Biker Class (4 page)

"Um, h-hi," she managed to stutter out, her knees unstable.
She didn't talk to people like this. They were dangerous. This whole situation
was dangerous! Was there even anyone around? What if…? No, she can't think that
way.

"Hi," he repeated mockingly, smirking. Wait, that smirk
looked familiar. Melanie tried to place it, but to no avail. He was still
chewing his gum, smiling in a way that made her suddenly worried that she
shouldn't have worn a skirt today.

"I-
I'm
Melanie. I'm your… uh,
tutor," she stuttered out, a shaking hand reaching up and tucking hair
behind her ear.

"
Melanie
?" he repeated, clarifying, his brows
raising
behind his sunglasses. "Nice name."

"T-thanks." She wished she would stop stuttering.

"So,
you
are my tutor?" He sounded a little too happy
for Melanie's liking. "I was expecting someone a little less… well, I
think we'll get along fine." The comment was followed by more perverted
smiling. She pursed her lips.

But then he did something. He cut off his bike and reached to his
face, slowly removing his shades. When the dark lenses were pulled away from
his eyes, Melanie's nerves went into overdrive again. A pair of shockingly
bright, glowing blue eyes met hers. Yet another wave of frustration swept through
her. Those eyes…
where
had she seen them?
That smirk
,
too. When he noticed that she was staring, a flash of devilish glee was in his
blue orbs.

Suddenly, she remembered.

"
Look, babe," the boy her age came close to her, causing
her to tense up. She was really starting to wish she had remembered to bring
the pepper spray with her. He placed a hand on her lower arm, making her wince
and shiver. He noticed and smirked, the smug look appearing to be familiar to
him, "you're obviously new around here." He was eying her again, it
taking all of her willpower not to slap him. "We'll pretend that you
didn't say that since you're new, but we don't get talked to like that.
Especially by…" he seemed to stop himself before he continued, since it
was obvious every second that she was shrinking back into the happy, innocent Melanie
she usually was. "…Just don't."

She could almost hear the sound of her yelping Lucky.

Suddenly, to the guy's confusion, Melanie backed even further away
from him, looking angry and even more frightened than before, staring at him
with hatred. Her finger was pointed at him as she screamed.

"Dog-kicker!"

At first he seemed absolutely clueless, but then it seemed as if he
was looking at
her
face for the first time, and his perverted smile
faded away and his brows knitted and he looked even more dangerous than before.
He scowled, pointing also.

"Crazy chick!"

Melanie's anger faded as he continued to stare at her with that scary
look in his eyes. She didn't have much guts or determination without a dog
there to defend. Melanie instantly started to formulate escape plans in her
mind, like maybe running into the school and screaming for help or kicking him
where no guy likes to be kicked. This was not going the way she had planned.

"You… you just stay a-away from m-me," Melanie said weakly,
clutching her books to her as he slowly stepped off of his motorcycle and began
to walk towards her. The dark look was still in his eyes, making Melanie start
to back towards the school doors. He quickened his pace and out-walked her,
grabbing her by the hem of her skirt and pulling her to him, close. She
whimpered, wincing with her eyes closed tightly and her books clutched to her
chest. She had never been so frightened in her life.

"Relax," he said, almost annoyed, "I'm not gonna do
anything!" Melanie slowly opened her eyes, gulping at their proximity. His
body language sure didn't apply that he 'wasn't going to do anything'. She
unwillingly looked up at him for a moment. "We're on campus. What makes
you think I'd be stupid enough to try something here?"

Melanie refused to say anything, not able to find her voice.

"Look, we are just going to get something straight. On
Wednesdays, I'm
gonna
go off with my friends, ride my
bike, do whatever I want to do. You are going to tell people that you are
tutoring me, whoever asks. I didn't sign up for this. So, you got it?"

She cleared her throat weakly, staring at the ground.

"What makes you think I'll do that?" she asked, surprisingly
finding her voice. "
I
am supposed to be h-helping you with your
courses. I c-can't just
lie
–"

"You will if I tell you to," he cut her off, his hand moving
to a grip on her wrist. "I'm not doing this tutoring
crap
." Melanie
was instantly afraid again. "And you're not going to tell anyone. You are
the only one who knows, so if I get in trouble for it, I'll know
you
told. And… well… I think you know that
that
isn't cool with me." Melanie
didn't respond. "Got it?"

She nodded her head vigorously, keeping her eyes on the ground. His
hold on her wrist didn't disappear, but loosened very quickly, almost as if he
was afraid he was gripping too hard. Neither of them
were
saying anything, but she didn't stop looking at the ground, and he didn't
release her, nor did he move any further away from her. Melanie's heart was
beating so fast that it almost hurt, and she was almost positive that he could
feel her pulse in her wrist. He almost released her wrist entirely. It was an
awkward silence, but he didn't seem to mind.

He's probably having a pervert moment
, Melanie thought
bitterly, too afraid to try and break away. He finally released her wrist, Melanie
stepping away instantly, the guy watching her. He started backing towards his
bike, still watching her humorously, knowing it was making her uncomfortable
and smirking at it. She pouted but didn't say a word, still scared of him for
the most part. He said two simple words, as if that made up for the emotional
rollercoaster he had just put her through.

"I'm Jake," he winked, smiling suggestively again and making
Melanie scowl. He hopped on his bike, cranked it, and sped away loudly, popping
a wheelie for the heck of it. She watched as he raced off, not looking back,
and sat down on a nearby bench shakily. Melanie took deep, even breaths and
thought everything over that had just happened. So, apparently, Ms. Hart was
right. Maybe tutoring here
wasn't
such a great idea. But, technically,
she wasn't tutoring at all. She was just lying by
telling
anyone who
asked that he was being tutored so he could go on living his messed up life and
she could live with a guilty conscience.

How could he be so… so…
vulgar
? He just wouldn't stop staring
at her like a pervert. He just wouldn't stop smiling like a pervert. He just
couldn't stop acting like such
a… a
… dirty biker! He
was just so scary! And rude! And perverted! And so… unpredictably frightening!
How could anyone act like that
on purpose
?

So, she was just supposed to sit around and tell no one about this?
What if her mother asked? What if Rachel wanted to know how it went? What if
one of the teachers asked her? Worse yet, what if his grades didn't improve and
people started noticing? He was going to be mad at her when she didn't even say
anything! How was she supposed to control that? Unless he suddenly started
trying in school (which she seriously doubted) how was
he
supposed to
get around it? The program was a sign-up program, so if he didn't sign himself
up, then who did? His parents? They would start noticing and blame her for
doing a horrible job, when little do they know that their son was practically
threatening his tutor
not
to tutor him! What would this do to her
reputation? Not that she really had one here yet, but
still
! She was Melanie
Hart, and Melanie Hart was
not
a bad tutor! She was helpful and she was
a ray of sunshine that made
everyone's
life better!

She was starting to think that eventually she might have to add a new
rule: Melanie Hart helped everyone, even people who
didn't
want to be
helped!

… But when she would get the nerve to go up to him and say that, she
never knew.

Melanie Hart was also not a confrontational person, or the type of
person who stood up to anyone for anything unless it was for something
extremely important or dear to her heart. Rachel herself had said that would be
problem if Melanie wanted to survive here, and she was starting to see what she
meant. But she had no idea
how
are
why
anyone had to be
confrontational all of the time.

She just couldn't shake the dark eyes that…
Jake
would have
when he was angry or aggravated. It scared her out of her mind; and she could
tell it didn't matter how much she was around him (which according to him would
be never, unless
he
got something out of it) the look would always
frighten her. This Jake guy and his friends were not very tolerant of others if
they didn't agree with them.

Oh, God, his
friends.
Melanie seriously doubted that they would
be as kind (if you could use that word) as Jake when it came to her personal
space and/or safety. And she was sure the only reason she was intact, just
shaken, at the moment was because they were right beside a building full of
teachers. But his friends; that frightening
red-head
,
the muscular black one, and the obvious leader of their little gang: the
bearded, smoking, serial… something-looking pot head. They'd come onto her
without thinking twice,
especially
if somehow it was
just
them and her…
alone. She hated to think that way, shivering.

Melanie was jolted out of her thoughts by the honking of a car horn.

"Melanie!" her mother shouted through the rolled down
passenger window. "Melanie! C'mon, let's go!"

"Oh! Coming," she answered, trying to not act shaken as she
took a seat beside her mother, but it was too late. She was already suspicious.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Ms. Hart said
worriedly, stroking her daughter's arm soothingly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah!" Melanie desperately hoped that her mother didn't
notice her voice spike.

"Did you meet your person today? For your tutoring session?"

"Yeah."

Silence.

"…And?"

"He was really–"

"It's a
he
? Melanie, what just happened? Did he do this to
you? What did he do? Are you hurt?"

"No, Mom, I'm perfectly fine!
He's
fine!"

Her mother looked her up and down. "It sure doesn't
look
like he's fine! Melanie, I haven't seen you look this shaken up since you threw
up on the rollercoaster at Six Flags. You're as pale as paper. Now,
what
happened
?"

"Nothing 'happened', I swear," she lied, her fear of Jake
the biker keeping her voice steady. "He, I will admit, Mom, is a little…
rough
around the edges, but it's nothing I can't handle." Lies, lies, lies, lies.

Her mother watched her, her eyes narrowed. "What's he like?"

"
Mom
, I told you, he's fine–"

"NO, Melanie, I just want to know. I
want to know
. Tell me
what he's like."

Melanie shut her eyes tightly, rubbing her temples before blurting out
whatever came into her head. "He's rude. But I think that he has, uh,
hope."

"Hope?"

"Yeah. Like, maybe while I'm, um,
tutoring
him," she
said the word with disdain, but her mother was too intent on the boy's
description to notice, "some of my manners can rub off on him." She
flashed her mother with a big smile, full of effort.

"What's his name?"

"Jake."

"
Jake
. Hmm. Sounds like he would be a little
pompous."

That is not an accurate word
, Melanie thought with
a roll of her eyes.

"He's rude, okay," Ms. Hart nodded. "What else?"

"He's… um… stubborn," Melanie continued, restraining
herself
from saying much more.

"What kind of family does he come from?"

Melanie could only imagine what parents raised
that
, but she
said nothing. "I have no idea."

"When are you guys going to meet? Will there be people
around?"

"On Wednesdays. And
yes
, Mom, of course!"

"Okay…" Ms. Hart compromised, nodding her head and looking
back at the road. They came to a red light, the car coming to a gentle stop. Melanie's
mother turned to her daughter, to ask one more question. She internally
groaned. "You seem to have plenty of complaints about this Jake guy. Is
there anything
good
about him?" Melanie was shocked on this change
of direction for the question. She didn't know what to say that was good about
the biking pervert that scared her out of her wits. But she would much rather
comfort her mother with some good things than say, 'nothing'.