, it was annoying. I knew she was right, given my medical history, but that was the whole reason Sabrina thought I needed a driver. I wasn't happy taking two buses to go to Dr.'s B office, but I could manage. I didn't' even know the guy.

And now, of course, he was late. Almost 15 minutes. Not cool.

I paced around the front porch, regretting the choice of waiting outside as the back of my neck started to feel damp. I tightened my grip on the cellphone in my hand but resisted the urge to recheck the time. Leaning on the railing instead, I tried to replay last night's conversation in my head, remembering Sabrina's speech about how I should at least be polite since he was doing me a favor.

OK, Alexa, you can do polite. Polite is easy. You don't even have to like someone to be polite, it's just basic human decency.

The loud noise from a motor pulled me off my thoughts as a black, vintage-looking bike came to a stop by the front gate. I descended the two steps from the porch, observing as the driver pulled the motorbike into a park and took his helmet off. He stopped a short distance from me; the sun shining bright behind him made it impossible to see his face. Not that the silhouette required any presentation. It was Jake. His tall, sturdy frame and the words that came from his mouth left no question about his identity.

"Hi. Sorry, I'm late. You ready?"

I walked the small distance between us. The little green gate in the front garden barely represented any barrier for someone as tall as him, but I had to open it, anyway.

I used my hand to shield my eyes from the light, allowing me to have a better look at his face. I could barely register the details of his features yesterday with all the commotion. But now I could see the surfer kind of tan in his skin that complemented his messy dark hair. I tried my hardest not to stare into his eyes, but they were so unique as if someone actually took the time to find the perfect shade of grey to blend with the little blue specks around his pupils. Beautiful as they were, there was an aura of mystery and danger radiating from them.

"Hi." I finally said, letting my hand drop, his face becoming, once again, overcast. "Yes, of course, I'm ready." Very polite.

He quickly made his way to the bike, lifting a compartment to remove a helmet that he extended in my direction. I made no move to grab it from him.

"You need to wear a helmet," he clarified, a hint of annoyance in his voice despite his small smile.

"I am not going on that," I said, pointing in the general direction of the bike.