When he didn’t move, I asked, “Well, are we doing this or not?”
He grinned, the streetlights glinting off his teeth. He moved forward slightly, and motioned for me to slide on behind him. I slung a leg over the leather seat and immediately realized how close I’d have to sit to him to keep from falling off the back. I gulped.
He grabbed each of my thighs and pulled me even closer. Heat filled me as I came into direct contact with his body. I was completely pressed against him.
“Now wrap your arms around me.”
“What?”
“No time to be shy now, Princess, unless you want to fall off. Put your arms around me.” He shifted and reached around to take each of my hands, and placed them against his flat stomach.
Wow. The boy had some abs. I forced the thought from my mind, telling myself it was more important to concentrate on not flying off and getting killed.
He must have read my mind, because he shot me a knowing smile. “You’ll want to keep that closed, or you’ll end up eating bugs.” He pointed to the visor.
“What are you going to wear?” I looked around for an extra helmet.
“Don’t worry, I’m fine.” He pulled out a pair of sunglasses from the pocket of his leather jacket and slipped them on.
“Sunglasses? It’s night.”
“Yeah, but they help with the wind hitting my eyes, and keep things from flying in.” He revved the idling engine with one swift twist of his hand. The rumble ran through the seat and up my body. I fought to pay attention to what he was saying.
“Oh, that makes sense, I guess.” I’m so lame.
“Have you ever ridden before?”
Embarrassed, I shook my head.
“Okay, real quick, the most basic rule…once we get going, it’s important not to move around too much, so stay close to me.” He tightened his hold on my clasped hands around his middle before continuing. “The other thing, even if you’re tempted to lean the opposite way when we go around curves, don’t. That could make the bike lose balance. So, just lean with me into the turns.”
“Got it.” My heart thundered in my chest. From fear of riding on what my aunt called a deathtrap with some guy I barely knew, or excitement for the same reason, I wasn’t quite sure.
“I won’t be able to hear you well once we really get going, so if you need me to stop, just tap my leg twice.” His voice rose over the whine of the bike. I nodded to show I understood. He reached back, and snapped my visor closed. “There ya go.”
He revved the engine again and stretched his leg back to raise the kickstand with his foot. “You ready?”
I loosened my death grip long enough to give him a thumbs-up. He grinned and did the same. “Okay, Princess, hold on tight.”
The warning wasn’t needed. I was holding on so tight I might crush one of his ribs. I took a deep breath as he looked over his left shoulder to check for traffic.
And suddenly we were pulling out. I involuntarily jerked back slightly, and he reached down to rest his hand against my clasped fingers for a few seconds.
“Just relax. Enjoy the ride,” he called over the rushing wind and throaty whine of the bike.
After a minute or two, I felt it—this amazing rush from the speed, the sense of freedom, totally exhilarating and so different from anything I’d ever experienced before that I couldn’t help but grin like crazy behind the visor. I gave in to the delicious sensation. Racing through the night with Ransom felt exciting and dangerous. I loved it.
Once we passed through the town limits, the road became darker; only the moon and the thin beam of his headlight pierced the darkness. The wind whistled against my helmet, and it seemed like we were the only people who existed.
The heat from his body warmed me where I pressed against him, and the chill from the night air rushing past us didn’t even bother me. For the first time in a very long time, I felt truly alive.
Eleven
Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.
—Marilyn Monroe
I rolled out of my bed before the alarm even had a chance to go off.
The muted voice of Ellen DeGeneres carried through my plywood bedroom door. That was a good sign. It meant Aunt Loretta must be up, curlers in her hair, wrapped up in her faded housecoat as she cozied up to yet another taped episode of her favorite daytime show. Maybe the toast and a good night’s rest really had done the trick and she felt better.
I raised my arms above my head to stretch for a minute in anticipation of the day ahead. Only two more days of pledge week, and then the real fun began. Plus, Ransom said he’d call me after school. I grinned, thinking about him.
He’d dropped me off at the end of the lane after the motorcycle ride. I hadn’t let him drive me all the way home since I didn’t want to take the chance of Aunt Lor seeing me getting off some strange guy’s bike. She’d flip.
After getting dressed, I headed to the kitchen to grab something to eat and check to see how she was feeling.
She sat in her chair, holding a cup of most likely lukewarm black coffee. When she saw me, she called out, “Good morning, sweetie,” without tearing her eyes away from the screen of the small television set a few feet away from her familiar position.
“Good morning.” A gentle smile crossed my face. The kitchen-slash-living room areas were on opposite ends of the same room, with only a small divider going a few feet up the wall on the left side to separate them, so I could see from where I stood that Aunt Lor seemed to be back to her normal habits. I was relieved.
I walked over to the counter and poured myself a cup of coffee. Taking a sip, I grimaced at the stale, bitter taste and wandered over to grab a Pop-Tart from an open box sitting on the table. As I tore open the shiny silver foil with my teeth, I joined her in the living room for our morning ritual of TV time.
Plopped on the edge of the small flowered sofa, I began to nibble on my frosted strawberry pastry.
Aunt Loretta looked over. Her wide blue eyes wrinkled into a smile. “How did you sleep, honey?”
I returned her smile. “Good, thanks. But more importantly, how’d you sleep? Are you feeling any better today?”
“Oh, I slept very well, thank you. And I told you, there’s no reason to worry about me, I’m fine.”
I watched her eyes carefully as she answered, trying to gauge if she was telling the truth. She set down her coffee cup on the side table. “Samantha, stop your worrying. Everything is right as rain.”
A cliché wasn’t bolstering my confidence level, but I let it slide. If she said she was okay, I guess I had to believe her. It’s not like she’d ever lied to me before.
“I thought I heard you come in late last night. Were you out with Jeremy?”
Oh crap. “Um…No.”
It probably wasn’t a good idea to let on where I’d really been. Or whom I’d been with. “I ah…went for a walk into town and met up with some friends.”
“I hope you didn’t walk home alone that late!”
“No, I didn’t. A friend gave me a ride.” That much was true at least.
I decided to revisit the subject of my driver’s license. I hated always having to beg for rides and not having the freedom to go somewhere when I wanted to. And while her old Buick was no eye-catcher…it had four wheels.
“Do you think since it’s senior year I could finally go get my license? You wouldn’t have to worry about me getting rides that way.”
She shook her head immediately. “Samantha, you know my decision on this. You driving is an expense we don’t need right now.”
“I could get a part-time job. I’d pay for the insurance and gas and whatever.”
“No. You are not getting a job. You need to focus on your schoolwork so you can get into a good college.”
Translated, she knew I’d need scholarship money to pay for school and didn’t want to risk my grades taking a nosedive.
“Will you at least think about it if I promise to keep my grad
es up?”
She sighed. “I’ll think about it.” She suddenly looked confused. “Why are you in school clothes on a Saturday?”
I cocked my head and studied her. “Aunt Lor, today’s Thursday, not Saturday.”
Her eyes clouded for a moment, and she reached over to busy herself with the lace doily on the small table next to her.
“Oh, of course.” She shook her head and smiled brightly. “Silly me. Must be all that sleep. My brain isn’t working right yet.” She tried to laugh off her mistake.
My doubts from earlier stormed back, but I didn’t want to push it. It seemed pretty clear she didn’t want to talk about it yet. I decided to play along, nodding and smiling weakly.
It was almost time for me to leave, so I stood up and went to the kitchen to rinse my coffee cup. After setting it upside down on the towel next to the sink, I grabbed my book bag and called, “I’m heading out! I love you!” I paused.
Her familiar response came immediately. “Have a good day at school, sweetheart. I love you too!” It was the same thing she said to me each morning on my way out the door. The ritual made me feel safe. I refused to give in to the fear that something might be seriously wrong with her health, that some unknown enemy could destroy the only family I had left.
“Please be sure to put on your safety glasses before beginning the experiment,” Mr. Wellers droned.
I reached over to grab a pair of goggles and smacked hands with Jeremy.
“Sorry,” he muttered and snatched his hand back like he’d touched something gross.
It was the first word he’d spoken to me all period, even though we were lab partners. The first word he’d said to me in almost two days actually.
“No problem,” I said.
It should be interesting, getting through our lab without speaking. Maybe we could pass notes or use sign language or something.
After I slapped on my glasses, I shifted on my stool and glanced across the workspace. Jeremy sat across the lab counter, looking anywhere but at me.
I sighed and reached over to turn on the Bunsen burner and watched as the white-blue flame shot up. I pulled the ring stand closer. “Can you please pass me the first test tube?”
He handed it to me, not saying a word. When our fingers touched, he finally looked up. “Thanks,” I said.
“Yep.”
I tucked a flyaway piece of hair behind my ear and tried to think of something to say. I cleared my throat, which I hoped he’d interpret as me wanting to talk. He ignored my less than subtle hint.
“I like your shirt,” I said.
I like your shirt? Seriously, that was the best I could come up with? It was pathetic; we wore uniforms for crissakes.
My stupidity must have worked. He actually half-smiled. Relief zoomed through me. Maybe he wasn’t still angry. I missed talking to him so much that the past two days seemed more like weeks.
I placed the tube in the ring stand next to the burner to heat up. While I watched to make sure it didn’t get too hot and explode, I tried to figure out what to say next. Perhaps an especially witty, “Nice pants.”
He beat me to it.
“How’s your aunt? Did you go see her?”
“She’s actually home.” I smiled.
“That’s great!” His eyes warmed, and I could tell he meant it.
“Yeah, it is.” I frowned then, remembering the morning. “But I’m worried about her.”
He reached over to turn the flame down slightly. “What do you mean? What’s wrong with her?”
I twisted the end of my long braid between my fingers. “That’s just it. I don’t know.”
He looked at me, brows furrowed.
“She went to bed really early last night, and then this morning, she thought it was Saturday.”
Jeremy moved the ring stand away from the heat, studied the tube a moment, and scribbled something in our lab book. When that was done, he placed his pen down and gave me his full attention. “Well, that doesn’t necessarily mean anything bad. I mean, I forget what day it is all the time.”
“I get that, Jer, but this is different, this is…” I trailed off, not knowing how to explain it. “Never mind, you’re probably right.” I found it easier to simply agree with him.
It felt like we were strangers making polite conversation. And it sucked.
I tried to think of a new topic, but the only other news I thought of related to my plan, and the guy I’d met yesterday. The first was obviously off the table for discussion, and the second…for some reason it seemed awkward to bring up Ransom.
The silence stretched between us like old gum you don’t want anymore and decide to play with instead. Thankfully, only five minutes remained in the class period. We worked together to clean up our lab space and filled in the rest of the questions on the worksheet. The only words spoken pertained directly to the assignment. When the bell rang, I smiled weakly and told him I’d see him later.
He nodded. “Later,” he echoed. His tone sounded as confused as my own, like neither of us quite knew how to make things right between us again.
I’d gotten a pass to go down to the computer lab during final homeroom, so I headed in that direction. I wanted to make sure that everything was ready to go on the website for next week, and that I hadn’t missed anything.
Minutes after slipping into the seat in front of a computer in the back of the room, I was satisfied. Everything was good to go on my site. Curiosity prompted me to log back in to Jessica’s email. I didn’t care about any of the emails I sorted through from her friends, or about her orders from Amazon and Victoria’s Secret, so I ignored those. I only had eyes for the ones with the familiar subject line of “THE SOCIETY.” I rolled my eyes, thinking they could at least make the attempt to be a little stealthy. Not super secure for a supposedly secret society.
The first email I clicked on listed some tasks they were planning for the initiates during Hell week. I clenched my teeth when I read that they were instructing someone to dine and ditch at a pizza place in town, and another to steal a bra from Wal-Mart. Really? They’d stooped to petty theft to join their hallowed organization? It just infuriated me more, and made me feel even better about what I was doing. If anyone should be ashamed, it should be them.
I logged out of Jessica’s email, cleared the history and temp files, and stood up seconds before the bell rang. I couldn’t wait to bring them down.
Twelve
All great changes are preceded by chaos.
—Deepak Chopra
I walked down the school steps after the final dismissal bell. My bus was in the second round to arrive, so I generally waited around for about five minutes until it got there. I didn’t mind too much since most of the upperclassmen drove, and didn’t hang out at the bus landing, which meant no Jessica and her crew. It was usually me and a bunch of freshman and sophomores, and we pretty much ignored each other.
“Sam!” Jeremy’s voice carried over the dull roar of just released underclassman.
Surprised, I turned to see him jogging down the steps toward me. He waved. I slowly waved back, confused to see him. He was one of the kids who drove to school, and they usually went out the side door since it was closer to the student parking lot.
He reached me and played with the strap of the navy gym bag he rotated back and forth in his hands, not saying anything.
“Hey.” I finally offered.
“Look, I just wanted to say…” He shoved his glasses up a little. “I guess I wanted to say that I hate how things are between us lately.” He looked right at me.
“Me too.” I smiled at him.
“Do you wanna hang out later?” He shrugged, causing his backpack to slip down his shoulder a little.
I beamed. “That would be—”
A familiar rumble filled the air around us.
My eyes widened, and I turned to look behind me.
Oh my God. It was Ransom, pulling right up to the curb in front of the school. Still straddling the bi
ke, he lifted off his helmet and shook out his hair before tucking the helmet in the crook of his arm against his thigh.
A rush of excitement raced through me.
Several girls around us clearly had the same reaction. There were stares and immediate huddles with lots of whispers, lip biting, and hair tossing action. I couldn’t help but stare myself.
“Do you know him?”
I whipped my head back. I’d forgotten Jeremy stood two feet away. It felt like I’d just been caught stealing a cookie when I’d thought no one was watching. I opened my mouth to answer, then immediately closed it again.
He raised his eyebrows and looked back over to where Ransom now stood next to his bike.
“Who is he?” Jeremy looked confused, and something else. Jealous?
“What?”
Jeremy cleared his throat. “I was wondering who he is, since he seems to know you considering he hasn’t torn his eyes off you since he pulled up.”
I immediately felt flattered. First, that it was obvious that Ransom came to the school to see me. And second, that Jeremy seemed to be taking a very keen interest in exactly who Ransom was to me.
“Oh, he’s…a friend.”
“A friend?”
“Yeah, a friend.” I crossed my arms in front of my chest.
“Well does your friend have a name?”
I paused. “His name’s Ransom.”
Jeremy snorted. “Ransom? Ransom what?”
I looked at him, brows furrowed. “What’s with all the questions all of a sudden? What does it matter?”
He shrugged, and his eyes showed hurt. “It doesn’t. Sorry. I was only curious since I’ve never heard you mention him before.”
“Jeremy, it’s not like I tell you every little thing about my life.”
A shadow crossed his face. “Yeah, so I learned recently. Read it in a notebook.”
“Oh my God, do you seriously have to bring that up again?” I narrowed my eyes and sighed.
“You better go, I think your friend Ransom’s waiting for you.”
I stared at him. “What’s your problem?”
The Society Page 8
