Teen Drama

19

I sit upright, narrow my eyes on him with severe scrutiny and start patting at his clothes, looking for the keys to his bike because I am sure he came here on it, and the accident line is bullshit. If he thinks I'm going to sit back and watch him ride off into the night, he's got another thing coming.

"What are you doing?" Dane sits up too, trying to catch my wrists as I slide my hands into his hoodie pockets, looking for them, and end up wrestling him while fighting to keep searching. Combatting his slower-than-usual responses and getting the upper hand because moving hurts him. Dane catches my hands, pins them behind my back, and yanks me into his chest so I can't get loose. We end up nose to nose with both of us half kneeling, half sitting, and breathing hard.

"I know your bike is out front, so don't give me this bullshit. You plan on taking your things and leaving? I won't let you. I'll call your dad and tell him.... I'll stop you." I can't conceal the anger in my voice or the fierce flash in my glare.

"This isn't your problem, so keep out of it. I'm not asking you to do anything. Just go to bed and forget you saw me. Don't get involved." He snaps back, his temper matching mine.

"This is my problem.... I'm not going to ignore the mess of you. I'm not letting you out of here like this. There would be something seriously wrong with me to turn a blind eye to you in this state and let you leave without your dad knowing anything about this.... Please don't act like my caring is something awful. You made this my problem!" I strain against his arms around my body and wriggle, but it does nothing. He holds me firm, eyes locked on, and stubborn mode initiated.

"Why... because you love me?" he sneers it like it's something disgusting and then drops me back down with a jerk letting me go so my body weight sends me backward into a slump. "Let's not do this again." He sits back, takes a slow, deep breath while rubbing his side, and then moves to get up, but I tug his sleeve and don't let him.

"Don't be a jerk.... So what if I do? It's not a sin. It's not something I should be punished for." I snap back and get up, trying a different tactic. His keys are not on him, and I probably caught him arriving here and aiming for the kitchen to take pain meds first, which means his keys are probably where he always dumps them. Inside his helmet by the front door.

I watch him clamber to his feet slowly, taking care not to move his upper body a whole lot, and spring to mine in a flash. Eyes scanning the space around us. I move fast, turning on my heel, and run for the front door just before he catches onto what I'm doing. His head spins my way, the curse under his breath as he clicks I know where he puts his keys. I hear his sneakers squeak on the floor as he comes after me.

"Don't you dare, Kayla!" He yells after me in a hushed raspy tone, afraid of waking up Monique down here. His run is slow and labored. For once, I'm faster, and right on the table in the hall near the front door, I can see his upside-down helmet sitting even in the darkness. I dash for it, catching the edge and flipping it over my hand so his keys fall into my palm, and I clutch them tightly. His helmet is in its normal pristine condition and shows no sign of colliding with the ground at any point.

"Accident, my ass. This was obviously a fight or something else, your helmet isn't even scratched, and your keys would be with whoever towed your bike. Not with you." I snort at him as he catches up, and I dodge out of the way. Dane catches the hem of my hoodie to haul at me, but I turn, twist, and bend, so he yanks it right over my head instead. I'm left in a vest and shorts, pretty much half naked, but I sprint to the wall locker where we keep my car keys and my mom's, not putting it past him to take one of those. I throw his bike keys in, slamming it shut, turn the outer lock with the little key we normally leave in it until it engages and locks, shutting it tight, and then grip the smaller item in my hand and flee.