Free Falling (SAMPLE ONLY)

Free Falling - Chapter 6

Copyright © 2011 Kirsty Moseley

                                                     Chapter 6

As we walked down the street he tossed the rock I’d thrown at Luke’s car into the shrubs. “Why did you bring that?” I asked curiously as I jogged to catch him up.

He smirked at me. “You wanted me to leave your fingerprints all over the rock that smashed his window? If you want we can just go back and slip a confession on there with your name and address, telling the cops where to find you,” he suggested, laughing quietly to himself.

“I didn’t think about fingerprints. Oh my God, am I going to get into trouble for doing that?” My eyes widened as I started to feel nauseous. I’d just broken the law and vandalised someone else’s property and that fact was only just sinking in. My heart was racing in my chest as I stopped walking and started to panic.

Zach laughed and grabbed my elbow, shaking his head. “Nah, no one was around, there’s no CCTV on that street, and I removed the evidence. As far as you’re concerned, the car was in perfect condition when you got out and left it.” He looked at me sternly as he started to drag me along again.

I thought about what he said. No one else but him saw me do it, and after tonight I wouldn’t even see him again anyway, so there was no chance I was getting into trouble for this, at least, I hoped not anyway. The worry was starting to kill the buzz a little but deep down I was still glad I did it. That small payback did make me feel marginally better.

He stopped after another couple of minutes and smiled at me. “Ever ridden on a bike before?” His voice held an amused twang to it.

A bike? I looked at what he was standing next to, a huge black motorbike. Holy crap, is this his ‘ride’? Is he seriously expecting me to get on this death-trap? It didn’t even look like it was roadworthy, it was rusted and scratched up, the seat was a little torn and the stuffing was leaking out.

“No way,” I whispered, shaking my head. There was no way I was getting on this bike with him at all. I had been in a car accident a couple of years ago with Alex, I knew how much it hurt, and that crash had been fully protected and encased in metal, this, this was pure exposure to the road if you fell off. There was not a chance in hell I was getting on this thing.

“Yes way,” he countered, laughing at me as he swung his leg over it and fumbled in his pockets for his keys.

I stood there with my mouth agape, just watching as he started the engine, well attempted to start the engine anyway because it took at least five tries before it roared to life. Even the sound of the engine screamed danger. It didn’t sound at all healthy; it was loud and whiney and threatened to give out at any minute.

“I’m not getting on that thing. I’ll just, um,” I trailed off, thinking and weighing my options. I could call Alex and see if anyone at the party was sober enough to come and get me. Or maybe I could call a cab - but if I did that I wasn’t sure how I would pay for it because I didn’t have my purse. I could call my parents, but then how would I explain everything to them? I could walk home, but it was well over half an hour to walk to my house from here and I had no shoes…

He grinned and shook his head. “Pussy,” he teased, cocking his head to the side, looking at me mockingly.

I scowled at him. I didn’t like him calling me that, for some reason I felt like I wanted to prove myself to this stranger that I’d met less than twenty minutes ago. “I’m not, it’s just that thing doesn’t even look like it could hold my weight as well as yours, its wheels would probably fall off!” I answered. Then I flinched when I realised that I’d just made a bitchy comment about his bike when he was being nice and offering me a lift home. I opened my mouth to apologise, but he spoke first.