He glanced up at me, then his gaze moved to the man who was with me, and his smile faded. I gave him a reassuring look to let him know I was fine, then I turned my face back to the man. “Now what would that say about me if I was?”
He laughed and held his hand out. “I’m Evan.”
That sparked my interest. I took his hand. “Hi Evan. I’m Olivia Evans.”
He smiled, not letting go of my hand. “Now if that’s not fate, I don’t know what is…”
“Are you racing today, Evan?” Tickled with the coincidence, I wanted to say his name again.
“Nah, I don’t race, just here with friends. I ride that.” He let go of my hand and pointed to a motorcycle that was parked at the curb across the street. “It doesn’t really qualify in a car race.”
There was a short pause. Then he continued, “You live around here?”
“Yeah. You?”
“I’m from here, but I’ve been living in Denver for the last two years. I came back to help with…with family stuff.”
I felt an arm hook the back of my neck. “Hey, man.” Logan extended his hand to Evan. The hand which was not attached to the arm on my neck. “Logan Tanner. You race?”
Evan looked at him then me with a confused expression, then the shook Logan’s hand. “Evan Phoenix. And no.”
“Evan Phoenix? Dude, that’s fucking awesome! It sounds like a porn star’s name.” Logan laughed. Whether intentional or not, his tone came across as derisive.
“Well, I can assure you, I’m not a porn star.” Trying to make friendly conversation, Evan continued, “I’ve seen you race a few times. You’re good, man. What’s your trick?”
“No tricks. When you’ve got it, you’ve just got it.” He pulled me closer.
WTF?
Evan backed off after that. From the way Logan was holding onto me, he must’ve thought we were an item. “Alright,” Evan said. “Well, it was nice meeting you, Olivia.”
“You can call me, Liv,” I interrupted.
“Ok, Liv,” he said with a warm smile. Then he looked at Logan, his grin tapering off some. “Later.” He turned around and walked towards his bike.
Once he was out of earshot, I grabbed Logan’s hand and pulled his arm off of me and turned to face him. “What the hell was that, Logan?! He was nice!”
He looked confused. “I was just making sure you were okay. You don’t know that guy, Liv. He could try shit with you. You should be careful.”
“Are you serious?! We were just talking!” I was completely dumbfounded.
Gavin approached. “The next race is on, man. You ready?”
“Yeah, c’mon, Liv. Let’s go,” Logan replied, trying to take my hand.
I moved my hand out of his reach. “I don’t think so.”
His expression became angry. “What are you talking about? You need to start the race.”
“I don’t need to do anything, Logan. Ask one of your girls.” I pointed to the three girls that were staring intently at our dispute. I was angry too. I didn’t like being told what to do. I turned my head to see if Evan was still around. I spotted him on his bike, talking to another guy.
“Evan!” I called. Evan turned to look at me, and I began to step away from Logan, but my arm was yanked back. I looked down at my wrist to see Logan’s hand grasping it.
He knew me well enough by now to know my intention. “Liv, don’t fucking go with him. You don’t know that guy,” he pleaded, still upset but with a morsel of fear behind his eyes.
“You don’t know him either, Logan. He seems nice enough to me.” I pulled my arm from his grasp. “And stop telling me what to do.”
I ran across the street to Evan, who was straddling his bike, and he looked at me with an amused grin. “Hey,” he said.
“Hey. Are you leaving?”
“Yeah.” He nodded in Logan’s direction. “I’m not really feeling this place anymore.”
“Yeah. Me neither.” I looked around nervously and realized that I wasn’t normally this forward with people. “Any chance I might be able to catch a ride with you?”
His eyes lit up and a small grin crossed his face. “I think I can manage that.”
“Good. But I’ve never been on one of these things before.” I pointed to his bike. “Is there anything I need to know?”
He smiled as he reached down and pointed to some bicycle pedal looking things. “These are the foot pegs. Make sure you keep your feet on these. If you move them, you might get hurt.”
He put his hand out to help me onto the bike. After crossing my modestly-sized purse in a diagonal with the strap on my right shoulder and the pouch by my left hip, I mounted the bike.
He continued. “When I turn right, look right. When I turn left, look left. If you do that, your body will naturally lean where it needs to.” He turned to face me and placed his helmet on my head, adjusting it to fit. Taking my hands and placing them on his hips, he turned to face forward. “Stay close to me, and don’t let go when we are moving. Try to be an extension of me when we ride.” I let out an excited giggle.
“Alright, I think that’s it,” he said. “Where to?”
My car was parked at Frank’s, and I told him where it was. He started his bike, creating a loud, powerful roar that caused a great deal of heads to turn and glance in our direction. I didn’t look back at Logan. Depending on what his expression would be, it would either cause me to feel guilty or hurt. Not only was the effect that Logan had on me becoming a problem, I didn’t want to ruin the thrill I was feeling.
The thrill only increased as we sped off down the road, and when we reached the interstate, an exhilarating rush swept through me. I held on to Evan tightly, somewhat fearing for my life, while at the same time, with no barrier between myself and the elements, I felt truly free. And freedom was exactly what I needed.
We rolled into the parking lot of Frank’s, and he pulled up next to the only car in the lot…mine. After he shut his engine off, I took the helmet off my head and handed it to him. “That was amazing. Thank you,” I said.
“Anytime.” He grinned as I dismounted his bike. “Maybe we can do it again sometime.”
“Yeah, maybe we can.” I smiled as I took my keys out of my purse and pushed the button on my car door remote, unlocking them. I opened my car door and paused, turning to face him. “Bye, Evan.”
He continued to grin as he put his helmet on. “Later, Liv.”
His bike growled as he started it back up. After giving me one last smile, he drove out of the lot and down the strip. My phone buzzed as I settled into the seat of my car. Three texts and one missed call. All from Logan. The last text read:
Plz just tell me if u r still alive.
A long sigh came out of me. There was no sense in making him worry about me all night, so I responded to him.
Evan’s gone, I’m in my car, still alive. We need to talk.
A moment later, my phone buzzed again.
I know. Sorry for being an idiot.
*
The talk never came. It had been three days with no call or text from Logan. I didn’t try to contact him either. We had been spending so much time together, and logically, I knew we both needed some space. The problem was that I missed him. It took all my strength not to pick up the phone and call him. He had become just as good of a friend to me as Melody had, and in the past several weeks since I met him, it had become a natural occurrence to speak with him at least once a day. And the more time that passed without a word from him, the more I thought about him.
“Hey, Liv,” a man’s voice called.
I turned my attention away from the shampoo and conditioner bottles that I was stocking and directed it to the voice. I instantly lit up when I saw Evan standing before me. “Hey!”
“Everything okay? You look deep in thought,” he inquired.
“Stocking the shelves is serious business, you know,” I replied with an extra serious face.
He smiled. “Well, I would hate to keep you f
rom such serious business. How would you feel about doing something a little less serious when you get off work tonight?”
“What do you have in mind?”
“I’m thinking…a Haunted House. If you think you can handle it.”
I smiled. Melody and I talked about hitting up a number of haunted houses this year. “Do you mind if I bring friends?” I asked.
“Yeah, no problem. The more the merrier.”
“Which Haunted House?”
He gave me the info. “I’ll pick you up after work.”
“See you then.”
After he left, I took a quick break to text Mel. As expected, she was all for the plan, and she was going to tell Nate, Isaac, and Jess about it. They planned on meeting Evan and me there. My mind drifted to Logan. I wanted him to come, but he hadn’t made any effort to call me lately, so I quickly brushed away the thought.
Evan was leaning against the side of a dark grey Nissan Altima, smoking a cigarette, as I walked out of Frank’s after closing. A cold front had come through, and the autumn air had turned too brisk to be riding a motorcycle. A grey hood stuck out of the collar of his black leather jacket and a smile formed on his face as he watched me approach.
I gave him a hug. “Hey.”
He took my hand and motioned for me to lean against the car beside him. “Hey. Before we go anywhere, I just need to touch base with you about something.”
“Okay?” I said in more of a question than a statement.
“I need to let you know that I have a girlfriend back in Denver.” He glanced at me to observe my reaction. I stayed neutral and quiet. He continued, “We decided to try an open relationship before I left, so she’s cool with me dating…but…I made a commitment to her. I’m not going to get involved in any other serious relationships…emotionally.”
I let out a giggle. Laughter was my inappropriate defense mechanism for uncomfortable situations—and this was awkward. “I’m totally fine with that, Evan. No worries.” I continued to smile.
He looked so uncomfortable. It was kinda cute. “You seem cool, Liv. I just didn’t want you to have any…expectations.”
Oh, the irony. “You have no idea,” I mumbled.
“What?”
“Nothing. It’s fine, really.” I brushed my hand on his arm. “I think it’s cool that you’re clearing the air right away. More guys should do that.”
“You still want to hang out?”
“Yeah! Let’s go get the crap scared out of us!”
During the car ride, I found out that before leaving school to help his family, he majored in bugs. Bugs! He had some big long scientific word for it, but the gist was that he studied bugs. Although it impressed me that he was incredibly attractive and extremely intelligent, I had an issue with the bug thing. It grossed me out. But he was cool and fun, so I would try my best to overlook it.
When we arrived, we immediately spotted the rest of our group by a concession stand. They didn’t see us right away, so I snuck up behind Melody and poked her in the sides. “Boo!” I yelled.
“AAAHHH!!!” Her soda went flying and landed on the ground next to Isaac. We all erupted into laughter. Melody was not so amused. I instantly felt a little guilty, so I gave her a big bear hug.
“Aw, I’m sorry Mel!” I said as I squeezed her to me. “I didn’t mean for you to drop your soda. I’ll get you a new one I promise.”
“Don’t do that to me! I’m freaking out already!” she anxiously giggled. “Look,” she said as she pointed to the haunted house exit. The people exiting had a look of terror on their faces. “Everyone who comes out of there looks like they just shit their pants. Nobody’s laughing. I’m having some serious anxiety here!”
Nate came from behind her and wrapped his arms around the front of her. “Aww, baby, I’ll be there to protect you.”
Isaac chimed in. “This is supposed to be one of the scariest haunted houses in the state. I saw on the news that someone actually did piss their pants.”
We all glared at him. His comment was not helping.
“What?! It’s true!” Isaac defended.
Jess nervously chuckled then hooked her arm in Isaac’s, and began patting his shoulder. “TMI, Isaac. T.M.I.” she said, with an exaggerated tone.
In an effort to change the subject, I introduced Evan. “Guys, this is Evan. Evan, meet Mel, and this is Nate, Isaac, and Jess.”
“Hey,” Evan said, knuckle-knocking with the guys and giving a courteous handshake to the girls.
The haunted house had a number system, so we didn’t have to wait in line. Nate and Mel were the first to arrive, so they had gotten tickets for all of us before we got there. We had a few minutes to spare before our number would be called, so we girls made a trip to the ladies room.
“Have you talked to Logan lately?” Mel asked as we touched up our makeup in front of the bathroom mirror.
“No, he hasn’t called. Why?” I replied.
Jess joined in. “Isaac said he’s had a stick up his ass for the last few days. He’s not himself.” Melody and I looked at her, shocked and delighted by her choice of words. She put her hands in the air with her cover-up still in one of them. “Isaac’s terminology, not mine.”
Melody and Jess giggled, but my heart sank at the thought of Logan having something going on that would put him in such a bad mood.
“Nate said he hasn’t been himself since he lost that race,” Melody divulged. “But I bet he misses you Liv.”
“Wait, what? What race did he lose? And he’s got fingers. That can push buttons on a phone. If he missed me, he would’ve called me, or at least texted me.”
“He lost the race that you left him at,” Mel continued. “It was against some rookie too, that just got his license the week before. It was supposed to be an easy win. Everyone’s talking about it. They’re saying you’re his good luck charm and he can’t win a race without you there to flag it.”
“That’s crazy,” I said, rolling my eyes. “He’s been undefeated for over a year. Long before I came around.”
“True. But think about it. Since you met him, you’ve flagged every one of his races. The one race you’re not there for…he loses. Sounds like he’s getting attached.” Mel nudged me with her elbow. Then, as if a light bulb went off in her head, she stared at me. “Speaking of attachments, you two are practically attached at the hip. Remind me…Why are you not with him?”
Jess stopped applying mascara and looked directly at me. “That’s a good point. You both seem so happy around each other. You’d be good together.”
I shrugged. “We just don’t feel that way about each other.”
“Oh, please! I’ve seen the way he looks at you,” Mel refuted. “That boy is into you. And I’ve kept my mouth shut long enough, but you look at him the same way. He’s gorgeous! Why resist it?!”
I sighed. “Jess, help me out here.”
“Sorry, hon,” Jess said. “She’s right.”
“One-thirty-nine,” we heard over the loudspeaker.
“Oh shit! We’re next! Shit!” Mel frantically cried.
Jess and I guided Melody out of the bathroom with our arms hooked to hers at the elbows. We rejoined the boys in front of the entryway to the haunted house. The attendant took our tickets and motioned for us to enter.
“Good luck. See you soon,” the attendant said. Then he lowered his voice dramatically. “If you make it out alive.” We all chuckled. Except for Mel.
My hands firmly grasped Evan’s arm as we felt our way through a pitch black hallway. Spooky music played, combined with the sounds of electrocutions and screams.
“Liv, I’m gonna kill you for making me do this!” Melody cried from a few feet ahead of me. She had wrapped her arms around Nate’s middle and clasped her hands together on the other side of him before we entered. I assumed she was still clinging on to him for dear life. From what I remembered, we both wanted to do this together. But if she needed to blame me for her current state of horror, I was okay with t
hat. “I’m sorry Mel! I love you!” I assured her.
We entered a large room where a mechanical skull began to tell us the rules between electrocutions. No running or pushing. No flashlights or lighters. Don’t touch the monsters, and they won’t touch you. Each rule was given in a very horrific, dramatic, yet comical fashion.
After all information was given, we entered a hallway lit up by strobe lights. A zombie jumped out at me from nowhere.
“Aaarrrgggh,” it snarled. I screamed bloody murder and jumped into Evan’s arms while he laughed. Jess and Isaac were getting a kick out of this too. They seemed to be much more entertained than scared.
“They better not fucking do that to me, Liv!” Melody was near hysterics. “They better not do it. I’m not kidding! They need to stay away, Liv!”
“They’re not gonna do it, babe,” I heard Nate try to comfort her. “I won’t let them do it.”
We entered a room where there was an exorcism going on. An actor in a priest outfit held out a cross in front of a woman’s face. She laid in a bed screaming as if she were in excruciating pain. Wanting to get through the house as quickly as possible, Mel immediately began moving along to the next hallway. She had no interest in witnessing an exorcism.
The rest of us followed her and Nate into another pitch black hallway. A monster jumped out and screeched at Jess and Isaac, but it only caused them to laugh hysterically.
“Fuck! I’m next, baby! They’re coming for me!” Melody cried to Nate.
“Geez, Mel, language!” I teased.
“I’m too freaking scared to have a brain-to-mouth filter right now!” she replied.
Evan pulled me close to him. Still pitch black, I felt his nose by my ear. “Your friend is pretty freaked out,” he whispered. “Is she gonna be okay?”
“She’s tougher than she’s letting on,” I quietly responded. “She’ll make it.”
We made it through the cemetery, the butcher shop, and the electroshock therapy room. Jess and I got spooked by monsters and zombies a few times, but Melody had managed to escape them, which only intensified her anxious anticipation. The boys and Jess weren’t nearly as freaked out as I was, yet I was nowhere near as terrified as Melody.
The Fine Line Page 7