Ride (h.s)

3

Jane

The bar was pretty big and already full of drunk people. A loud group of girls jumped up and cheered their friends for getting on the mechanical bull for the first time.

On the other side of the bar was a group of very scrawny looking boys. Leanne, Olivia's friend, stood holding two beers in each hand yelling at one of the guys. "I don't care if you hate this kind, I spent money on it, you're drinking it!"

We made it through the crowd and sat down. "Everyone this is Jane, Jane this is everyone." Olivia began looking at the menu.

Leanne waved to me as we had met before. "Hey girl, this is Tom, James, and the little boy over there is Jeff." Jeff rolled his eyes taking the beer and drinking it.

"There I did it!" He told her. She smiled patting his head. I decided to order some food and stick to iced tea. I ordered some extra fries and wings in case Harry did show up. I looked down at my phone and realized that he had texted me.

Harry: I'm outside of the place. Where should I meet you?

I stood up excusing myself from the table to go outside. Near the front of the bar stood Harry looking around. He smiled at me and I waved. "Come on in, I ordered you some food," I told him as we walked together towards our table, noticing how tall he was. His shoulders were broad, but he wasn't super muscular. He wore a long sleeve shirt again so you couldn't see his tattoos.

When we arrived at the table, Jeff had a look of fear in his face when I introduced them to each other, Harry politely shook his hand.

"Hey Olivia, do you mind going to the bar with me?" Jeff asked. When they left I knew that he was going to talk about Harry, but I pretended not to care.

Our waitress came by to give us our food and took Harry's drink order. "So Harry, how do you know Jane?" Leanne asked.

"Oh, we just met a few days ago in class. She sits next to me." Leanne nodded.

"So are you seeing anyone special?" Leanne asked. "I'm not hitting on you, I'm just curious." Harry laughed and shook his head telling her he was single.

Our conversations changed topics when Olivia came back with shots. Both Harry and I were driving home so we skipped out on the alcohol. After eating and listening to Tom and James talk about the nonsense that didn't make sense to Harry and me, Leanne cheered that it was time to get on the bull.

"I'm good, Harry's not done eating we'll wait here," I told them. They left leaving Harry and me alone. "Did you want to get on the bull?" He looked at me with a half-smile.

"No, I'm good." He shook his head. "Your friends are quite the talkers." He commented. "Didn't let you get a word in." He placed his arm on the back of my chair while I sat sideways facing him.

"I don't really have much to say, I guess." It was true, it was hard for me to talk to people I didn't really know. "What about you, you didn't say much."

"They're not my friends." He retorted.

"They aren't my friends either. Well except Olivia." He pushed his sleeves up exposing his tattoos again. "Not to sound rude, but why did you show up?"

"I can't pass up a new friend." He poked my hand. The way he spoke almost seemed as if he was teasing. "Besides that, I was hungry, and I don't like eating alone." That had more of a serious tone.

"You don't have any friends?" He gave me a look that he wasn't sure.

"I know people, but no one I would want to have a meal with." Something about what he said made me sad. He probably has no family here or anything.

"What do you like to do for fun?" He thought of it for a second.

"Draw, read, fix cars." He listed. "What about you?"

"I like to read, I kinda have to, I work in a library." I joked. "I like swimming, going to the beach."

"I've only been to the beach once." He said slightly embarrassed. The beach was only about twenty minutes from where we lived. "You work in the library at the school?" He changed the subject.

"No, the one off of Nixon, it's the only other library around here." He nodded understanding. "How many tattoos do you have?"

He shrugged looking at his arms. "I've lost count, my arms look like one big tattoo." I giggled at how someone could lose count of something so serious. "I'm guessing you don't have any?"

"No, my parents would be so mad," I said honestly.

"They hate tattoos?" He wondered.

"Well no, they're usually very open people, just no tattoos on their youngest kid." I was my mom's baby, and she wouldn't let me forget it.

"Ahh, I see," He nodded. "You have siblings?" His voice got quieter.

"Yeah, two older sisters and an older brother. They all have families and live near Chicago." I talked to them all the time, but I really missed them. "Do you have siblings?"

He frowned and shook his head. "Um, my sister passed away a few years ago, so yes, but...no."

"I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"Don't worry about it, it's not a big deal." I decided to not say anything about that anymore. "So, you work in a library?" He changed subjects.

"Yeah, I do, what do you do?" He took out his wallet and handed me a small business card of a mechanic company.

"We do house calls as well." He joked.

I looked at the time and realized that I had to get home, I had work in the morning. "Well I have to go, we have an English as a second language class that meets at the library on Saturday mornings, and I have to set up this week by myself." He took some money out and I shook my head. "Don't worry I got you." I took my wallet out and he raised an eyebrow.

"Well thank you, I'm gonna head out too, I should probably say bye to my new friends." He joked

He grabbed his jacket and we walked over to the cashier and I paid for what we ate. Olivia's cheers could be heard as she rode the mechanical bull. "Hey 'liv, we're heading out!" She gave me a thumbs up and then proceeded to fall face-first off the bull.

We made it outside and it was very fresh. The air blew past us and Harry offered to walk me to my car. "English as a second language? Don't they offer those at the college?" He asked me as we walked through the parking lot to my car.

"Yeah, but they're expensive and you have to graduate high school, the program at the library is pretty cheap and you don't need a diploma. It's more to help you go back to school." I explained. We walked side by side until we reached my car. "Alright thanks for walking with me."

"Thank you for paying, it's a first anybody has ever paid for me." He leaned against the car while I opened it. "How can I repay you?"

I thought about it for a moment and smiled. "You can help me set up tomorrow morning at the library unless you work."

"What time?" He crossed his arms.

"Seven, sharp." He saluted me jokingly and I got in my car.

"I'll be there." He said sincerely. He waved and walked back towards his motorcycle.

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Thanks for reading. Xx

-k