Biker Class (37 page)

"What? Why not?" Melanie asked, taking a seat beside him.

"I don't know," he said thoughtfully, pulling away his
sunglasses and hooking them on the neck of his shirt. "I guess... I don't
know, that I'm scared I bombed it."

"There's no way you bombed it," Melanie shook her head
firmly. "You came over and I helped you study! You
knew
it
backwards and forwards."

"I know... but, the college doesn't have great expectations for
me," Jake said. "My high school grades sucked until
Senior
year, and that was because of you. I'm lucky I got
the score I did on the SAT. The class isn't exactly for geniuses, and even
then, I don't... know."

"Well,
I'm
sure you nailed it," she smiled.
"Next time you have class, check out your grade. Even if, for whatever
reason, you didn't do so hot, it's just
one
test. You'll have plenty
more."

He grinned at her thankfully. "College is so different. It's...
harder
.
Even the classes for the slackers are hard."

She shrugged. "You go to college to train for a job. No one
spoon-feeds you."

"Wish we had some classes together," he said bitterly.
"I don't have anyone to whisper answers to me anymore."

Melanie hit his arm and laughed. "I never gave you answers. I
just explained to you what the teacher said."

"And then I knew the answer."

"Yeah. That
your
brain came up with."

"But these college dudes go so much
faster
. And they don't
tell you what exactly will be on your test. They just expect you to already
know what the test will cover."

"That's why you take notes."

"I tried! But they talk so freaking fast."

"Do you abbreviate?"

"No
..
.?"

"Start abbreviating. It'll help you get more of what they're
saying down."

"You'll have to show me how," he smirked, leaning in closer
to her. She welcomed the hint enthusiastically, capturing his lips in her own.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and he wrapped his around Melanie's waist.

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa!" came a sudden voice, making both of
them jump and pull apart. Rachel stood behind them, hands covering her eyes.
"Sorry! Didn't mean to interrupt anything! Melanie, I was just going to
tell you that I'm going to the store after class, so I'll be back a little
later than usual. But, uh, I can see you're a little
preoccupied
."

Melanie flushed a little, but Jake just smirked. "All right,"
Melanie nodded. "Hey, would you mind getting some of that
Nutella
stuff while you're there?"

"Yeah, sure," she called from the door, opening it and about
to close it behind her. "Catch you guys later. Behave," she snorted.

The door closed and it wasn't long before a blushing Melanie was
blushing even harder when he began kissing her again. He was confused when she
pulled away, looking a little panicked.

"I actually wanted you to come here today for a reason," she
said quickly, tucking her hair behind her ear self-consciously. Jake just
watched her, not sure of what to think. That could mean many things. "I
have a surprise for you." She couldn't hide the
100 watt
smile that was starting to overtake her face.

He
rose
his eyebrows. "Um, okay?
Thanks?"

She smiled and got up (to his disappointment) and went back into the
hallway. She was gone for about ten seconds,
then
came
back with something hidden in a bag. "You didn't think that I forgot, did
you?"

"No, of course I didn't," he said quickly, playing along.
"What's in the bag? A present?"

"Duh," she rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "It's our
One Year Anniversary since we met! Of course I got you something."

A knot the size of a killer whale twisted inside Jake's stomach. He
smiled uneasily, feeling so upset with himself that he wanted to die.
How
could he
forget
a day like this? Melanie would be so upset and hurt...
what was he going to do? He hadn't gotten her anything! She'd kill him,
resuscitate him,
then
kill him again.

He took the bag with ashamed hands and opened it, taking out a red
tube, a white tube, and a yellow tube. Of what, he didn't know.

"It's motorcycle paint!" she smiled proudly. "You can
paint different designs and stuff on your motorcycle, but it's not permanent.
It'll last a few weeks, and you can wash it off and do it over again. I also
got some brushes and stuff." He looked up at her, thankful and
unbelievably angry with himself. "It also comes with a book of designs and
stuff. It shows you how to do them, too. It's got flames, skulls, crosses,
chains, all kinds of tough biker stuff." She looked up at him hopefully.
"Do you like it?"

He grinned half-heartedly, but only because of the sadness he felt for
being so stupidly forgetful. "It's great. Exactly the kind of thing I'd
want."

Melanie's smile was blindingly bright. "Oh, good! I was so scared
you wouldn't like it. But I special-ordered it and everything, so I'm really
glad that you did."

He kissed her again, desperately hoping that she would get carried
away in the kiss and forget to ask him what he'd gotten for her. He just
couldn't
believe
himself. He was such an idiot. Such a moron! They kissed for a
while, both of them getting a little more into it than had been initially
expected. Before she knew it, she was starting to lean back against the pillows
and her boyfriend leaned with her, deepening the kiss.
This
was definitely a good means of distraction
,
he
couldn't help but think
.

He, himself, was becoming distracted and forgetting the present he was
supposed to have. He smiled against her lips, running his hand through her hair
before they settled cupping her neck. Melanie's breath hitched when he began
kissing her jaw, then moved down to her neck. She laughed uneasily, "So,
I'm g-guessing you like your p-present?"

"I do, but I like you more," he whispered in her ear, moving
back down to her neck. She gasped sharply as she thought she felt his teeth
against her skin. Yep, yep, that was
teeth
. After
getting over the initial shock, she found that the feeling wasn't that bad. She
actually sort of
liked it
. But she tried to scold herself, even though
with her adrenaline pumping she didn't care so much.

"So, what did—" she tried to catch her breath
"—you get me?"

Jake suddenly stopped kissing her neck, bringing his head back up to
make eye contact with her. A hopeful smile was on her face, and it killed him.
"Melanie..." he was breathing hard as well, "I, um... I—I
didn't... uh..."

The smile was beginning to fade. "You didn't what?" Jake's
eyes cast downward, guiltily. "Did you... did you not remember?"

He shut his eyes tightly, as if it would all go away, and shook his
head. "No. No, Melanie, I—I didn't remember." She scowled.
"I'm so sorry. We've been dating for so long... I'm not keeping up with
days! I just wake up every morning and think about school and seeing you... and
I don't mark the days on a calendar!"

"Oh," she nodded, sliding out from her position under him.
"It's okay. I get it."

He knew her well enough to know that it
wasn't
okay. "No,
it's not okay. I feel like a moron. Which I am."

Melanie rolled her eyes. "No, you're not. You just forgot.
Everyone forgets things."

"Yeah, but anniversaries are big. Especially a year." Melanie
didn't say any words of disagreement. "You can hit me, punch me in my
face. I totally wouldn't blame you." She didn't do anything, just stared
at her hands. "I'll make it up to you. I promise. I'll do anything you
want me to do."

She finally looked back up at him, a flicker of mischief in her eyes.
"Anything?"

He nodded, regretting the words immediately and wanting to take them
back. "Anything," he repeated, a little less bravely than at first.

She sat a bucket full of cleaning supplies down in front of him. He
rose
his eyebrows and looked back up at her, skeptical. She
threw a pair of yellow gloves at him. She smiled in a sickeningly sweet way,
crossing her arms.

"I know how you can make it up to me," she grinned.
"You're going to clean this place for me. Rachel and I never really got a
chance to scrub it down really well before we moved in. But now we can! Or,
should I say,
you
can."

"You've got to be kidding me," he scowled. "When I said
'anything', I was thinking more along the lines of taking you out to eat wherever
you want whenever you want... or making out or something!" Melanie rolled
her eyes at that. "I didn't think you'd make me
clean
! I'm a man!
Men don't clean."

Melanie rolled her eyes yet again and groaned. So, he was
that
type. Sexist. Thinking the men made the money and the women cleaned and cooked.
Well, she'd work that out of him right now, wouldn't she?

"Men who forget their One Year Anniversary do," she smugly
remarked. She handed him a broom, hands on hips. Jake sighed, and began to
sweep standing where he was. Melanie tisked and shook her head. He gave her a
sparing glance, almost a glare.

"
What
? Is there some special way to sweep or
something?"

"It's not the sweeping," she shook her head still, "the
sweeping looks great. But you know, people who clean houses have to wear
uniforms." Jake's look that he gave her was unfathomable. She smirked all
the while. "Take it off."

He
rose
his eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"Take your shirt off," she said again, simply. He stared at
her scrutinizingly. Who was this? Had Melanie been abducted by an alien or
something? She always insisted that they keep their clothes
on
. What the
hell?

"Wait, wait, wait," he held his hands up, "
you
, Melanie
Hart,
want
me to take my shirt
off
?"

"That's what I said, isn't it?"

"Are you feeling okay?"

"I'll be feeling a lot better once you take your shirt off."

Jake had to admit
,
this
wasn't half bad
. He kind of liked this Alien Melanie. He did as he was
told, taking off his leather jacket followed by his white t-shirt. "So,
this isn't so much of a uniform, but a
lack
of one, really."

"I guess you could say that," she shrugged, struggling to
keep her gaze on his face and not on his chest. "Now, get to work. We want
you to be done by the time Rachel is finished with her class and shopping."

"Why?" Jake smirked, flexing his arms. "You don't want
any other ladies seeing all this?"

"Oh, whatever, Jake," Melanie rolled her eyes, stepping out
of the room. "Get started!"

Jake looked down at all of the chemicals and the rags and mops. He
didn't know what went where and what you were supposed to use to clean what.
This wasn't going to go well. Just then, he spotted a list inside of the
bucket.

Unfortunately, now he couldn't use the excuse that he didn't know what
to do. Melanie had written every chore that he needed to do and every
ingredient that he needed to do it with. He groaned. He would never
ever
forget anything ever again.

***

"You missed a spot," Melanie grinned, laid back in her
recliner two hours later, feet propped up, sipping on
a
lemonade
. Jake, shirtless, held back a mean remark and swept the mop
where she was pointing. Melanie shook her head. "Nope, to the left." Jake
looked up and leaned against the mop, giving her a
'do-not-say-another-word-or-I-will-get-seriously-pissed' look. She snorted and
he huffed, scrubbing all around himself to ensure that he didn't possibly miss
a spot. Let's see her complain about something now!

"Good job, Jake! The floor looks great," she grinned.
Suddenly, it faded as quickly as it had come. "All right, now scrub the
baseboards." Jake threw his head back and groaned.

"Are you serious? Melanie, I've been cleaning for
two hours
.
I've cleaned your bathrooms, I cleaned your bedrooms, and I cleaned the
kitchen! Now you're going to make me scrub all of the baseboards?"

"Now you know the pain I felt when you forgot our special
day!" she feigned weeping, burying her head in her hands. Her face
suddenly snapped up, totally unfazed. "And you did say you'd do
anything
."

"Again, I thought 'anything' would mean making out."

"You're such a pig, Jake. Get to it."

He grumbled as he got down on his knees, a rag and some cleaner that
he'd never heard of before in his hand.

"Scrub harder, Jake. They're never going to get clean that way.
You have to use elbow grease."

"If you could do a better job, you come down here and do it,
then."

Melanie stayed silent, sipping her lemonade loudly as she watched him
clean her house. To be truthful, he had been scrubbing hard enough earlier. She
just wanted to see his muscles flex. Thirty minutes later, he slowly got up,
stretching his back and arms, wincing. "Good God, I am gonna be sore
tomorrow."