Zak Rider: Teenage Monster Hunter

Chapter Nine: This Isn't A Comic Book, Kel!

"Is she always like that?" Zak asks Grace after Spencer ran out of the house and slammed the door.

"She can be a spitfire sometimes," Grace says, resting her chin on her hand. Spencer was complicated and had a temper good enough for the entire population of Green Bay.

"Kellin will take care of her, he's a decent guy," Zak says. He had grown to be pretty good friends with Kellin after he started seeing ghosts. Grace just sighs.

"I hope so. She's had it pretty rough these last couple years, she doesn't need another broken heart," Grace says, recalling the deep depression her roommate had fallen in just a year prior. Spencer had fallen helplessly in love for one of the front men of a local band she was making posters for. The singers name had been Noah Carpenter and as soon as she looked into his mischievous brown eyes, she knew she was gone. From his stud earrings to his skinny jeans, from his lip ring to his motorcycle, he was exactly what fathers of teenage girls hoped their daughters would never get involved with. Spencer and Noah had dated for seven months before she found out he was seeing a bleach blond with a bad spray tan on the side.

"Stop worrying about her, Grace. She'll be fine, just let her cool off over the weekend," Beck says, his British accent just ever so slightly apparent in his speech. He laces an arm around her shoulder and pulls her in tight. She leans into his shoulder and sighs again. Spencer was terrible at handling herself when she was mad or frustrated. More times than not, she would come home after disappearing for hours at a time with random bruises and cuts along her arms and legs. Grace never asked where she went or what she did.

* * *

Kellin tossed her a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt so her original clothes could go in the dryer. She thanked him and proceeded to the bathroom to change. Once she was changed, she had to roll the waistband of the sweatpants up a good four or five times and the shirt came down to the middle of her thigh. Her hair was getting curly from having to stand in the rain waiting for Kellin.

After emerging from the bathroom, she joins Kellin on the couch. She looks at the TV and watches as the scores of all the NFL and MLS scores run across the bottom of the screen.

"Oh good, Portland won tonight," she says as the Portland Timbers score flashes on the screen.

"What sport is that, hockey?" Kellin asks.

Spencer turns and looks at him, her mouth hanging open and at a loss for words. "You just ruined your chances, Kel. They're a soccer team. I'm from Portland."

"Shit," Kellin mutters. "I can learn soccer!"

"How 'bout football?"

"I love football! Who doesn't?"

"Grace, she hates anything requiring athletic ability. She only watches the game with me because they were tight pants," Spencer says and Kellin laughs before she adds, "So who's your team?"

"Baltimore Ravens," he responds. He hoped to God that she wasn't a Pittsburgh Steelers fan.

"No way! The Ravens?" she asks. Kellin nods. "Well that certainly helps your case," she says, winking at him.

"Why?" he asks, laughing.

"I spent a couple years in Baltimore and have been a Raven's fan ever since."

This got the wheels in Kellin's brain turning. "Well since it looks like the Ravens are going to be in the playoffs, maybe we can go see the game together. I think it's in Pittsburgh."

Spencer's eyes light up. "Sure! But if they make it to the Super Bowl, then we're going, but I'm buying your ticket."

Kellin smiles. "Deal!" he says, shaking her hand. He was on a roll. First the Fall Out Boy concert, now a Ravens' game, and possibly the Super Bowl. If things kept going like this, they'd be dating by spring.