Biker Class (22 page)

Melanie sighed as she sat at the kitchen table, looking out of the
large window over the sink to the grounds outside. Many things were running
through her mind, and unfortunately, it wasn't just school-related things. A
certain biker was involved as well.

It had been almost two months to the day since she moved to
California, and all of the past events were replaying in her head. Moving in,
meeting new friends—well,
friend—
signing up for tutoring,
meeting Jake and learning about him and his buddies, having the strange
dream... actually
experiencing
another side of him (it was hard to
forget the piano incident), even something as insignificant-seeming as
exchanging childhood stories weighed heavily in her mind.

She needed to think...
really
think. And when she needed to
think, she liked to go to one place: her tree house.

"Mom!" Melanie called into the living room, not looking away
from the window, gaze locked on the outside trees.

"Yes?"

"I'm going to go outside for a bit, all right?"

"Okay, sweetie," she answered. "Don't be back in too
late, okay?"

"All right," she said dismissively, shooting out of her
chair without really even meaning to, bolting into the foyer and out of the
front doorway. Melanie smiled as the clean, clear air hit her. She shut the
door behind her, running out into the driveway and letting the warm, non-humid
wind envelope her and whip her hair. She ran towards the large, winding tree
with her little house perched in the middle, but
right
as she was about to climb it, Melanie stopped. Come to think of it, she hadn't
explored the entire grounds. She would like to go for a walk. Walking in the
fresh air always helped one to think and clear their mind, did it not?

The sun had set an hour or two ago, but the bright, blue light that
the moon provided prevented Melanie from having to use a flashlight or lantern.
She walked around the bright green grass, blue in the moonlight, and weaved in
and out of the different kinds of trees. A cooler breeze swept through their
property, and the leaves all around Melanie rustled. As the wind whirled around
her, it seemed to clear her mind as well.

One trying thing that was bugging her was that she didn't know exactly
what
was bugging her! Was it the SATs? Was it the pressure of being in a
completely new environment her
Senior
year? Could it
be the pressure of taking all of these extra classes and tutoring at the same
time? Maybe it was the reminder of
who
he was. She couldn't even figure
out
what
was bothering her, so she couldn't try, let alone
think
of ways, to solve the problem! Was there even a problem in the first place?

She was so confused!

Was she even stressed?

Yes, yes she was! She was stressed!

Right?

Groan
.

She stopped, sitting on a bare stump and running a hand through her
wavy hair. Sigh. What was the answer to all of this madness? The only time all
of this chaos wasn't running through her head was when Jake was over!

And there it was. It all seemed to come back to him, didn't it? What
were her feelings about the whole 'Jake' fiasco? At the beginning, it had
seemed like a hassle; a hassle that she would always have to be cautious over.
It was almost like she was tottering on the edge of a cliff. The view was
beautiful and the breeze felt great, but she always had to make sure she was
cautious, because if she didn't pay attention, it could get dangerous.

But that was at the beginning.

Sure, it wasn't like now she could completely let her guard down, but
she had gotten to know him over the past month or two... and there was more to
him than ever assessed. He was kinder deep down than Melanie had ever thought,
and she looked for the good in people, so that was saying something. And they
both shared a deep passion for music, it seemed. Piano particularly. But still,
that uncomfortable feeling that the nagging little voice inside of her head
reminded her of constantly was always there, no matter how nice of a moment
they were having.

Just because she was curious about this side of himself that he always
tried to hide didn't mean that she needed to forget who he was in the process.
Yeah, he had a soft side. Most people did. But that didn't mean that his rough,
dangerous side just disappeared. Melanie knew that she couldn't let her guard
down... no matter how much she felt like she should.

The hoot of a nearby owl jolted her from her thoughts and made her
look around, realizing how much later it probably was. How long had she been
sitting there, absorbed in her controversial thoughts? Melanie rose from the
stump, slowly, turning around the way she had come and began wandering back out
of the small patch of forest. She made sure to make a pile of sticks in certain
places, sure to not get lost at her own home. Ever since the beach incident,
she was paranoid.

As she began to walk back to the tree house (she wasn't even
close
to
coming to terms with herself), Melanie's mind flashed to the beach, coming to
think of it. She pushed aside the hurt she felt at the thought of that Michaela
and what she did to her, and remembered how hopeless and lost she had felt that
night. And she wasn't just referring to losing her way on the beach. At the
party... she had never felt more uncomfortable and awkward in her entire life.
Then the anxiety of being tricked into getting lost, and then nearly
encountering what could have been her demise not long after was enough to make
her hit her head against a wall.

… What she
nearly
encountered.

But didn't.
Because of one certain person.

Jake didn't have to do that. If he
was
as bad
as everyone made him out to be, he wouldn't have stopped her from continuing
her path of unbeknownst self-destruction. Wouldn't he have just taken part in
whatever his friends would have done with her? Did he feel an obligation to pay
her back for tutoring him and trying to help him get into a decent college? Did
he save her because he actually cared about her safety, or was it just some
score he felt needed to be settled? Next time (if there
was
a next time,
and hopefully there wouldn't be) would he not take any action? She tutored him,
and he saved her from possible injury: a tied score. Or would Jake take action
and come to her aid?

Whether he did it for selfish reasons or not, nevertheless, he didn't
have to do it. And he still did. That was enough for her.
At
least for now.

She climbed the rope ladder, craving to see the stars and bright, full
moon. Melanie sat down, but didn't lay like usual, and watched the stars. What
she would give to be up there... floating around the twinkling stars and
worlds, unattached, no worries... that would be the ultimate vacation.

I really need to stop thinking so hard about this
, Melanie
thought, shaking her head in disappointment with herself.
I need to stop
thinking so hard about
him
. I tutor him Senior year. I help someone make
their
life better. Then that's it. THAT'S ALL.

But the fact that deep down, that thought wasn't enough for
her,
scared her. It scared her a lot.

Melanie rolled her eyes and slapped a hand to her head as she thought
she heard motorcycle rumbling. Thinking like this would do her no good. Why was
she dreaming like this? Was it because he would be coming over the next day and
she was anxious to confront him with all of her
questions.
She internally sucker-punched herself. It wasn't like she could just go up to
him and say, 'Hey, Jake! What's up? Hey, I was just wondering, what were your
intentions when you saved me the other night? And was it because you felt like
we needed to be even or you cared about my safety? And if it's the latter, is
it because you might have feelings for me? Because I have self-respect and we
can't do anything like I know
you
usually do with girls! Because, pffft,
it's not like the thought of us being more than friends doesn't
completely
disgust me anymore, psh! And if that's not why, just forget I said anything!'

Yeah, not
gonna
happen.

Ugh! Why was she still hearing that stupid motorcycle sound?
Stop, Melanie!
This isn't healthy for you! He ISN'T here, and he ISN'T caring about you. He doesn't
care about girls, that much is obvious. He has his way with them and then it's
over. And it was pretty obvious when you two met that all he was looking at was
your body. Don't be stupid!

But no matter how much she reminded herself of the truth, the
motorcycle rumbling wouldn't go away. So, to put her mind at ease, Melanie
peeked out of the tree house door to shut up her fantasizing brain. What she
wasn't prepared for, however, was to see a black Harley Davidson parked in her
driveway, a distraught-looking Jake walking in circles, running a hand through
his hair. She blinked repeatedly and shook her head, making sure that she
wasn't hallucinating.

Just to make sure that she was in her right mind, Melanie called his
name unsurely. "Jake?" He tensed and his head snapped around
confusedly, looking for the voice. "Over here!" she said. He whipped
towards her direction and squinted.

"Melanie?"

"Yeah!" she responded, relieved and panicking all at the
same time once she heard his voice and realized he was really there. She waved
her arm around to guide his way. He walked towards her, quickly, she noticed.
As he neared, she lowered her voice. "What are you doing here?"

That was a question both of them wanted to know. He scratched the back
of his head, shrugging. "I, uh... I needed to be around someone
sane."

"Oh. Well, why aren't you with your friends?" she asked,
propped on her elbows by the doorway looking down at him. He was at the base of
the ladder now, looking up at her. From what she could see in the moonlight, he
had a 'did-you-really-just-ask-that-question?' look on his face.

"That's
who
I was around," he said
obviously. Melanie scrunched her nose in thought as she watched him squirm a
little, explaining.

"Were they just no fun tonight?" she wondered, tilting her
head to the side. Jake looked away from the ground and up at her, a half-smile
on his lips as he shook his head side-to-side. "So
I
would
be?"

"Well, I figured, there's no one out there who's more of an
opposite of them than you."

So, he just told her that she was the complete opposite of his best
friends, people he adored and looked up to, and that was a compliment? She
wasn't sure how to take that.

"Um, thank you?"

"It's a good thing," he smirked. But it wasn't a devious
one. Melanie grinned her signature smile in response. Jake glanced around at
the structure.

"Mind if I come up?" he asked, pointing at the tree house.
After getting over the surprise of his politeness, Melanie nodded and backed
away from the door, allowing him space to step in. He climbed up the ladder
with speed. She sat down Indian-style underneath the sky-gazing roof, looking
up at the stars instead of at him when he walked in, but didn't sit.
Eventually, she tore her eyes away from the great view and looked up at him. Jake
was glancing around, studying the space. He gestured around.

"What's this?" he asked, walking around the small space,
noticing
it's
lack of decoration.

"I'm guessing it's just a fun place to hang out. I don't know. It
came with the property."

"'Fun'?" he repeated incredulously, looking around with
brows raised. Melanie frowned. There was the attitude she had hoped wouldn't be
a
asset with this visit.

"Well,
I
like it," she nodded proudly, looking away
from the killjoy biker and up to the shining stars. Jake looked around again,
then
took a seat underneath the hole in the roof as well, a
distance of about three feet between them. Although the dirty, Lawson-taught
part of his mind had all kinds of ideas running through it since they were
alone in the little tree house, but he pushed them aside. Thoughts and actions
like that were the whole reason why he left that dock and came to Sweet Melanie's
house.

"Hey, uh, Melanie?" he found himself saying, not remembering
to decide to say anything to her at all. She turned her head towards him with
brows raised politely. He licked his lips uncomfortably. "Um, thanks. You
know, for tutoring me. I, uh... don't exactly know how, but I really think that
it's gonna help me out." Melanie smiled. "You know, for later."

"Sure. I'm happy to do it," she grinned. Her smile was
face-eating
.

"So, I... I really appreciate it," he continued
uncomfortably. He wasn't used to being considerate and
thanking
people.
Let alone girls. "I was thinking..."

Melanie's heart rate pounded.

"...
about
colleges."

Phew.