Biker Class (7 page)

Melanie
laid
on the rough wooden floor of her
'tree house' for the umpteenth time in the past few days. She liked to think
while in this place. Staring at the grey clouds, blue sky, cotton balls
surrounded with blue, or the stars themselves helped to clear her mind. Or
cloud it even more, no pun intended. It really just depended. The Wisconsinite
did have a lot to think about, after all. She pitied herself, really.

From: Rachel

Call back: 555-8900

Hey. How are you? U
know
… with stuff?

There wasn't a need for an explanation to her vague question. She knew
what her friend meant. And to be honest, she felt ready to talk about it. Melanie
was through running away from this. She was still more frightened than she
could put into words, but she was through with the whimpering-in-the-corner. Melanie
needed to vent.

To: Rachel

Call: 555-4414

Okay I guess. Thinking.

She locked her phone's screen, waiting for a reply. Melanie watched as
what appeared to be an extremely distant satellite slowly blinked and crossed
her line of sight. Lucky satellite. No worries. No life. Ugh.

To: Melanie

Call back: 555-8900

O. U in your tree house?

She smiled. Was she that obvious?

To: Rachel

Call: 555-4414

How'd you know?

She couldn't explain it, but smiley faces made her feel better. Sure,
it was childish, but since when did she care about that? She watched as an owl
flew across her line of sight, startling her for a moment. She hadn't been
expecting to see a large black mass come out of nowhere when she was alone…
outside… at night. If had been any bigger she would have screamed. Melanie ran
a hand through her hair. This was not healthy. She was
too
afraid.

But she couldn't help it.

From: Rachel

Call back: 555-8900

You R so predictable
Melanie :D
It'll be okay.
It'll pass. I think.

Melanie certainly hoped…
he
moved on. Fast. She was sick of
living in fear every minute. It would be a feeling hard to explain to anyone
not in the situation; many people would say she was overreacting. But if you
were the definition of innocent and naïve, just moved to a foreign and
frightening place, and soon found out you had a tall, dark, not-so-safe guy
practically obsessed with… doing
something
… you'd be watching your back
every minute, too.

To: Rachel

Call: 555-4414

I hope so. Don't know if I can live like this a lot longer D:

She couldn't take this to anyone besides Rachel. The cops: no. They
wouldn't do anything and they had more pressing matters to deal with than a
paranoid teenage girl. And they would surely notify her mother. Not
even
an option.

From: Rachel

Call back: 555-8900

Y won't u talk to your mom again?

She couldn't even begin to explain how her mother would freak and
never let her out of the house again.

To: Rachel

Call: 555-4414

Major freak out.
Never
allowed to c daylight again. D:

Quite an understatement, actually.

From: Rachel

Call: 555-8900

Oh. Enough said. In the mean time what r u
gonna
do?

Melanie sighed, her hand dropping her phone hopelessly onto the floor
of the tree house. She sat up, sighing in a choked way, intertwining her
fingers with her thick hair. Her head was buried between her knees as her mind
began to throb. What
was
she going to do? Just avoid him? She couldn't
do that every single day for the next– who knew how long! That would be
nearly impossible. They did go to the same school, and since
he
was
going to be keeping an eye out for
her
, it was a 1 in 1,000 chance that
she would never encounter him.

She lifted her head, hands still raking her hair away from her pained
face. She stared at the moon, the stars, and prayed for a miracle.

God, if you're there… I need help.
she
thought, closing her eyes tightly with her brows knitted and throat aching.
I'm
scared to death. I just moved here to this weird, alien planet known as
California, and I am about to lose my sanity within two weeks of moving here.
This scary, determined, freaky biker guy is obsessed with doing
something
to me– with me– whatever, and I am so
SCARED
. Please,
please, please, help. I don't know how, or why, or when, but
please
… I
need a miracle.
Something that will make this place less
painful for me.
Not that I hate it here, God! It's really nice… but the
things that have happened to me since I got here are so frightening. I need
something or
someone
… just something to… um, protect
me
or something
. I only just got here and I already feel like my life is
some dangerous soap opera. Life is–

She was cut short by the buzz of her cell phone.

From: Rachel

Call back: 555-8900

R u there?

Not wanting to feel disrespectful, she quickly brought her prayer to a
close.

Amen.

Sighing, she answered.

To: Rachel

Call: 555-4414

Yeah. Doing something.

Her phone buzzed just a few seconds later.

From: Rachel

Call back: 555-8900

What?

Melanie typed her reply, a smile on her lips for some reason she
didn't understand.

To: Rachel

Call: 555-4414

Praying

Buzz.

From: Rachel

Call back: 555-8900

…
Praying?

Melanie didn't waver when replying.

To: Rachel

Call: 555-4414

Yeah. I need all the help I can get right now.

***

Melanie sat in the sand with her best friend, smiling at the ocean
swelling in and out in front of her. The soothing sound reached her ears and
calmed her. She had a sudden desire to run her hands through the warm, grainy
sand. Melanie did so.

"What are you doing?" Rachel asked curiously, eying her
friend with a strange look. Melanie jumped and stopped what she was doing
immediately, wiping her hands off on her towel self-consciously.

"Nothing," she shrugged harmlessly, suddenly very enticed by
a hang glider passing above.

She shook her head. "Tourist."

"I'm new and I lived in a place where snow was common almost
all
of the time
," she defended, sticking out her bottom lip. "Give me
a break!"

The warm sun beat down on the both of them, a salty breeze sweeping
by. Melanie's thick hair blew around her face and into her mouth slightly,
making her laugh boisterously. She humorously pulled it from her mouth, making
Rachel snort and roll her eyes. Melanie sighed slowly, watching the waves
lazily weave around it's watery plain.

"I suppose I can."

Melanie giggled at her friend's response. They were both sitting on a
towel,
side by side
, bikini-clad and wearing large
sunglasses, deciding to go cliché today. The sun was making the sand so bright
it was hard to look at, and the Wisconsinite watched in
awe
as so many people just walked around like this was nothing special. The
crystal blue
water, the blinding white sand, the gorgeous
weather; were they insane? Did none of them realize that they were in the lap
of luxury?

"This is great," Melanie expressed her feelings, not taking
her eyes away from the water, smiling brilliantly as a surfer in the distance
wiped out. The sun was like a brilliant, shining ball in the sky, smiling at
everyone. Her smile reflected it perfectly. "Isn't it?" A couple of
running five year-olds ran by them, laughing their high-pitched laughs. Covered
in sand, the small boy and girl chased one another in circles. She watched in amusement.

The small blonde boy giggled, kicking sand at the little brown-headed
tike he was chasing.

"Dylan, stop!" she laughed gleefully, barely able to speak
as she held her stomach. The little girl collapsed on the ground in a fit of
giggles. The boy laughed, too, grabbing her hands and pulling her up with all
of his might.

"C'mon, let's go build sand castles, Ally!" he grinned,
practically dragging her laughing
form
away to the
other side of the beach. Melanie watched their little forms fade away.

"Aw, isn't that cute?" she cooed, placing a hand over her
heart. Silence. Melanie's smile shrunk slightly, turning to her friend in
question. Why wasn't she answering?

Rachel was staring at Melanie, her eyes unreadable behind her shades.
Her lips were pursed, but in an odd smile. She instantly felt self-conscious,
looking down at her body and then to her friend.

"What?"

Rachel shook her head, looking away towards a couple walking by.

"Life so isn't fair," was her brief reply. Melanie opened
her mouth to question further, but Rachel stopped her. "Look at you, Melanie.
Freakin'
look
at you."

"Excuse me?" Melanie asked, thoroughly confused. Her tone
easily revealed it. Rachel sighed, almost peeved.

"It's not fair," she said repeatedly. "Look at
yourself. You're
so
… ugh! Gorgeous! It is so not fair! And you don't
even realize it or use it to your advantage or anything. And you aren't snobby
about it either! You're nice!
Too
nice, actually.
So I can't even hate you!"

Melanie laughed doubtfully, looking herself up and down. It was just a
simple yellow bikini, showing off her tan that she managed to get on the rare
sunny days they would have in Wisconsin. And being out in the California sun
didn't hurt, either. She didn't look bad, she supposed, but she was nothing special.
She really had
no idea
what Rachel was going on about.

"What– I– huh?" she finished weakly, eyebrows
raised in total confusion. "Don't know how you are seeing
that
."

"And you're humble, too! It never ends, does it?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Have you looked in the mirror lately, Melanie?" she rolled
her eyes. "Wanna switch bodies anytime soon, call me.
"

"You are beautiful, Rachel. Don't even think–"

"Oh, that's a load of crap and we both know it.
My scrawny, pale, freckle-covered self.
Psh,
please.
You can just stop trying to convince me right now, because I can
go ahead and tell you that–"

"Stop!" Melanie said loudly, covering her ears. "I
don't want to hear it! You are beautiful and you need to learn to accept
it!"

"Really?" she asked skeptically, bitterly. "If I am so
'beautiful', then how come I don't have a boyfriend, huh?"

"Well, if
I'm
so 'gorgeous', then how come
I
don't
have one?" Melanie questioned.

"You choose not to!" Rachel sighed exasperatedly, slapping a
hand to her forehead. "You've had all kinds of guys hit on you since you
got here! And you have
had
to have some guy action back in Wisconsin, am
I wrong?"

"First of all, all of the guys that have approached me shouldn't
even be
counted
," Melanie shook her head, shivering. "They
were just pervs and nothing else. And… if you
must
know… yes I had a
little. But it was only
one
guy. And it was over after a month."

"Well," her bitter friend shrugged, "that's one more
than I've had."

Melanie kept her shock to herself. "Well, you are a beautiful,
strong, smart, independent woman, and you don't a need a
man
to tell you
that! Take the high road! That's what I'm doing!"

Rachel lifted her shoulders and dropped them in a shrug. "Sure.
Whatever. If I had a dime for every time I've heard that one." But Melanie
detected a mumble she was clearly not meant to hear. "No wonder Jake wants
you."

Melanie's smile and cheerful mood vanished at the mention of his name.
His dark, dangerous eyes were all she could see, her heart racing as the
malicious form came closer to her. Rachel glanced at Melanie, but her eyes
widened behind her glasses.

"No, Melanie, don't think about him! Don't think about… You Know
Who
! Think about the pretty beach, remember?" she
begged. "Think of the children! 'Aw, so cute!', remember?"