My final classes of the day were the worst. Gym is at the top of the list. I wasn’t very athletic, and it showed in everything I did. Our class was broken into two. Girls. And guys.
The guys ran track, while we played basketball today. Then tomorrow, we would run, while they played on the court.
I guess this was the school’s way of keeping horny teens apart while performing touch sports. Their efforts went in vain. Ninety percent of the seniors lost their virginity years ago.
“Dani. Team B.” I heard the coach shout from the center of the court. A few of the girls let out a few moans. Partly because they knew I would not help in their efforts to win. “Suit up ladies!” She shouted once more.
The locker room was full of girls changing into our standard white shirts and red shorts. And as they hurriedly rushed to return to the court, I took my time changing, waiting until the locker room was nearly empty. I’d noticed bruises forming on my arms in the places Rick grabbed me yesterday.
The purplish color stood out on my copper tan skin.
I rushed to get dressed so that no one could see the one secret I would keep to myself.
“Hey, Danica.” I heard as soon I left the locker room. A long arm draped over my shoulder and a whiff of musk hit me. I didn’t have to look up to know it was Lucas.
He was the only guy at this school to show me any attention. Though his attention was never the good kind.
A few years ago, Lucas leaned in to kiss me and I didn’t return the favor. Since then, he has made it his life’s mission to ruin my days. As if I didn’t have enough to deal with.
I moved his arm off my shoulder. “I’m late getting to the court Lucas.” I removed myself from his embrace and began to pick up my pace.
I didn’t want to be in the hallway alone with him. Though his teasing never reached beyond a few insults about my looks, I was hesitant to be around him too long. I’d seen him in action. It was like he lived to torture others. There was no limit to what he would not say or do.
But what marveled me the most was that girls still loved him, no matter how much of a jerk he was. He would ignore them, and they still graveled at his feet.
I made it safely to the gym before I heard him call out to me.
“Oh, Danica! Don’t leave me like this.” He yelled getting everyone’s attention. “Daaannniii!!!” He taunted me with my own name.
A few of his friends joined in. “Daaaaaannnniii!” They all called as I walked away.
Some of the girls began laughing and teasing. I heard one girl say. “Do you think she took them all on?”
A nasty laugh from behind the girls caught my attention. I didn’t have to look to see who that was either. Angel was her name. Though there was nothing angelic about her.
Angel’s mouth curved up in a way that I knew something bad was going to happen. “That would be the perfect way to stretch before gym class.”
The other girls laughed. Lucas and his friends had long since stopped calling my name and moved far away from us. But his joke would haunt me for the next hour.
Every time I made a move, somehow the other girls would find a way to make a sexual joke about me. I guess the thought of one girl and four guys is funny. My face was red with anger and embarrassment.
When the teacher dismissed us to the locker rooms, I practically ran to leave. I didn’t bother showering. I changed clothes quickly and head to my last class.
A hard shove from the back sent me flying into a locker.
I didn’t have time to bounce back. The back of Angel’s arm pressed into the back of my neck. “I thought I told you to leave Lucas alone.” She said in my ear.
“I wasn’t messing with Lucas. He spoke to me.” I admitted, hoping she would remove her arm.
“That’s not what it looked like to me. I told you before. Lucas is mine. I don’t want you looking at him. I don’t want you talking to him.”
No one said a word. They just continued to watch as my tears began to stain the locker door.
“Get off me, Angel!” I tried to shout.
She pushed her arm into my neck once more before removing it.
I was free but the pain remained. I grabbed my backpack and took off running. I didn’t bother staying for my last class.
So much for having a good day. Between Angel and Lucas, I had no idea how I would survive the next few months of school. What started off as an amazing day of hopeful job opportunities and a full belly of delectable muffins, turned into a nightmare.Lucas didn’t like me because I was one of the only girls to deny him. I didn’t let him kiss me and turned down his offer of a date. Since then, I became enemy number one. He made the guys think I was a prune and refused to put out. Deemed unapproachable by the end of my sophomore year.Lucas was one of the only people still talking to me by the tenth grade. He was the guy with the cool dad who thought it was okay to buy him a motorcycle. He was the guy who gave me that ten-minute ride. But everything changed after that day between us and now he was the one constantly leading the attacks against me. Angel, on the other hand, hated me, and I could never understand that. She and Lucas dated on and off for the past year, so it’s not like I ke
Skipping my last class of the day was the worst thing I could have done. Making it home a few hours earlier than normal caught Rick’s attention almost immediately.I heard music blasting from the auto garage and decide to walk behind it. He wouldn’t see me and the music helped bury the sounds of my footsteps over the broken branches and loose rocks.When I opened the door to the house, it flung into Rick who was carrying a cold six-pack. He dropped the pack and at least two of the cans cracked open and began to spray across the already dingy walls.I should have checked the auto garage before walking to the house. I should have made sure he wasn’t in the house. But all the drama from school had me off my game and I was distracted.“What the hell are you doing home?” He yelled while yanking me into the house by my arm.“Rick!!!” I screamed. “You are hurting me.”“You think I’m going to raise a delinquent. Are you trying the cops to my steps?”With his free hand, he slapped my face befo
My eyes searched the many vehicles for the nice black motorcycle I saw when I left for school earlier that day.It had moved since I last saw it. No longer right up front, but off to the side with the other finished cars and bikes. Rick once told me that a row of finished cars represented his money. When the owner came to collect, so would he.The motorcycle was black all over except for a silver plate that read Kawasaki and the grey letters on the side that read Ninja. It stood apart from the other bikes on account of how clean and new it looked.Rick was a good mechanic, but the rumors of his beer-filled life got around and the expensive vehicles stopped coming. Who would trust a drunk mechanic with such a possession?I ran my finger across the beautiful bike as I imagined being free once again. And without any thought, I threw my legs over the leather seat to straddle it. The machine was cold and dead between my legs. I’d worn some blue jean shorts and a black screen-t with some bl
I closed my eyes and waited for the car to hit me. I didn’t have to pull too much into the direction of the car because the bike took on a life of its own once I let the handles go. In less than a second, I was already completely in the wrong lane.Smiling for the first time in a long time, I embraced the last moment I would feel the wind on my face. The last moment of my life.My eyes popped open at the sound of tires screeching across the graveled road. But they weren’t my tires. The sight of the black car sliding across the road and stopping a few feet away from me dragged a hint of regret to the pit of my stomach.When the car came to a complete stop, I turned my focus back to the road, but it was too late.The road was curving and I tried to turn with it at the last minute. I panicked and all at once, I yanked the handle and pressed the grips. The bike leaned too far right and I began to slide across the road. Somehow my body separated from the bike and I rolled into the grass, r
The guy before me couldn’t have been more than a few years older than me. And yet, at that moment, he made me feel like a little girl who just stole a cookie. I panicked. “You’re bike?”“Yes. The black bike that you just crashed.” He reminded me.“Where is she!” Rick’s voice boomed through the halls of the hospital. I didn’t have to guess that he was angry. Everyone on this floor knew he was angry.I squeezed my eyes together. There was no way this could end well. Soon I would be trapped in a room with some random guy and my raging, probably drunk father.“Sir. Can you please keep it down?” I heard a woman say from the hall.“There the little brat is.” Rick stumped inside my room. He commenced yelling. “Do you know how much trouble you are in? And the damage you caused? I am not paying for this. Do you hear me?” He narrowed his eyes. “I’m not paying for this.”I kept my eyes closed and prayed he would stay by the door. That he wouldn’t come near me. And also, that he would calm down.
Those words finally got his attention. “And how do you plan on doing that?” He turned his head to look back at me.I didn’t answer.“Do you have money?”I shook my head.“Do you have a job?”I shook my head.“Then how do you plan on paying for the damages you caused.”The pretty nurse appeared in the doorway to say. “Times up sir. Visitation hours are over.”Mr. Hardin took one more look at me. “Get some rest, Danica.”I closed my eyes just as he walked out of my room. Finally leaving me alone.The next morning brought a mixture of unwanted thoughts. But the biggest one was regret. Regret that I took the bike. Regret that I didn’t try to crash that bike into a tree instead of a car. Regret that I woke from this accident.But I also woke with something else inside my head. Thoughts of him. Mr. Hardin. I wondered what he saw when his dark grey eyes stared back at me.“Morning.” I heard a man call from my door.I sat up to see the doctor come in with a clipboard.“My name is Dr. Willard.
I sit back and relax as Mr. Hardin makes his way to my house. He takes the road that runs through the downtown area instead of Lake Road. I can’t help but wonder if that was on purpose. Perhaps he wanted to steer clear of the place where I almost died.Death by a motorcycle crash.I caught a glimpse of the coffee shop I applied to yesterday and began checking my phone for missed calls. It was dead.“Do you need to charge your phone?” This was the first thing he asked me since I jumped in the car.“Yes. Do you have an iPhone charger?”“No. I have an android.”I smiled a little. “Thanks anyway.”The car veered toward the parking lot where the coffee shop sat. “I hope you don’t mind. I’m starving.” He said.“No. Go right ahead.”He jumped out of the car. “I’ll be right back.” Before he could close the door, he popped his head back in. “Do you want anything?”I had no money. Rick never gave me an allowance. In fact, the only thing my tiny wallet carried was the city-sponsored bus card I a
We rode in silence for the first mile. I would like to think we both wanted to avoid the elephant in the car. That thin piece of paper in his lap that had the ability to weigh me down. I could tell from the eagerness in his voice that he was far from wanting to avoid the subject. “I bring a thirty thousand dollar bike to a shop for a two hundred dollar tune up and now I’m out seven thousand dollars.” I almost chock on the last bit of coffee I just swallowed. “Seven… thousand… dollars?” I asked while trying to keep my breakfast down. How was I supposed to pay back seven thousand dollars and save to move out of Ricks house? Suddenly I felt the sir around me disappear. Every goal I set seemed to be getting further and further away by the second. “That’s right. Your father just gave me an estimate of seven grand.” “That’s no problem,” I said pushing the words out. “I have a job or two lines up. And soon, I should be able to pay you back.” I spoke aloud, trying to convince myself more