Dare You To Love (Camren - Norminah - Vercy)

Chapter 15: Lessons

A/N: I'm back, bitches! Didya miss me? Cuz I sure AF missed this shit.

Camila's POV

"Ready to powerwalk?" Lauren called from about 100 meters away.

"Yeah!" I called back, gripping the Suzuki GZ250 nervously.

It was early Sunday morning and Lauren had pulled some strings to get us into the Motorcycle Safety Foundation (MSF) training facilities for my very first bike lesson. I wasn't too thrilled about starting off on a 250cc beginner bike, but Lauren reassured me that she'd let me ride a more powerful bike if I did well. And I was eager to impress.

"Start the bike!"

I turned the key, flipped the kill switch on, pulled in the clutch, and hit the power button just like we'd practiced earlier.

"Shift to first!"

I pulled in the clutch and shifted the gear lever down with my left foot to shift from neutral to first gear.

"Find your sweet spot!"

I revved the throttle and eased the clutch till I found the friction zone and the bike moved forward.

"Good. Now come!"

I rolled my eyes at how dirty all of this sounded and powerwalked my bike towards Lauren.

"Walk through the cones. Remember to turn with your eyes before you follow through with your body and bike."

I cautiously walked the motorcycle through the maze of cones, taking extra care to keep my natural clumsiness at bay.

"That was very good, Camz," Lauren said once I'd finished the obstacles. I couldn't help but grin proudly for not knocking over the cones. "Think you're ready to lift your feet and ride?"

"I was born ready," I said, channeling countless badass movie moments.

Lauren snickered at my response and said, "All right then. Repeat what you just did, 'cept give it more gas and lift your feet when you feel ready."

I powerwalked the bike back to the starting position and repeated the initial steps. But this time, I revved the throttle harder for more acceleration and lifted my feet.

Click.

I was riding! This felt natural. This was easy. I was glad I was wearing an open-faced helmet, because the wind rushing through my hair and face felt wonderful. I felt myself grinning broadly, lost in this new, soulful experience.

"Watch out for the cones!"

But it was too late. By the time I'd realized what had happened, I was already on the ground with the 300+ pound bike lying inches away from my legs. A small patch of blood was seeping through the jeans of my left knee. Panic settling, I started breathing heavily.

"You're okay, Camz. You weren't going that fast, so you just kinda toppled over," Lauren said calmly, slowly helping me up to a sitting position. "You're just in shock, that's all."

I was irritated that she wasn't taking my crash more seriously, but instead of an angry retort all I managed to stammer was, "B-b-blood."

"Don't worry. That's just a scratch. I'll fix you right up. Let's go inside."

Lauren helped me stand and wrapped my arm around her shoulder to help me walk. Though I hadn't broken or sprained anything, my bleeding knee burned with every limping step I took.

"Is it hurting?" Lauren asked after I'd winced for the hundredth time.

"No. It feels fucking amazing," I snapped sarcastically.