We Lucky Few

Dating pixels and their outcome

Adventure awaits, Date number Two

"No. No fucking way. No Calliope. Uh-uh."

"Aw, come on, James. Don't be a chicken!"

"I'm not a chicken just because I don't want to die!"

Calliope laughed. "You are not going to die, James. It's just quads. It will be fun."

"Yeah, I'm sure I'll have plenty of fun in a wheelchair," I bit back.

The guy who was supposed to give us a tour with the machines straight from hell looked from me to Calliope with raised eyebrows. Calliope pushed her bottom lip into a pout and I was momentarily distracted.

"Please. Come on. You said second date would be my choice?"

I really did not want to. Those things were not safe.

"How about I drive and you sit behind me on the same quad? Do you trust me to keep you safe?"

I looked at Calliope intently, and studied her open, soft brown eyes. Did I?

I did.

So I pulled my eyebrows together and nodded very slowly.

"Alright," the random quad guy said and held out two helmets. "Route won't be too long, nothing too rough, I promise."

I gulped as I took the helmet and secured it tightly to my head.

"Thank you for doing this, James." I felt Calliope's hand wound around mine before she squeezed it lightly.

"Mhm." I was really in no state to say anything else. Paranoid me had set himself on fire and was running around in my head, screaming bloody murder. He flooded my mind with horrific visions of broken limbs, crashed metal, bloody stumps, endless pain, and Calliope's dead body.

I climbed onto the machine of death and gulped a few times as Calliope sat in front of me. She looked back at me with an encouraging smile.

"You will love this. I know you will."

Like hell you stupid, maniacal- James, behave!

I gritted my teeth as Calliope started the engine and the vibrations ricocheted through my whole body. I clenched my arms around her waist and squeezed. Then I heard Calliope gasp.

"Okay. Just a bit less hard, James, or you'll break a rib."

I forced my arms to release their hold for the slightest bit. Then we were off before I could even blink. The quad gently lurched forward. The wind blew around my face as I clenched my eyes shut and tried to keep my heart from slamming out of my ribcage. I distantly noted my gasping breaths. Calliope's hand touched my arm.

"Are you okay?" she yelled over the rumble of the machine.

I didn't answer, so she turned her head slightly towards me.

"Eyes on the road! Are you fucking insane?" I shouted in a panicked voice. Calliope's head snapped back around.

"Everything's fine. See?"

I watched as we drove onto a dirt-packed road at a leisurely pace. Trees rose around us gradually, as the quad bumped over the uneven terrain in stomach-clenching lurches. I barely noticed my loosening grip or the transition from fear to elation as rolling, sunlit fields endlessly spread around us, as far as the eye could see. And with a jolt of surprise, I realized that Calliope was right: I absolutely loved it. The giddy, tickling feeling in my stomach, the fresh wind on my face, the smell of nature, Calliope in my arms. The thrill of every bump and hill. I kept my eyes wide open and breathed a laugh.