Biker Class (6 page)

"Bye, Melanie."

She heard the cell hang up and she slammed back onto her pillow,
sighing with her eyes shut tight. She had never felt so terrified in her entire
life. Worse than the roller coaster at Six Flags! How did she get into this
situation?
Why
did she have to get into this situation? All she ever
wanted to do was help the student body, and this is what she gets? A
potentially dangerous, crazed biker who had nothing in mind except… things
she
definitely wasn't comfortable thinking about? Was God punishing her for
something?

Why
would fate do this to her?

As if leaving your friends, family, and whole life behind and moving
somewhere where you knew
no one
wasn't hard enough,
this had to be added on? Really? Did He think this was funny?

Melanie heard a knock on her door, jolting her out of her self-pitying
session. Her mother peered in, and she tried her best to come off as smiley
like always. Her mother looked
excited,
letting Melanie
know that she had not overheard anything she shouldn't have and was coming in
to discuss it. Ms. Monroe said down at the foot of her daughter's bed, smiling
largely. Although many times it was hard to tell, Melanie did get her
face-eating smile from her mother. Ms. Monroe just never showed it much.

"I have something I need to tell you," she gushed to Melanie,
clasping her hands together. "Soon, I'm going to have a little cocktail
party and invite all of my friends from work over! They'll get to see the
house, meet you…" She trailed off as Lucky jumped up on Melanie's bed,
obediently plopping down in her daughter's lap. "Doesn't that sound like
fun?"

"Awesome!" she grinned enthusiastically, truly happy that
her mother was happy. "Are they nice?"

"It seems like it!" Ms. Monroe smiled. She frowned slightly.
"There is one woman who seems like she
may
be the two-faced type,
but I'm not trying to pass any judgments before I know her. But I'll be friends
with her, I'll do my best!"

"Oh, Mom, look at you! Making friends and having a little
get-together," Melanie giggled, playfully hitting her mom's arm. "I'm
sure it'll go great and they'll all love it!"

"Thanks for the support, sweetie. So… how are things going with
you?" she asked curiously. "Are you ever planning on inviting anyone
over? How about that… Rachel girl, was it?"

Melanie tried not to laugh as she thought of the incident yesterday at
lunch with names. "I think I'll invite her over sometime, Mom. Don't know
when, but sometime."

"Okay," the right corner of her mouth pulled up. She looked
at Melanie for a moment, making her a little self-conscious. "Honey, I'm
sorry if I ever seem like I'm nosey or ask to many questions or if I'm
overprotective."

You need to be protective with what I have going on now
, Melanie
thought frantically.

"I just really want you to be happy here and make friends."

"It's totally cool, Mom. I understand," Melanie nodded
sincerely. She did actually understand it now, what with the dangers suddenly
presented in her life that her mother knew could come, but she didn't listen.
Why didn't she listen again? Oh yeah, because she thought that 'she could get
to the soft, sweet side of anybody'. Now she was starting to see that that was
beginning to be a load of baloney. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Ms. Monroe began
scrutinizing her.

"And… I want you to know that if
anything
is ever
bothering you, you can come talk to me about it." She looked her daughter
straight in the eye, and Melanie did exactly what she always did. She put on a
straight face and nodded. But she couldn't tell her mom. Not now. She'd go
insane and would never let her sign up for anything ever again. "Good
night, sweetie." Ms. Monroe got up and went to the
door
frame
, turning around and smiling. "I love you."

"'Night," she returned, grinning. "Love you, too."
Her mother took one last look at her beautiful daughter before shutting the
door softly.

Lord, let fate change
, Melanie prayed before turning out the
lights and lying down to sleep.

But He always has a plan. And, unfortunately, taking Jake out of the
equation was not part of it.

"Hey!"

Melanie jumped, startled at the sudden presence near. She was late
today. Her mother had forgotten to wake her up, oversleeping a bit herself. By
the time Melanie was up, the school bell had already rung. Being a perfect
attendance student, she was trying to sneak in her next class quietly.
Apparently someone had heard her enter... Oh no, what if it was a teacher? She
could get a... she hated to think it... tardy!

"Hey, Melanie," the boy called out again, mockingly.
"Did ya hear me?"

Melanie's eyes widened as she recognized the deep, silky voice. She
suddenly screamed in her mind. Rachel's advice suddenly haunted her in a
memory:

Do. Not. Ever. Be. Alone.

Her blood ran cold. No one was in the hallway. Everyone was in class.

Except her.

And him...

"Hey, are you deaf or something?" Jake asked, now standing
right in front of her shell-shocked face. He noticed her scared expression and
laughed bitterly. She held her breath. "You seem surprised to see me
here," he noted. "I don't see why. I seem like the type to roam the
halls when class is in session and all the good little students are in class,
don't I?" Melanie nodded nervously. "But you," he said so low it
was more of a whisper. "You, sweetheart," he twirled a strand of her
hair that was lying limply on her shoulder, "you seem more like the good
little student in class, don't you?" Melanie, not knowing what to say, did
nothing. "Aw, come on now!" he laughed. "Why are you so
quiet?" Melanie's still shocked expression gave him the answer.
"Oooh!" he realized, sticking his hands into the pockets of his dirty
jeans and leaning against the lockers, smirking. "You heard about Bad Jake,
did you? Well, you can't believe everything you hear. Not all of it's
true." Jake seemed to reconsider, shrugging to himself as if it was no big
deal. "Well, most of it is."

"I– I… um…" Melanie couldn't speak, her knees shaking
(which were covered in skinny jeans today, thank goodness. Now he would have no
skirt to pull her by like in her nightmares). "I need to get to
c-class…"

"Oh, please, one little class?" he questioned, rolling his
eyes and stepping closer to her, making her step a step backwards.
"Nothing to worry about. You need to get out more. Have fun." Melanie's
eyes widened as his proximity dwindled to about 2 inches, causing her to back
against the lockers, making them clang loudly, in an attempt to get away.
"
We
could have some fun…"

Melanie's heart went into overdrive, fear encasing it. When she was
about to result to the only thing she knew how to do in these situations (kick
him somewhere where he wouldn't want to be kicked), her mind ran through so
many things within a matter of seconds. She was in school, she reminded
herself. But that thought didn't comfort her for long. When his eyes turned
that darker shade of blue that indicated nothing good, all reassuring thoughts
were driven from her mind. Then she came to a fearful conclusion.

She was stuck.
Nowhere to go.

His eyes were dark, frightening, causing her whimper and him to
snicker. He came closer, placing a hand on the lockers by each side of her
head, trapping her. His eyes showed dark hunger; her eyes showed nothing but
intense fear. His eyes went from that of scary and pitch black to something
more:
plotting
. Melanie could see that he was thinking, most likely
about getting her away, no doubt. Quietly. When he came closer and she was
frozen, all hope lost as his hands reached for her wrists, a shout interrupted
this surreal nightmare.

"Get away from her!"

Both of their heads snapped towards the voice, Melanie relieved and Jake
angry. A determined girl marched towards the both of
them,
her green eyes determined but a little frightened themselves, avoiding Jake.

"Rachel, this is none of your business!" he growled, a hand
dropping from one of the sides beside her head.

"Jake, get away," she demanded, grabbing her friend's wrist
and pulling her behind her back. It looked like it was taking every bit of her
courage to do this, but she was determined. "Keep your dirty hands off of
her." It didn't sound like a threat, but more like a fact. Melanie was in
too much shock to speak.

"We were in the middle of something!" Jake raged, his eyes
dangerous and drilling into Rachel's. He subconsciously stepped forward, his
fists clenched. He was quite an intimidating figure, clad in a rough leather
jacket and taller than both of them, angry and stepping towards them with fists
balled and eyes warning.

"No,
you
were in the middle of something," she fired
back, pushing Melanie protectively even further behind her. "Leave her.
There are hundreds of girls in this school to screw with, Jake. Leave the new
girl alone!"

His face contorted to that of a frightening, abyssal outrage. His
mouth opened, about to yell, but he bit his lip with unbelievable force,
painful. Both girls watched fearfully, Melanie cowering behind Rachel. Rachel
looked like she was about to break down. His dark eyes bulged, snapping back
and forth between the two girls. He let out a forceful breath through his nose,
like an angry bull, and walked roughly past them. Jake's shoulder collided with
both Rachel's and Melanie's, making them stumble back.

His eyes stared at Melanie hungrily, frustrated, as he passed until he
was too far away to glare at her unless he turned all the way around. Her eyes
were held to his gaze, unable to look away. A flood of panic flooded through
her, causing her knees to buckle. When he was out of sight, Rachel knelt down
to a disoriented Melanie who was leaning against the wall for support.

"
What
was
that
?" Rachel hissed between bared
teeth, unbelievably frustrated. "Melanie, what part of STAY AWAY do you
not understand? Please, tell me! I'd just
love
to hear your reason!
Because
that
–" she pointed angrily towards the direction Jake
disappeared "- was definitely not
staying away
!"

"I– I didn't go looking for h-him!" she was barely
able to get out, staring blankly at the floor. Her mind was in a state of
shock. "I got in late today, and he was here! In the h-hallway!" Her
voice was becoming hysteric. "I didn't go looking for him, Rachel! I
didn't go looking!" Her throat was beginning to ache. She swallowed the
lump.

Rachel stood back up to her full height, sighing deeply and running a
hand through her short hair. "Melanie, Melanie, Melanie…" she shook
her head. She turned her head towards her friend, her brows creased and her
eyes filled with worry and pity. "I guess you were just in the wrong place
at the wrong time."

"He's always in the hallways… skipping class…" Melanie
stated
,
trying to wrap her mind around the fact that
anyone could skip class so guiltlessly, but
mostly
about how any time in
between classes was not safe. "Am I… am I ever…?"

"My plan would have worked," Rachel breathed, messaging her
temples, "but now that he ran into you and he has his mind on you… I think
your job now will be
avoiding
him."

Melanie gasped silently. "He's…"

"He's
gonna
keep his eye out for you,
yeah," Rachel slapped a hand to her forehead. When Melanie looked like she
was about to fall to pieces, her friend took her wrists and pulled her up,
smiling hopefully.

"Okay, come on, let's forget about… that guy!" she tried to
sound comical. "Let's go to break!"

"I missed class? The whole class?" Melanie panicked, her
mind somewhere else completely in a second. "I missed a
whole class
period
of work? Oh no!" Both of her hands slapped her forehead.
"My record is already ruined by a tardy! And I've only been going here for
a week!"

"It'll be all right," Rachel patted her friend's back,
escorting her to the cafeteria. "You can just go talk to Mr. Sander after
school and get your work."

"What will my mom say? She'll ask why I have all of this work,
and she'll check online and see that I have a tardy! No, an
absence
!
What do I tell her? What happened?"

"No! Gosh, Melanie, calm down! You act like every little thing is
going to make the earth stop turning!" she exclaimed, pulling Melanie to a
stop and shaking her shoulders. "Calm down, all right? You'll get through
this."

How did Rachel expect her to 'get through this'? She was now being
watched (practically stalked) by one of the school's most dangerous bad boys,
she had missed an entire class period of work, and now she was expected to
just…
get through it
? What does she do? Why did he have to just zone in
on her? Did he see her innocence, her
cleanliness
, and now he wanted to
ruin that? She was the new girl, and he had to have claim to the one girl he
hadn't encountered?

"Why me?" Melanie asked softly, biting her lip.

Rachel had an answer, but she looked hesitant. Finally, she replied.
"He wants what he doesn't have. Or
can't
have."

"Can't have?" she questioned.

"Can't have," Rachel clarified with a nod. "You're
innocent, Melanie. You're new. You're attractive. You're clean and obviously
untouched by any other guy. He sees you as the total opposite of him
;
unobtainable. That's why he's so attracted. He wants to be
able to say, 'look at what I did! I fooled around with Melanie Hart!'. It
almost gives him an
all new
level of… '
badness'
."

Melanie was drowned by a wave of fear once more. "F-fooled around
with?"

"He has more on his mind than just taking you out," Rachel
spared a hesitant glance toward her best friend.

"Oh my God," Melanie whispered, running a hand through her
hair.

"Probably just to impress his friends," she rolled her eyes.
"He'd gain an all new level of 'respect' or 'ranking' or something."
She rolled her eyes once again. "I know he's fooled around with girls…
it's pretty obvious… but I don't know if he's ever… well, you know…" She
was speaking quietly now as they entered the cafeteria early.

"He's ever what?" Melanie already knew the answer, but she
didn't want to say it.

Rachel stared at Melanie as if she was asking 'you sure want me to say
it?'.

With regret, she finished. "Ever… taken a girl's virginity."