The Outsider (Outsider #1) ✔️

Chapter 11 : Uggh ! Not so Early

Luke came down with an amused smile on his face.

Then he sighed as he saw 6 angry men waiting for him. He knew they would be here, as his bike had already informed him of their arrival. And they had also messaged him, with the messages bordering on abusive.

"Hey! You didn't need to wait for me here, you know." He tried to reason with them.

The leader of the 6 scowled, "Yeah? And where should we be waiting? At the bar?"

"You know, that would be a good idea. It would make you a little more tolerant."

The man growled. But he knew he couldn't actually do anything to Luke Jones. Finally, he calmed himself down. "Tell me, what would be so difficult for you to just inform us you are going for a mad ride? Are you a Fu... Moron? Just to impress some girl you go off driving at 400 kmph? We would have been prepared for you, we would have had vehicles fast enough and paced at the right places. And kept an ambulance on stand-by too."

Luke put up his hands to placate his angry companions. But the man was still boiling mad.

"Who is she anyway? You were there long enough. Hope she was good in bed, at least to justify this escapade."

Luke's face turned stony, and his voice suddenly became cold at the accusation.

"Behave yourself Rusks. And keep your wild imagination to yourself. First, it's a dorm with 4 beds to a room... And no, I don't owe anyone any explanation for my actions, my schedule or who I meet. You do your work and let me know if there is an actual problem."

Rusks backed down immediately. He realised he had crossed the line. But he still had a trump card up his sleeves.

"Ok, Ok, Sorry. But it is my duty to ensure you return safely to your bed every night, alone or with a girl... Now, I am only wondering whether I should report this matter to your dad or your Grand-dad..."

Luke was already walking towards his hover-bike, but he stopped and whirled around. He gave Rusks an angry glare. He clenched his fist, but he knew Rusks did have a stick to beat him with.

"Ok, fine. I will let you know next time we are doing anything out of ordinary. Come on, give me a break. You know I have been spending all of my time alone, just going around doing my work. You can't keep a kid tied down like this. Some of the times, I feel like doing something out of ordinary. Anyway, I need to keep my reflexes up. And training in protected environment is not going to achieve it. Fine, you want to complain, call both and tell them. I don't care. Just, for the time being, keep Dusk Hale out of it."

Rusks looked at him and nodded. "Ok, give me her Citizen-ID, I want to know more about her."

"Go, find it yourself! I am not spoon-feeding you. And yes, tomorrow, we will be doing another endurance test run on these bikes, so be prepared. At midnight."

"With her?" Rusks asked with a laugh.

Julien ignored him, jumped on the hover-bike that was already on standby and waiting on the road and sped off. Cursing, the six of them scrambled to follow.

... ...

The next morning, the alarm on her communicator rang at 6 am, but Dusk blissfully continued to sleep. The alarm started softly but as it was ignored, the volume increased exponentially. Amelia woke up on hearing the infernal sound. First, she thought that the smoke detectors had been set off.

She poked head up from below the blanket and looked around groggily. She figured out that there was no fire or smoke. It was a wake-up alarm.

She lowered pressed the button to move the sliding glass around the bed and shouted, "Shut the damn thing! ARE YOU DEAF?"