Biker Class (33 page)

"No! Of course not!" she exclaimed hastily. "After all
of that out there, how could I? Even if none of that had happened, I'm still
happy with us. What about you?"

"Yeah," Jake smiled. "Yeah, I am. But I'm glad that you
know about that
God damn
bet. I'm really
sorry—"

"I know, I know," she grinned, rolling her eyes. Melanie
took his hand and squeezed it lightly. "And it won't be long. I just
need... some
space
. Space to breathe."

Melanie was lying on her bed, the television on full blast, with a tub
of mint chocolate chip ice cream in her lap. She shoveled in another bite of
the green delicious goodness, sighing. She knew that it was
her
idea to
do this whole break thing, but that didn't mean that it wasn't hard. This
stunk, not having Jake around. The last time she'd talked to him was the night
after The Incident (that's what she called it now), and it was
him
telling her about Lawson's condition.

Unfortunately, he had not lost his memory. He remembered everything as
clearly as he would have if he hadn't of been knocked out. But there
was
good news. Rage had hit the man hard enough, and apparently in exactly the
right spot, to result in an adjusted personality. Lawson was still a little...
pervy, but he'd seemed to have lost his insanity and crazed desire to take Jake
down.

Jake, of course, didn't risk going to see Lawson even if this
personality-change business was true. Because even though he might have changed
some, that didn't excuse what he did, what he said, and what he had
wanted
to do to Melanie. Jake didn't go see him for his own safety, and for Lawson's.
The blonde would be liable to rip his head off if he was within range.

Rage, Rod, and Jake all seemed closer now. They always had been close,
but they'd usually intimidate and unfairly pressure one another when a bet was
made or a fight was sprung. Now, they were almost
kinder
. Seeing not
only one of their own,
but
their
leader
, go
completely psycho as a result of that ruthless behavior seemed to make them all
see the light. Jake still lived with Rage, but the two were chummier than
before. And
whenever Lawson was going to come over, Rage
always made sure to give Jake a few hours' warning beforehand
. See,
before The Incident, Rage would never have given Jake notice. He just would
have sat back and watched the fireworks fly, entertained.

Melanie was glad that such a negative night seemed to have such a
positive influence on everyone.
Except her and Jake.
She had forgiven him for the horrible bet, but that didn't mean that she wasn't
still hurt. Heck, thinking of it would probably always hurt. It doesn't matter
if you're eighteen or fifty, knowing that a relationship started just because
that person was under a bet to sleep with you? It stung!

And she hated having to take time away from him. She had to admit, it
wasn't nearly as satisfying or relaxing as she thought it'd be. Sure, she
was
having time to clear her mind and calm down, which was the point, but she felt
upset or anxious because Jake wasn't around.
No one to hang
out with.
No one's hand to hold.
No sparkly
blue eyes or signature smirk. No anything. It'd been weeks since that horrible
night with Jake's gang.

Speaking of no one to hang out with, things hadn't yet been resolved
with Rachel. They hadn't spoken since the fight in the hallway. And that was...
let's see... three weeks ago? Melanie had gone almost a month without speaking
to her best friend.
Her only friend.
And with Jake
gone, things felt very lonely. She didn't have anyone to talk to, anyone to
laugh with,
anyone
to hug, cook, or watch movies with.
It made her feel like a loser, it really did.

She was so deep in thought and trying to find the cure to her misery
on the bottom of the ice cream tub that Melanie almost missed her cell phone
ringing. As she picked it up off of her night table, she almost couldn't
believe it. Speak of the devil!

Incoming call...

Rachel

That was what it read. It was almost creepy. She'd just been thinking
about her and their friendship, and then she decides to call? That was odd.

But then again, just because she missed Rachel didn't mean that she
wasn't still mad at her. She'd just judged her boyfriend based on rumor and
wouldn't even give him a chance! That was still a sore spot with Melanie, so
she debated on whether or not to answer. Half of her, the angry half, was
screaming
no
, while the lonely half was screaming
yes
.

She sighed and hit the answer button before Rachel hung up. She
guessed it was now or never, huh?

"Hello?"

"Um... hi," came the timid voice of her former best friend.

"Hi," Melanie said with equal enthusiasm. "Rachel...
why'd you call?"

She heard her sigh into the receiver, making it sound like static for
a second. "I, uh... I think we need to talk." Melanie was silent.
"I've had almost a month to reflect on, ya know, what happened... and I
need to talk with you about it. I don't like having no one to talk to. I don't
like having no one to hang around with, and I don't like fighting with you.
Even if I didn't agree with your, um, love life... I shouldn't have totally
exploded on you like that."

Melanie let out a long exhale. She's been waiting for nearly a month
to hear this. To hear Rachel's voice.

"Well..." she muttered. Melanie really wasn't sure of what
to say. This sudden call was so unexpected. "Why now?"

"Well..." Rachel trailed off, sounding a little hurt,
"I just thought that I needed to apologize and call you—"

"No, no, no," Melanie cut her off quickly. "I don't
mean it like that! I'm glad you called... it's just out of the blue..."

Rachel sighed a long, heavy sigh again. "I've been wanting to
call you for a while now. But I was being such a stubborn chicken. I didn't
want to admit that I was wrong, even thought a few weeks past our fight it
became pretty clear to me that I was. And I was scared of calling you
and—and pouring out how sorry I was, and you would still be mad and not
accept my apology and hang up or something..."

"Oh, Rach," Melanie laughed sadly, "no need to worry
about that. You know, it was really weird, because I was just thinking about
how much I missed you and wished we could work this out."

"Really?" She sounded relieved. "Thank God! I was
scared I was alone here and you were doing just fine without me."

"Well, you were wrong," Melanie laughed.

"Oh, and something else..."

"Yeah?"

"One of the real reasons I called was because... Jake called
me."

Melanie sat straight up on her bed, nearly knocking over the tub of
ice cream. She didn't know what to think of this news. Was it good? Was it bad?
Why would Jake be calling Rachel? Melanie was involuntarily feeling jealous at
the thought of Jake calling a girl, let alone her best friend, that he never
really talked to.

"Did he now? Why'd he call?" she tried to ask calmly.

"He... he really made me see the light," Rachel laughed to
herself. Melanie could just picture her shaking her head, her light brown hair
moving along with it. "He called me to talk to me about... you two."

"Us?" Melanie clarified.
This conversation
just made her miss
him more.

"Yeah. He knew about our problem... well,
my
problem with
him
.
It was so embarrassing talking to him. It felt so different talking to him
about the bad stuff he's done to his face, ya know? I told him about all of the
things I'd seen and heard, and I didn't trust him. I let him know how much the
things he did disgusted me and how you didn't deserve someone like that. And he
just stayed quiet the whole time and listened to what I had to say. That was
the first thing that told me he'd changed. He didn't fight with
me or anything
, he just let me get everything out there.

And then he said, 'You're right'. And that totally threw me for a
loop. I was like, 'What?
'.
He told me that everything
I'd said about him was true, and that he could totally see where I was coming
from. And then I went on to tell him about how you were going on and on about
how he wasn't who I thought he was, and how you saw another side to him that he
never liked to show. And he said that was right. Then I told him about how I
asked for proof, and how you wouldn't tell me, because you said you'd promised
him you wouldn't tell.

Then he started talking about how great you were, that even when you
were about to lose your best friend, you still kept his secret. And Jake
started going on and on about you, and I was almost getting sick to my stomach
about how much he was talking about you. And while I
didn't
feel like
barfing—" Melanie laughed, cheeks red "—I was thinking
how weird it was that
Jake Dylan Cooper
, the school's worst-behaved guy,
who screwed girls then plucked them off, who never even talked good about his
girlfriends before they did anything sexual... was talking about you like you
hung the moon in the sky. And I knew that you were right.

My mind was already convinced,
then
he started
telling me the reason he called. He told me how he
had
actually changed
for the better. Jake said that you two hadn't done anything besides kissed a
few times, but he already felt closer to you than he had to any of his other
girlfriends... or any of his
friends
, for that matter. He said to me
that he was so thankful to you, for everything you'd done for him, for being
there for him in more ways than one. I mean
,
I was
still trying to get over the shock that he was saying nice things about
anybody
,
but when he started talking about you like that... I knew that it had to be
real. Because Jake hates looking all lovey-dovey or sweet or good or...
anything for that matter! So I knew that he wouldn't let it come out of his
mouth if he didn't mean it."

Melanie was speechless. She couldn't think straight. Her brain was
still trying to process everything it'd just heard. Had he really said all of
that? Butterflies overtook her stomach and her cheeks were a deep crimson. She
needed to see Jake—and soon.

"Wow," was all that Melanie could say. She honestly didn't
know any other words that expressed how she was feeling inside.

"So, after that
long dialogue
," she teased, "in
all... I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted," Melanie smiled largely. She hadn't been
this happy in days. The ice cream in her lap suddenly seemed less...
vital
to her meals all day, which had been: ice cream, ice cream, and more ice cream.
"God, I've missed you so much!"

"I've missed you so much, too!"

"Movie night at my place?"

"I think yes," Rachel laughed.

"I've got the popcorn," Melanie announced happily, skipping
into her bedroom, Rachel sprawled across her bed.

"Thank you!" Rachel exclaimed. "It's about time! We
can't have a movie night without popcorn... it's just unrealistic."

"Of course."

"So, what are we gonna watch?"

Melanie suddenly whirled to face Rachel, standing in front of her TV.
She had an evil and mischievous smirk on her face, her hands hidden behind her
back. "Oh, nothing much..."

"
Melanie
... what are we watching?" Rachel asked
carefully.

Melanie laughed evilly as she pulled the DVD out from behind her back.
"PARANORMAL ACTIVITY ONE AND TWO!"

Rachel quickly started shaking her head, so fast that she looked like
a bobble-head having a seizure. "N-O. No!"

"C'mon, you chicken!" Melanie sniggered. "They aren't
that
scary." Rachel was still shaking her head back and forth like Melanie was
asking her to mug a store. "Rachel, look at me," she rolled her eyes
exasperatedly. Her best friend gave her a peeved glance. "You know how
'innocent' and 'sweet' I am! If
I
can watch this movie, than you can,
too!"

"Have you even seen them before?" she demanded of her.

"Well... no," Melanie admitted feebly, "but what does
that matter? My friends back in Wisconsin saw them and said they weren't that
bad!"

Rachel groaned. "
Fine
. But if I have nightmares for the
next month, it's on your head."

"I think I'll live." Melanie placed her hand over her heart
in faux worry.

Rachel and Melanie held onto each other for dear life, their eyes as
wide as dinner plates and unable to look away from the television screen. The
room was lightless besides the blue light coming from the TV. It flickered,
giving objects in the room odd shadows.

"NO! NO! DON'T TURN AROUND!" Rachel cried. She pointed her
finger under the blanket her and Melanie were huddled underneath. "The
footprints are in the powder! IT'S IN THE ROOM WITH YOU!"

"Oh my God, I can't watch!" Melanie screamed shrilly. The
wall banged in the movie, and both of the girls screamed.

"What is her boyfriend thinking? DON'T TEASE IT! You're gonna
die!"

"He's gonna die, oh my! He's
gonna
die," Melanie squeaked from underneath the cover.

"That's what he gets for using a Ouija Board!" Rachel shook
her head.

After half and hour,
the credits
began to roll for Paranormal Activity, and Rachel and Melanie just exchanged
glances, unsure if they wanted to move from this safe position. The room was
dark. Neither of them wanted to be the one to get up. Melanie grabbed the
remote, but because of the dark, she accidentally hit the power button for the
television instead of the stop button. The room went pitch black.