Love At First Sight

08

"Ummm, I think I'll take the bus."

Ryder scoffed. "No way. You don't even know where I live."

I groaned. I had to wait for Ryder to finish helping our Math teacher after school to do some things. Now, he was trying to persuade me to hop unto his motorcycle so we could go to his house for our first lesson.

"There's no way I'm getting on that thing."

A wave of shock took over his face. His mouth formed an 'o' shape. He put one hand on his chest and the other one landed on the seat of his motorcycle.

"How dare you call Celina a thing?"

I grunted not-so-attractively. "Celina?!"

"Yeah. She's my baby. I've had her for close to 4 years now. So pay her as much respect as you'll give to your own mother."

I just roll my eyes. "Fine. There's no way I'm getting on Celina."

"Why not?"

"Because."

"Go on."

"I have a phobia for riding on motorcycles."

He took a few seconds to process what I said. When he finally did, he began laughing.

I looked at him with a blank expression and folded my arms across my chest.

When he was done laughing, I asked "Are you done now?"

Immediately I said that, he started laughing all over again. Unbelievable!

As I looked at him, my eyes got narrower and narrower. When he finally took a look at me, he stopped and wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.

"I'm sorry. It's just that, I've never heard of someone who's scared, or rather, has a phobia of riding motorcycles."

"Seriously? You really don't talk to people much. Especially girls. Because some girls don't like the idea of riding on a motorcycle."

He sighed. "Sam, would you just please get on the motorcycle?"

He took a quick glance at his wrist watch.

"It's 4:43. It's getting late."

It was my turn to sigh. "Fine. Just please, don't go over 40."

"Make it 45 and it's done."

"Ugh. Fine."

He smiled and handed me a helmet. "Put this on."

When I was done wearing the helmet, I got onto the motorcycle.

He smiled. "Not bad." He got on it too and said,

"All passengers should keep their hands and legs at their sides at all times and wrap their arms around the driver's back."

"You want me to do what?"

"You heard me."

I did as I was told.

"Great."

He put the key into the ignition and the motorcycle started to vibrate. "Hold on tight!" And with that, we were off.

I screamed for like five seconds then a "Will you shut up?" came from Ryder.

I did, but closed my eyes tight. After a while, I got used to the feeling and opened my eyes.

The feeling of riding on a motorcycle is really inexplicable. The wind rushes past you very fast and it somehow feels like you're flying. It's exhilarating. It really is. I loosened my grip around Ryder's back.

"Seems like someone's enjoying the ride."

I could really sense the smirk in the tone of his voice. I lightly smacked his back playfully.

"Ow. Don't do that."

"Why not?" I did it again.

"Seriously. Don't. You'll make me loose concentration."

I did it again and again and again.

He laughed dryly. "You're playing with your life, Sam."

I immediately stopped and he chuckled. As if on cue, we came to a halt in front of a house. A white German Shepherd was resting, probably sleeping, on the porch. His ears immediately perked up and his eyes opened. He ran towards Ryder and I with his tongue sticking out.

"Hey boy!" said Ryder. He climbed down from the motorcycle and when he met the dog, he knelt on one knee.

He rubbed behind his ears. "Did you miss me? Huh? Did you?" He said in a tone people usually use when talking to dogs. The dog let out little barks while Ryder talking to him. I smiled at the sight.

Ryder got up and took out a bunch of keys from the back pocket of his jeans. He climbed the steps to the porch and put one of the keys into a key hole. He turned the key and when it finally clicked, he pushed the door open. The dog ran inside.

"You coming or not?" He said to me. I un-buckled the helmet, put my bag over my shoulder and headed inside with the helmet.

Inside, the house looked much bigger than from the outside. It's quite simple but beautiful.

"Wow." I looked around.

He scoffed. "You don't have to pretend to like the house." He finished with a shrug.

"Seriously. I do like the house. It's really pretty."

He shrugged once again. "Whatever."

I dropped my bag and the helmet on a sofa.

"So, do you want to eat anything before we start?"

"Okay."

"What about a pizza?"

"Sure. What toppings?"

"Pepperoni." He said with a toothy grin.

"My favourite!"

He went to the kitchen and I tagged along. He opened the freezer and took out a frozen pizza. He switched on the microwave and put the pizza in it. "Let's wait for it in the living room." He said.

We got to the living room and sat on the longest sofa. There was an awkward silence in the air. I broke the ice.

"I like your dog. Where is he anyway?"

"Thanks. His name is Chase. He's probably at the back sleeping."

"Cool. Since when have you had him?"

"Over 5 years. My sister and I adopted him when she was one."

"You have a sister?!" I asked, shocked.

"Yup." He said, popping the 'p'.

"Where is she and what's her name?"

He laughed. "She's at a sleepover at her friend's house. I dropped her off this morning and I'm picking her up tomorrow afternoon. Her name's Willow."

I squealed and punched him slightly in the arm. "That's such a sweet name. How come you never told me you had a sister?"

He shrugged. "I guess it never crossed my mind."

"So, where are your parents?"

He looked uneasy then stood up, heading to the kitchen. "The pizza's ready."

There are two problems with that statement. One, he said it with no enthusiasm whatsoever; I thought he liked pepperoni. Two, the pizza wasn't even ready yet.

Weird.

A/N
Hey guys! What's up? Sorry for not updating in a while. What do you think of this chapter? It was a bit longer than the others. The girl in the picture is our one and only Samantha Collins. Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Stay posted for more. Bye! :)

~addie~