“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.