How Do I Make You Feel

Bike Ride

Gavin stumbled out of his house, waiting at the door for his mother.

"Okay. Please be careful. And come home if you feel uncomfortable or scared at all. I'm so proud of you, okay?" Ms. Shepard said, crossing her arms and giving a warm smile.

"Yeah, okay."

"Stay with Emmitt at all times. And most importantly, have fun. But be careful."

Gavin nodded, closing the front door and heading for the garage. He grabbed a hold of a copper looking bike with black handle bars, pulling it so the wheels would roll across the paved ground. He looked up to see Emmitt, who was already with his bike. "I, uh... thought you said you didn't have a bike."

"I don't."

Emmitt nodded, pointing to Gavin's bike. "But you have-"

"It's my mom's."

"Oh, that makes sense."

"I haven't actually been on a bike in a while."

Emmitt looked over at him, grinning. "Well, that's okay. There's nothing wrong with that. Learning to bike isn't too hard. Step up on the peddle and- yeah, there you go."

Gavin propped his foot on the left peddle and sat forward on the seat, looking up. "If I step forward on the peddle, I think I can move. I just need to get both feet up."

As Emmitt started to ride, Gavin lifted his right foot up and started to peddle. He gained balance, the bike wobbling a bit. He looked up, and Emmitt looked back at him. "Nice! You got it!"

They peddled down the street, making their way to the corner where the crosswalk and intersection was. As they peddled, their bikes zoomed past other people and buildings. The sunset was glowing yellow and orange, still with lots of time to go down.

"Okay, just follow me, we don't have too much left to go," Emmitt said, trying to top the sounds of the city.

Gavin nodded, watching the boy in front of him, his hair picking up the wind.

Soon enough, Emmitt parked his bike at the entrance of a forest, which was off on a seperate pathway from the road. He waved Gavin to do the same.

They both started walking through the trees. 

"Just be careful," Emmitt warned. "There's like, sticks everywhere and random tripping hazards. I've tripped over one of the roots in the ground and scraped up both my knees. I was okay, of course. But you know."

"I got it," Gavin nodded. He pushed a large branch away and walked past it. "How did you find this place anyways?"

"I don't really know, to be honest," Emmitt said, stepping over some roots that jutted up. "I guess I was just bored and decided to go explore. There's always more to something than you think. This city seems boring but there's a lot of treasures. You just have to look."

"Who says this is any better than the city?" Gavin looked around.

"What do you mean? You don't like it?" Emmitt asked, confused.

"I'm trying to be sarcastic," Gavin said.

"Oh, I see," Emmitt laughed. "I get it. Sorry."

"You're sorry?" asked Gavin. "Really?"

"Yeah, of course. I feel bad for not understanding," Emmitt said.

"How does that feel? Like, can you describe it to me?"

Emmitt looked at him, confused as to why he would need him to explain. "Feeling bad for someone? I guess it just feels ugly. Like it feels like you are mad at yourself, in a way? Like I'm mad at myself because I should've understood what you were feeling."