Beth stared at her for a long moment and shook her head. “I can’t believe you slept all weekend.”
“Me either,” Crystal admitted. “I probably hit the ground harder than I thought.”
“You mean, like, a concussion?”
Crystal nodded.
“Damn! You should get checked out at the hospital. Maybe you’ve got brain damage or something.”
Crystal smirked. “Don’t worry. I’ll still help you with your chemistry final.”
Beth laughed. “Come on, we’re going to get in trouble for being late.”
Crystal shrugged. “You are. I’m eighteen—I can write myself an excuse.”
Beth wrinkled her nose and then flipped Crystal off. Both girls laughed and walked into school and up the stairs towards their classes. With only three stairs left, Crystal had the sudden feeling of being kicked in the gut. She grunted and grabbed onto the railing to keep from falling.
“Crys!” Beth cried out. She spun and reached for her arm. “What’s wrong?”
Crystal shook her head and forced a breath between her lips. She strained slowly and ignored the pulling in her stomach. “I don’t know. It’s gone now. Felt weird, though.”
“Your stomach?”
“Yes.”
Beth frowned and then gasped. “You slept all weekend!”
Crystal raised an eyebrow. “Really? I hadn’t noticed.”
“No, dummy, think about it! You haven’t eaten!”
“Oh.” Crystal blushed and nodded. She held her hand over her belly as she felt it tremble again. “Well, I could stand to lose a few meals.”
“Stop it! You’re beautiful!”
“Sure, for a water-retaining sea cow.”
Beth pressed her lips together and crossed her arms. “Knock it off,” she snapped. “You’re not like that. You’re—”
“Ladies, is there a problem?”
Both girls turned to see Assistant Principal Robbie staring at them from the open doorway of the main office. They turned to look at each other and then back at him.
“No, sir,” Beth mumbled. “Just running late for class.”
He frowned and opened his mouth to speak but Crystal had the sudden inspiration to use her predicament for her benefit. She reached up to her glasses and lifted them up. “Sorry, Mr. Robbie. I had an accident this weekend and I’ve been out of it. Took me awhile to get around this morning and make it in. Beth was just making sure I was okay.”
He clamped his lips shut as he studied her. His eyes narrowed and then widened. “Are you all right?”
Crystal nodded. “Fine now. It was a stupid thing but I ended up with a concussion.”
“Okay, well, step in here and we’ll write some passes for you so you don’t get in trouble. Did you both miss your morning classes?”
“Just me,” Crystal said. “Beth didn’t know about it until I called her and asked her to help me out.”
“I see,” he said. He glanced at Beth and offered a thin smile. “I appreciate your loyalty to your friend, but don’t make a habit of this.”
“No, sir!” Beth vowed.
He nodded and motioned for them to follow him. A few minutes later, they were on their way with passes. They stopped at a junction of hallways, Crystal turning towards her English class while Beth had history waiting for her. Beth looked at Crystal and reached up to adjust her glasses. “Don’t do anything like this again, all right?”
Crystal forced herself to laugh. “I don’t know, I kind of like beating my head against things. You should try it sometime.”
“Stop it!” Beth said after she laughed with her. “I mean, accidents happen. Just don’t ignore my calls.”
“Ignore—Beth, I was sleeping!”
Beth shrugged. “So? Don’t let it happen. I almost lost you once. I’m not going to risk it again!”
Crystal shook her head. “You’re crazy, you know that?”
Beth pressed her lips together and hugged her books to her chest. “Whatever. Be careful, okay? Love you.”
“Love you too, crazy bitch,” Crystal said.
Beth stuck her tongue out and spun away, flaring her skirt before heading down the hall to her class. Crystal watched her go and then shook her head again before heading for her English class.
She opened the door and walked in, interrupting the lesson Mrs. Watson was giving on sentence structure. The teacher looked at her and frowned, her eyes never leaving Crystal’s glasses even as she took the note.
“Ms. Davis, the sun’s not shining too brightly in here, is it?”
Crystal ignored the whispered laughter from Stephanie and a few other high-society girls. She reached up slowly and lifted her glasses so Mrs. Watson could see her black eye.
“Oh! Well, just this once I suppose it’s all right,” the teacher offered after she winced.
The teacher’s reaction was similar to Mr. Robbie’s. Pity and understanding. Even a flash of anger. Crystal kept her face blank but felt her stomach tighten. It wasn’t hunger this time; it was anger. She didn’t need their pity. Nobody was beating her—she fell down! It wasn’t somebody picking on her for being fat; it was—
Crystal stopped herself. That wasn’t true. She hadn’t fallen down. She’d been tripped. Tripped by some wild animal that tried to bite her. That did bite her. She almost laughed at her own mistake. She’d focused so hard on making up a story, she started to believe it. Better than the real thing, she guessed. Who would believe that?
“That’s all right,” Crystal said. She felt weird, like she wasn’t affected by anything all of a sudden. They could whisper and laugh all they wanted. She didn’t care. She knew what the truth was. She turned her head to look at the class and make sure everyone got a look at her. The whispers and laughter stopped when she confronted them. “You should see the other girl.”
Mrs. Watson gasped. “Ms. Davis, that’s hardly appropriate!”
Crystal flashed her a smile. “I’m sorry,” she said and then moved to her seat. She was two rows over from Stephanie and one seat back, but that didn’t stop the popular girl from glancing back at her. Crystal caught her eyes and stared until the blond’s cheeks reddened and she jerked her head away.
Crystal settled in and found herself daydreaming about leather-clad bikers for the remainder of the class.
Chapter 6
Crystal walked out of school and into the parking lot with Beth at her side two days later. Her bruises had faded and her appetite returned. The momentary burst of dominance faded with it, leaving her to groan when she saw Stephanie talking among a group of her friends on the sidewalk that led to the parking lot.
“Just ignore her,” Beth whispered.
“Ignoring her isn’t the problem,” Crystal muttered back. “It’s getting her to ignore me.”
Beth opened her mouth when Stephanie glanced over her shoulder towards them. She jerked her head back and laughed at something someone said and then stepped away from the group. She turned—away from Beth and Crystal—and started walking towards the parking lot ahead of them.
“That’s weird,” Beth muttered.
Crystal felt the hair on her neck stand up. It was weird, but she knew it had to do with her. How was Stephanie going to screw with her this time? “Hey Beth, have you heard of any bikers coming through town lately?”
Beth missed a step and had to stumble to catch herself. “Bikers? Like, on motorcycles?”
Crystal laughed at the image of her dark and handsome savior dressed in spandex and riding a ten-speed. “Yes, motorcycles. Leather. All that.”
Beth shrugged. “No. Why?”
Crystal smiled. “Just daydreaming.”
“I thought you wanted to meet a guy with a limo or a sports car.”
“Been thinking about motorcycles lately.”
“I’d still give a hummer to get a Hummer,” Beth said with a wicked laugh.
“Nasty,” Crystal chastised her.
Beth grinned. “I can do some amazing thing
s with my mouth. I bet I can get just about anything.”
“Oh my God! Gross!” Crystal laughed. “And besides, who have you been practicing on?”
Beth’s smile faded. She shrugged. “I’ve been doing research.”
“Like what, watching porn?”
The way Beth clamped her mouth shut nearly made Crystal pee herself she laughed so hard. Distracted by her blushing friend, she walked up to Stephanie and almost bumped into her.
“Hey,” Stephanie said.
Crystal stopped laughing and felt the familiar tickle on the back of her neck. She wanted to ignore the uppity bitch and keep walking but something told her she’d regret that. “What do you want?” she snapped at her.
Stephanie’s eyes widened and she reared her head back a few inches. “Wow, okay. I just wanted to say hi.”
“Fine. Hi,” Crystal said. She could feel Beth on the other side of her watching and waiting to pull her away.
“Yeah, um, hi,” Stephanie said again. “You look nice. Are you working out?”
Crystal’s eyes narrowed. What was she up to? She turned and started to walk away.
“Look, I’m sorry about the party. About what I said. I was drunk and, um, I—”
Crystal stopped and spun to face her. Her face was hot and her heart went from calm to hammering in her chest fast enough to make her wonder if she’d just stepped on an exposed power line. “Look, just drop it. You were a bitch. End of story. I can accept it. I have accepted it. I’m moving on—why don’t you?”
Stephanie gasped and stared at her.
Crystal waited for a response that wasn’t coming. She turned to Beth and growled, “Come on.”
Beth tried, and failed, to hide a smug smile as they walked away from the stunned blond. They made it to Beth’s car before Beth turned and stared at her. “That. Was. Awesome!”
Crystal’s eyes widened and then she burst out laughing. Her heart had started slowing down at last and now she could appreciate the moment without fearing she’d start shaking.
“What got into you?”
“I don’t know,” Crystal admitted. “I just didn’t want to put up with her anymore.”
Beth grinned. “That should do it! Or make an enemy for life.”
Crystal sighed. “Probably. Why can’t she just leave me alone?”
“Because of moments like that,” Beth explained. “You act goofy and nerdy so much, but sometimes you do things that are just so cool, people have to stop and wish they were with you.”
Crystal’s brow drew together. “With me?”
“Yeah, like one of your friends. Somebody you care about.”
“Oh.”
“Don’t get embarrassed, it’s true! You’re going to make some guy a very lucky man someday,” Beth said. She hesitated and then winked as she added, “Or a girl.”
“Stop it! I’m not gay! That was an accident! A mistake!”
Beth laughed and opened her car door. “Come on, carpet muncher, I need to get to work. I wonder if ‘I Kissed a Girl’ is on the radio?”
“I hate you,” Crystal said. She thought she meant it for a second but she knew better. She just wished Beth would stop teasing her about the mistake she’d made. She’d finally shut Stephanie up, but now Beth was on her ass about it. “Okay, I don’t mean that, but please stop teasing me about that.”
Beth’s smile faded as she looked at Crystal. She opened her mouth but Crystal spun away when she heard the distant rumble of an engine.
“Hey, I said I’m sorry,” Beth repeated. “What’s wrong?”
“Do you hear that?”
Beth tilted her head and listened. “Hear what?”
A few seconds passed and the rumble grew louder. A smile grew on Crystal’s lips. She recognized the rumble: it was a motorcycle. His motorcycle.
“Motorcycle,” she said.
“Motorcycles,” Beth corrected. She pointed as five bikes appeared, one after another, on the road that led past the front of the school. One of them veered off and turned onto the school drive. “No freaking way,” Beth muttered.
Crystal took her hand off her door and stepped back out in front of Beth’s car and up on the curb in front of her car. A roadway that separated the parking lot from the school was on the other side of the curb.
“You’re not telling me everything about last weekend, are you?” Beth accused as the motorcycle rolled up in front of her and slowed to a stop.
The man riding the bike grinned at Crystal and lifted his sunglasses. “How about that ride?” he asked.
“Crys!” Beth hissed behind her. “Who is this guy?”
Crystal looked at him and felt her legs and belly tremble. She remembered him holding her against him and she wanted to be there again. Safe in his arms.
“I’m Henry,” he offered with a smile that looked like he might be happy or he might be ready to bite her. “My friends call me Hank.”
Crystal heard Beth snort behind her but she ignored her. “It’s okay, Beth. Go ahead and go to work. I’ll call you later.”
“Crys!”
Crystal turned to look at her, the simple act of breaking eye contact with Hank helping her think more clearly. “I will, I promise!”
“I’m going to be worried sick about you all night. Don’t do this!”
“I’ll be good,” Crystal promised.
Hank chuckled. “Don’t worry, little badger. I’ll protect her.”
“Did you just call me a badger?”
“Where are we going?” Crystal asked.
He grinned and leaned forward. “Where do you want to go?”
Crystal found herself climbing onto the back of his bike and wrapping her arms around him. She leaned in and inhaled, relishing the scent of leather and man. She felt him chuckle in her arms. He gave his bike some gas, rumbling the exhaust and sending thrill through her as she felt the engine vibrating through the seat.
He shifted, a powerful metallic thunk coming from the transmission the same as the first night she’d ridden with him, and then she was pushed back as he accelerated and turned. She leaned with him, circling in the two-lane roadway, and then was pressed back as the bike accelerated.
Crystal turned her head as they roared away and saw Stephanie standing where she’d left her. The blond’s head turned to follow her as she raced away from the school to whatever adventure her mystery biker had planned.
Chapter 7
“Anywhere special?” the man asked as they turned onto the road in front of Middlebrook High.
“You just showed up in front of all the people who matter,” Crystal gushed.
She felt him chuckle. “Mind if we go meet my friends then?”
Crystal felt her heart in her throat. Did he mean the people he’d been with the night she’d been attacked? “The other bikers?”
“Yes.”
“Um, sure,” she said and then grabbed on tighter when the bike surged forward. The wind whipped at her and pulled her hair into what she was sure probably looked like a bird’s nest it was snarled so bad. She ignored it; even shaving her head made it worth riding behind her mysterious savior.
“Hey,” she called out to get his attention.
“Hey what?”
She hesitated. How did he do that? He didn’t raise his voice at all but she could hear him so clearly. Even the rasp that reminded her a little bit of the growl from that night. She shivered at the thought. “So you’re Hank?”
“That’s what I said.”
She chuckled nervously. “I’m Crystal. Crystal Davis.”
“Thanks,” he said.
“Thanks?”
He slowed and turned onto a dirt road. “For telling me your name. That takes a lot of trust.”
She felt the bumps of the rocks beneath the tires and realized riding on gravel was a lot different than pavement. She felt unsteady on the bike and squeezed him tighter. “Um, you saved my life the other night. I kind of have to trust you.”
She felt him chuckle
again but he didn’t say anymore. He drove the bike down the road several minutes, a couple of miles at least, and then pulled off onto an unmarked driveway. She gulped as she realized the driveway was more like a two-lane track into the woods. The trees were covered in moss and the entire area felt wet.
“You’re not going to take me to some rotting old cabin, tie me up, rape me, and kill me, are you?”
He laughed loud enough for her to hear him over the steady beat of the engine. “Hadn’t planned on it.”
“Good!”
“I had a different order in mind.”
Crystal gasped and then realized he was laughing even harder. She snarled and then turned and bit the back of his shoulder near where it met his neck. He stiffened and twisted around to look at her.
“What are you doing?” he asked, his blue eyes wide and intense.
Crystal gulped. “Sorry, I was just, um, I don’t know. You were teasing me so I figured I’d, um—I’ve never done that before. I don’t know what came over me!”
He turned his head back around and cursed. The bike lurched under her as he wrestled it at an angle to keep them from going off the path and into some bushes.
“Crap! I’m sorry!” Crystal cried again. She held on tighter than ever but tried to distance herself from him. She had the taste of leather in her mouth and the smell of his jacket and his skin in her nose. She wrinkled her nose and tried to breathe in the moist air of the woods to clear her senses.
Hank remained silent the rest of the short ride. He pulled into a clearing where some trailers were set up. Trailers complete with motorcycles in front of them except one. He parked his there and waited for her to climb off.
Crystal noticed he joined her only because she saw his feet a few moments later. He was facing her, but she was staring at the ground and too embarrassed to look up at him.
“Hey,” he said. “It’s okay. It just caught me off guard.”
She risked a look up and saw him smiling. She risked a smile back and then noticed one of the trailer doors opening. The redhead from the night before stuck her head out. She was wearing her leather vest and a skirt again. Crystal dropped her eyes and found herself caught up on the woman’s bare feet. Especially when she stepped out of her trailer and walked across the hard-packed ground of the small compound without any sign of discomfort.
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