by Emma Knight
Rachel woke up bright and early Monday morning, eager for her day at school and, more importantly, her second date with Rob. She had been looking forward to this day ever since Saturday night. She couldn’t get him out of her mind: it was all Rachel could think about.
As Rachel walked into Mr. Allen’s class that Monday morning, she was excited. Not only would she see Emily, she would also see Rob.
Rachel saw Emily take her sweater off the seat next to hers. Rachel walked over and sat down. The two chatted about the rest of their weekend, and then class started. Rachel looked around but did not see Rob. She hoped that he was not sick, and that their date would still be on after school.
Twenty minutes later in walked Rob. He walked right by Rachel without looking at her. Rachel didn’t know what to make of it. She thought that maybe he didn’t see her. Rachel sat there, hoping that Rob would try and get her attention; she wanted him to acknowledge her, but the class went on and he did not.
At the end of class, Rachel got up and walked to the door slowly, so that Rob would catch up to her. Rob bumped her arm as he passed which gave Rachel the opportunity to say hello.
“Hey,” Rachel said.
“Oh, hi,” Rob said.
“How was the rest of your weekend?” Rachel said.
Rachel had hoped that Rob would have texted or called yesterday but he didn’t. She figured he was just busy, or that he was one of those guys who didn’t check in daily. Either way she didn’t let herself obsess over it.
“Good,” Rob said, “ended up going back to the party. Good times,” Rob said. “See ya later.”
Rob moved passed Rachel as he headed quickly down the hall. Rachel watched as he gave one of his friends a high-five and the friend said, “Nice work, man, I heard.”
Rachel didn’t know what this was all about, but it made her mind start spinning with possibilities. Did something happen at the party? Did he hook up with Arielle or another girl? What could it be? Rachel thought. She was disappointed at their interaction in class and knew that something was up. She just didn’t know what it was.
Rob did say, “See ya later,” so Rachel knew she would find out what was going on, on their date this afternoon. She was still very much looking forward to that.
As the school day ended, Rachel ran into the bathroom to touch up her makeup. She wanted to look perfect when Rob met her in the front of the school.
She walked outside and stood in front of the big red doors at the entrance of AHS. She watched as kids flew out the front doors of school and into the parking lot.
Rachel checked her watch: it was 2:40pm, and the school bell rang ten minutes ago. She wondered where Rob was: he said he was going to meet her at 2:30. She justified this and figured he got caught up with something; maybe he had to stay late and talk with a teacher, maybe he had to see his coach, maybe the guys stopped him in the hall to chat. She knew it could be a number of things and continued to stand there.
As her watch neared 2:50pm, Rachel knew something was up. Rob never came, and he didn’t text, either. She felt dejected.
Rachel walked back inside the building to see if she saw Rob, but he was nowhere to be found. She had been stood up.
Rachel didn’t know what to do. She didn’t want to see or talk to anyone.
She decided she would walk home. It would be about a twenty-five minute walk, but she needed some time to cool off. She didn’t think Rob would have blown her off like that, and her emotions were running wild.
Rachel took out her phone and texted Rob to find out what was going on. She had such high hopes for her date, she wanted to make sure there wasn’t a mix up.
Rachel: Hey, do we still have plans?
A few minutes went by with no text. Rachel figured it was over, then all of a sudden, her phone buzzed.
Rob: “Can’t make it, out with the boys, some other time.”
As she walked out of the school driveway and onto one of the back roads, she tried to make sense of what had just happened. She’d never been stood up before and felt. She couldn’t believe this was happening to her. She also didn’t know what she was going to say if Rob texted her later, or what she would do in Mr. Allen’s class in the morning. She ran all the scenarios over and over in her head.
A motorcycle came up behind Rachel. She turned and saw a motorcycle slowly approaching her. As it got closer, Rachel could see a guy wearing riding boots, black jeans, a leather jacket, a faded white tee shirt and a grey bandana on his head.
As the guy lifted his helmet, Rachel’s heart skipped a beat. He was drop dead gorgeous. She’d never had this feeling before it was love at first sight. Rachel stood there admiring his face. He had the brightest blue eyes she had ever seen, it was almost as if they were glowing. He had soft, pale looking skin and defined cheekbones. His lips were a light red color, and as he smiled she saw his pearly white teeth shining through. He had long dirty blonde hair and an unshaven face. He had an irresistible Indy Rock look to him.
He was perfect.
Rachel thought he looked familiar, but she couldn’t pinpoint how she knew him, or where she had seen him before. He looked mysterious, and she couldn’t figure it out.
“Want a ride?” he asked.
“I’m sorry, who are you?” Rachel asked.
“My fault,” he said, “My name’s Benji.”
“Do I know you from somewhere?”
“Yeah, I’m a senior at AHS,” he said. “I see you in the cafeteria sometimes.”
Rachel looked at him a little confused. She didn’t realize he was in her same lunch period, but knew she’d seen him around.
“Oh, cool,” she replied.
“So, you wanna ride?” Benji asked again.
She hesitated for a minute. She figured she didn’t have anything to lose; she might as well get a ride home.
“Sure.”
Rachel grabbed the extra helmet under his seat, and Benji helped her buckle it under her chin. She got chills as he touched her chin.. As she reached around his leather jacket a surge of excitement came over her, she couldn’t wait to wrap her hands around his waist and hold him close. Benji pulled off the shoulder and drove down the street. The noise of the bike rang through Rachel’s ears, and the sound of acceleration was thrilling.
As the bike came to a stop, the two sat there in silence. As the traffic was crossing in front of them in the other direction, Benji turned to her and said, “Wanna go somewhere?”
“Where?” Rachel asked.
“Surprise. But I know you’re going to love it,” Benji said.
Rachel was torn, she didn’t even know this guy, yet she couldn’t help but want to go with him. He intrigued her, and she couldn’t say no. She felt it was time to throw caution to the wind, and said, “Why not!”
She knew she shouldn’t go with this perfect stranger, but she couldn’t help herself. She was drawn to him and couldn’t understand why. He had a strange sort of magnetism to him, and it made her feel like she’d known him forever.
As the bike entered the highway, Rachel gripped Benji tighter. She was in heaven. She didn’t even care that she was on the back of a motorcycle on the highway. She didn’t feel any danger. She felt safe as she sat there behind him, the wind blowing quickly past her body. She wanted to talk to Benji, but it was so loud, she knew if she tried, he wouldn’t hear her. So she sat, silently, in love. As they sped away, thoughts of Rob slowly faded from her mind.
Twenty minutes later, they were pulling into a large parking lot full of cars. Rachel looked up and read the sign: “Rye Playland.” She saw a rollercoaster, a ferris wheel, and other rides in the distance. Her heart leaped. How did he know I love amusement parks? Rachel thought to herself.
Rachel let go of his waist as Benji turned off the ignition. She didn’t want to let him go. He helped her with the helmet and the two hopped off the bike and headed in through the large black metal gates that stood at the entrance. Benji didn’t say anything as they walked towards the ticket cou
nter. He was mysterious and that intrigued her. She looked at Benji as they walked and she could tell his mind was spinning, but she had no idea what he was thinking.
Benji bought two passes and they headed through the turnstiles.
“What do you want to do first?” he finally broke the silence.
She looked around and saw a row of games, and pointed to them.
As they walked near one of the games, Rachel got excited. She hoped that Benji would win her something, but knew those games were almost impossible to beat.
She looked at the game: it was the one where you had to take balls and load them into an air gun and shoot down pins to win a prize.
“Two, please,” Benji said to the game attendant.
Rachel got ready to load her gun and the countdown began. They had 30 seconds to shoot down as many pins as they could. As Rachel loaded and shot her first Ball, she looked over at Benji. He was flying through his balls faster than she could believe. He knocked down all his pins with 27 seconds to go. Rachel forgot all about loading her next ball as she stood there, staring at him in disbelief.
The game attendant came over and looked at him and then picked up the air gun and looked at it. She looked at her and said, “You’ve got yourself a winner.”
“How’d you do that?” Rachel asked Benji.
“Do what?”
“Are you serious? You knocked all the pins down in 3 seconds. That’s nearly impossible,” she said.
“I’ve never seen it done before,” said the game attendant.
Benji shrugged and acted as if what had just happened was normal. “What do you want?” Benji said pointing to the wall of stuffed animals.
Rachel chose a pink snake and hung it around her neck.
Still shocked and confused, Rachel began to walk away from the games. In the distance, she spotted a fun house. Rachel pointed to it and said, “Let’s do that next.”
Benji looked at the fun house and quickly said, “No.”
“What do you mean, no?” Rachel replied.
“I can’t go in there.”
“Why?” Rachel asked.
Benji didn’t respond. He was staring at the fun house in a trance as his body was taking slow, steady steps backwards.
It were as if he was being repelled from the fun house. She couldn’t understand what was happening. Rachel saw Benji shake his head a few times, as he snapped back into it.
“Sorry,” Benji said.
Rachel decided to drop the fun house idea and began to wonder what was going on. She never knew of anyone who would turn a fun house down, the wobbly steps, the funky mirrors, the strobe lights and loud music. She was taken back.
“Do you think they have cotton candy here?” Rachel asked Benji.
“It’s over there,” Benji pointed.
“Where? I don’t see anything.”
“All the way down,” said Benji, “do you see the sign?”
“No, where?” Rachel said as she squinted and looked in the distance.
Benji took her hand and led her towards the cotton candy. Rachel finally saw the small sign Benji was pointing to as they neared and said, “How did you see that?”
Benji looked away quickly and didn’t answer. Rachel knew something was different about him. She was amazed.
As they got up to the window, Benji asked with a smile, “What color would you like?”
“Blue,” Rachel said. “It’s my favorite.”
Benji handed Rachel a blue cotton candy and then the two headed back over towards the rides. He motioned to Rachel to sit down on a bench
She wanted Benji to hold her hand, or kiss her, or something. She was passionately attracted to him and wanted him to get closer.
Benji kept his distance on the bench, as they looked on at all the people passing by them.
“So, where do you live?” Rachel asked, breaking the silence.
“Down the road from school,” Benji replied.
“Do you have any siblings?”
“A twin brother,” Benji answered, “He goes to private school.”
“Oh, that’s sad. Do you miss him?”
“Not really, I see him sometimes,” he said.
Rachel tried to imagine high school without her siblings, and couldn’t. Even though they annoyed her, she still liked having them around.
As Rachel took a breath and was about to ask him more questions, he stood up and began walking. Rachel got up and followed. Benji puzzled her: he was unlike any guy she had ever met. She saw that it was hard for Benji to open up to her, and felt as if he were hiding a secret.
Not knowing what to say, Rachel pointed in front of them and said, “Let’s go on the ferris wheel,” hoping that the ferris wheel was an OK suggestion. She didn’t want it to be a repeat of the fun house.
“Sure,” Benji said and they arm in arm.
As they stood on the line, Rachel looked into Benji’s eyes. He turned his head.
“Why are you so quiet?” Rachel asked.
“Am I?” said Benji.
“Yeah.”
“Sorry,” he answered, “ I’ve got a lot on my mind tonight.”
“What is it?” Rachel asked.
“Nothing. It’s nothing.”
Not wanting to pry, Rachel stopped asking questions. She wondered what he could be thinking about. She knew they were having a good time together and she felt that he really liked her despite not having spoken much.
“So, do you always pick up random girls on your bike?” Rachel asked.
“No, you’re the first.”
“Why me?”
“I don’t know why,” Benji answered as he stared into her eyes. “I saw you and I just couldn’t ride past.”
Rachel smiled and then looked away. She knew she felt the same way.
Benji looked up at the ferris wheel and took a deep breath as they entered the their car.
Rachel wondered if he was scared. She inched closer to Benji as the ferris wheel began to move.
Benji cleared his throat and asked, “Do you want to stay in this town forever?”
Rachel hadn’t given any thought to this. She’d only moved in a week ago, and it was too soon for her to know how she felt about it.
“I’m not sure,” she said. “Do you?”
“No,” Benji answered.
Rachel felt Benji slipping away, as he expressed wanting to leave their town.
She was silent.
“Do you believe in destiny?” Benji asked.
It was another question Rachel hadn’t thought of before. She was impressed by these questions, which really made her think deep, deeper than she’d ever thought before.
“Yes, I believe that we have a destiny,” she replied, “and that we just have to believe in ourselves.”
As the ferris wheel began to rise, the cool air breezed through her hair. Rachel looked around at the beautiful view. She could see forever. She felt like she was on top of the world.
Rachel waited as Benji looked into her eyes. The bright blue of his eyes was piercing. She felt as if she could see his soul.
Benji looked down and then said, “Would you ever be with someone who is different than you?”
“What do you mean?”
Benji looked back at Rachel and touched her waist. She could feel his cold hand through her skirt.
“You’re cold,” she said.
Benji quickly took his hand away and put it into his pocket.
She wished she hadn’t said anything. She didn’t mean to push him away, and was internally beating herself up for saying anything. She wished he’d put his hand back and kiss her.
All of a sudden, the ferris wheel stopped. Rachel and Benji were at the very top. Rachel leaned over the edge and looked down at the ground below. Everything looked so small from this high up.
Rachel heard a snap and she suddenly jolted forward, as their car shook and swayed. She reached out and grabbed the metal bar to steady hersel
f. Benji stood and looked up at the bolt that was holding their car in place. It was slowly sliding, and about to fall off.
“Oh my god, oh my god, we’re going to die!” Rachel screamed.
“Stay calm,” Benji said, looking deep into Rachel’s eyes.
“HELP! SOMEBODY SAVE US!” Rachel started wailing, and a crowd of screaming onlookers gathered below.
Screams rose up from below, as horrified bystanders watched and pointed.
“Benji, quick, we have to do something!” Rachel screamed.
Rachel felt another jolt, as the car rocked again—and then suddenly fell about a foot.
Benji reached up and held onto a metal frame, outside of their car.
Rachel suddenly heard a SNAP, and the car began to fall.
She heard shrieks from below.
Suddenly, the car fell out from under her, and Rachel felt herself falling through the air. In that moment, her life flashed before her eyes, and she knew she was going to die.
Rachel felt a hand around her waist and felt herself being carried through the air. Benji was there, holding her. He lifted her up and put her safely into an empty car, behind theirs, and came in beside her.
Rachel looked down, and watched as their former car went crashing down to the earth.
Out of breath, stunned, she looked at Benji. He had just saved her life.
“How did you do that?” she asked, crying and shaky.
“What do you mean?” he said. “I just jumped to the next car and took you with me.”
“No. That’s not what happened. I saw it. We were going to die. What you did…it was impossible.”
“It wasn’t that bad,” Benji said, trying to calm her.
“Yes, it was! Our car crashed below! We almost died! And you saved my life!” she cried.
“It really was nothing,” Benji said.
“Stop saying that!” Rachel said. “That was so scary. I was falling and then you grabbed me, around my waist, and lifted me into the next car. How did you do that? That’s not possible.”
Rachel looked Benji up and down, as if for the first time, with new eyes. Who was he?
The ride began to move again and Benji got quiet. He ended the conversation and said, “At least we are safe now.”
Rachel’s mind was racing. Who was this guy? How did he do that? It was as if he had supernatural powers.
Rachel knew he wasn’t normal and desperately wanted to find out more.
As the ride attendant let them out, people swarmed them on the ground. They all wanted to see how they were doing, and the people started at Benji in disbelief. Benji walked through the crowd, guiding Rachel in front of him until they got into the parking lot.
Rachel put on her helmet and sat on the bike, her stomach in knots.
“Who are you?” Rachel finally asked.
Benji started the ignition and they started off down the road. Benji didn’t answer. They rode home without speaking a word to each other.
As Benji pulled up in front of Rachel’s house, he said, “Can I see you again?”
Rachel didn’t know what to say. She was conflicted and confused. On one hand she really wanted to see him again, but on the other hand, she was scared.
Rachel thought for a moment then said, “I don’t know if it’s a good idea.”
Rachel got off his bike and headed into her house in a daze. Her night was a blur and she didn’t know what to make of it. She couldn’t stop thinking about how she had almost just died. The scene played back over and over in her mind. Each time she thought about it, she felt her life flash before her eyes all over again.
As Rachel lay on her bed, motionless, she couldn’t stop thinking about Benji. She longed to touch his body and hold his hand. She wished she hadn’t turned him down. Thinking about how she made a mistake, she took out her phone and texted him.
Rachel: I want to see you again.
Rachel waited for Benji to text back, but he didn’t. Rachel worried that she messed things up for good and he was never going to talk to her again.
With her phone in her hand, she fell asleep, waiting.
