Cell phone calls are too distant for my taste. I can't use my eye widening technique, shouting isn't half as effective and I could be hung up on.
Just like what Chase did me Saturday morning when I called him to ask him why the fuck he wasn't over here yet and didn't he remember that we had to go to the Bike Rally.
"Oh, Rori,it's you." Chase had said like he didn't have caller ID on his fucking cell phone.
I imagined him gnawing on his thumb nail, thinking up an excuse. I had put my phone on speaker and put it down on the corner table so I could fold my arms across my chest. Chase couldn't see me but I wanted the universe to know that I was pissed. VERY PISSED.
"Save all your excuses for when you get here." I said. There was a long pause. I could hear Chase's sister, Katherine, shouting at Rodrick, their brother, to get out of the bathroom because she needed to pee.
"The thing is," Chase had said, "I won't be coming."
"And why is that?" I said, wishing he was next to me so I could punch him, "And it better not have anything to do with Skylar."
The next pause was longer than usual because Chase had hung up on me. Hung up, on ME. Me, Rori Villan. He would regret that, I swear. I made a fist and punched the vase with the orchids and watched it fall onto the floor.
It didn't break because Mom had already replaced all the vases in the house with plastic ones that looked like glass, just in case I had one of those moments. I missed the satisfaction of hearing the glass shatter on the floor.
That was an hour ago and I'm still at my house, pulling at the black leather of my body suit. The Biker Rally is once every year and it's a big event. I'm talking about thousands of motorbikes gathered in one place, for this epic race down the highway. I'd been preparing with Pat for almost six months now, so I could finally participate in the actual race. I'd always been a spectator. But today I'd be on my very own bike doing stunts, all on my own.
I didn't think I would win, but I wanted to be there with everyone else with the wind whipping my back and to feel the adrenaline rush through my veins. It was supposed to be me, Chase and the unmentionable J, but now both guys had let me down. On any other day I would have been fine on my own, but I'm starting to feel a bit emotional, I think because of my actual period and I don't think I could take the comments from the other older bikers today.
I sit there, wondering what the hell I was going to do, when the door bell rings. I grab my helmet, and put it on, not bothering to tuck my hair up. It's my favorite helmet, the black one with the Rori V. engraved in gold on the side. Then I grab my phone and head to the door. Maybe it's Chase. Maybe he was only messing with me earlier.
But it isn't Chase after all. It's Eli, books in hand looking at me, eyebrow raised, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"Why are you dressed like that?" he asks, trying to walk inside.
But I put my hands across the door and stop him. He kind of bumps into my arm and I take a whiff of his cologne. I think it's the same one Dad uses when he goes on special dates with Mom.
"Uh.Yeah. I don't do this," I point at the biology text book in his hand, "on weekends." Eli takes a step back, because, I suppose looking down at me was a bit difficult from his position.
"But the contract..." he mumbles.
"Fuck the contract." I say, "And I don't know if your stupid girlfriend told you but I won't be giving you food either. Now you're wasting my time, so if you could get off my property now, I could get going."
Eli looks slightly offended but he doesn't make a move to leave. He just stares at me, his blue irises piercing my helmet and then my skull and making me feel sorry for him. And I don't feel sorry for anyone except myself.
The thing is, Eli was preventing me from figuring out what I was going to do and from coming up with suitable comebacks for the men who shouted perverted comments about my body. They wouldn't do it if I was with Chase. They wouldn't do it if I was with any guy. If it was one thing these biker guys respected, it was another guy's woman.
"Imogen is NOT stupid." is all Eli says, rubbing his arm as if it hurt.
He's wearing a long sleeved blue plaid shirt, buttoned until it got to his collar bone. That gave me a peek of the skin on his chest, looking so soft and smooth and untouched. If Eli dressed a little different, he could have been an okay guy. He had already good face, a nice chiseled jaw and the height that could be intimating if he used it properly.
Then I have an idea. If I was in a cartoon, a light bulb would have appeared over my head.
"Maybe you should stay." I say, pulling Eli into my house and leading him upstairs.
He doesn't say a word. In fact, Eli is so quiet I have to keep turning around to see if he's still there. All I hear are the sounds of my boots against the wood floor. Thunk, thunk,thunk.
I push open my bedroom door and get the scissors from my drawer. Then I walk over to Eli, whose sitting on the edge of my bed staring at my glasses on my desk.
"What? You've never seen glasses before?" I say. Eli looks at me and his eyes go big when he sees the scissors in my hand.
"Whoa. WHOA! If you don't want to be tutored anymore, I could work something out. You do NOT have to KILL me."
Eli hurries to the door, fear and confusion plastered on his face. I can't help but laugh. But something, some organ or something twists inside me. I feel bad that he thought I was capable of murder. Yes, I could hurt him, but murder was on a whole different level. And the way he's rattling the door knob of my room tells me that he really thinks I would do that.
"I'm not going to kill you, you idiot."
I throw the scissors on the floor and hold up my hands. "See? If I was going to kill you, I would have poisoned you or something. Stabbing someone is a lot of work."
That doesn't appease Eli. His jaw drops.
"What! I've never stabbed someone before. It just seems like a lot of work." I look at my nails, suddenly feeling like I was in court and I had to defend myself. "You know, from TV and stuff."
A barely convinced Eli walks back toward me and sits on the bed again. "I can fight back, you know. So don't try anything funny." he says.
"Whatever."
I slowly bend toward the floor,"I'm going to pick up the scissors now." I say. Standing in front of Eli, I reach out and pull his shoulder toward me and make a little snip on his shirt. Eli jerks away.
"Stay still!" I shout trying to make another snip but he pushes my hand away.
"What are you doing!"
"You're coming with me, so I'm making you look presentable." I say, like it should be obvious. Eli doesn't ask me where we're going like I thought he would. He only looks me in the eye and makes a sad face.
"But this is my favorite shirt." he whines.
"Why were you wearing your favorite shirt to my house, in the first place?" I ask, genuinely curious.
He doesn't answer, but he steadies himself and I make a bigger snip and then rip the rest of the sleeve off to give it a nice rough edge. I do the same to the other sleeve and then unbutton two other buttons, revealing more of Eli chest which is surprisingly very nice and toned. I
'm still wearing my helmet, so Eli can't see my surprised and slightly impressed face. I tell him to run his hand through his hair but he's not doing it properly so I do it myself.
"There." I say, looking at my handy work. Eli looks tough and cool now. I would never tell him that though. Eli sighs deeply and shoves the pieces of cloth that were once the sleeves of his shirt, into his pocket.
"If I go wherever you're going, will you promise to go to a class on Monday?" Eli asks.
I study him carefully. His face is expressionless except for one arched eyebrow. He was really dedicated to this tutoring stuff. Like, he really planned on bringing me up to A standards. That wasn't going to happen. I don't know why Eli didn't see that. He was supposed to be smart and logical.
"Yeah. Sure. Whatever." I say dismissively, stuffing a pack of cigarettes into my pocket just before we head out.
"Smoking kills." Eli says.
***
I keep my motorbike at CaVe because I bought it with Dad's credit card without his permission. He would have said no if I asked anyway. I have to call Gabe to bring it out for me because there was no way in hell that I was going to go inside of that place to face Margot and the unmentionable J.
But then, while we're waiting in Eli's truck and he starts going on and on about right angles, I decide that unmentionable J wasn't going to keep me out of my own dad's place. It was basically my property.
I stomp out of the car and and barge through the door and smack into Gabe. He's holding my bike over his head just to show off how strong he is. Gabe breaks into a grin when he sees me.
"Rori!" he says, holding the bike in one hand now. "Sup?"
"Hey Gabe." I say getting on my tip toes to see if I can spot unmentionable J, so I can walk right in front of him and show him that I've moved on with my life. "Can you just put the bike in the back of that truck outside?"
"Yes ma'am." Gabe salutes me and marches outside like an idiot.
Margot's skirt is neon yellow today and Jaq is laughing with her, like we hadn't both agreed that she was a bitch. But I guess when you break up, you go back on all the promises that you made and all the topics you agreed on and all the opinions you formed of other people.
I kick a metal wrench off a table and it clatters to the floor, the sound echoing through the building and making my entrance a spectacular one. He looks at me and blinks, eyes skimming over my body, just like Eli had done only moments ago.
"Hey Margot!" I say like she's my best friend. I ignore him completely,"Is there another bike that I can use? For my friend."
Margot snorts at me like a freaking pig."You look ridiculous with that helmet on your head." she says.
"Aw." I say to her back as she shuffles off to find a bike.
It's just him and me now at the desk and I have to say, it's AWKWARD. He taps his pencil against the counter distractedly. The door leading to the upstairs apartment opens and out walks Imogen. He smiles at her and my jaw drops. Thank you handy helmet for concealing my shock.
"C'mon Jaq."
Unmentionable J lets Imogen tug on his shirt even though I know he hates that, "Chemistry is not going to teach itself. Let's go.Upstairs."
She places emphasis on the words 'upstairs' and I frown, glad no one can see my expression. I had to play it cool.
I can only stare. I knew Imogen was tutoring him, I just didn't expect her to be dressed like that. In a super short floral dress with a low front. And the girl has boobs. For days. She notices me there and she conceals her shock and sudden nervousness with a smirk.
"Rori. You know Jaq right?" Imogen pulls at her dress.
"It's not going to get any longer." I say, ignoring her question,"What? Did you run out of cloth?"
"You're one to talk." she flips her hair over her shoulder.
Enter Eli. He spins around looking at the red walls and the cars and tires and greasy tools. Then he sees the three of us and his eyes go huge.
"Gen?" he says to Imogen staring at her legs and then getting lost in her cleavage before looking at her face. Her eyes move over him, taking in his ripped shirt and ruffled hair.
"You look different." they say together and the unmentionable J laughs.
Trust an idiot to laugh in a completely serious and tense situation. Eli bends to kiss her but she turns and his lips touch her cheek instead. But barely. Nothing like what they were doing only a few days ago at my house.
"There." Margot reappears and points to a motorbike behind her,"Jaq can carry it for you 'cause there's no way I'm going to."
Jaq slowly shuffles toward the bike and the frown on his face says he doesn't want to help me. My pride kicks in and I'm about to say something when Eli picks up the bike like nothing and walks out the door, not bothering to say anything to Imogen. I follow him and turn to have one last look before I walk out the door. Unmentionable J was following Imogen up the stairs and peeking up her dress.
Imogen was playing with the wrong girl.
Jaq and I may not be together, but he was mine until the day I died.