It was her freshman year, another year before she could drive herself to school and get off this God-forsaken yellow bus. It was quiet enough in the morning but it never failed that it was loud, obnoxious and smelled like a thousand unwashed armpits in the afternoon. She craved her independence like a junkie craved their next fix. It wasnt a childish want, it was deep, burning need. She felt constantly cooped up. She was confined within the brick walls of Charming high school for 8 hours every day, then there was the half-hour bus ride home. Her alcoholic father lorded over her every minute until he passed out drunk, in front of the television. Those were her minutes of solitude, her precious moments of freedom. She spent as much of her time wandering free, sometimes through her neighborhood, sometimes in the woods that surrounded it.
She was jolted out of her thoughts by the roar of two shiny black Harley Davidson motorcycles pulling up next to the bus at the only red-light in the small town of Charming. Jackson Teller, a boy who was a grade ahead of her in school, looked up the bus, his blue eyes catching her green eyes and winking, while his friend just stared at the light, as if willing it to change.
"Wish I could be part of that world," Tara thought, as Jax turned and said something to the other rider, who turned out to be Opie Winston, another boy she had seen around school. "Where they stay all day, wandering free," Tara sighed as the light changed and the two riders roared off, half the guys on the bus cheering and half the girls drooling in their wake.
A few long minutes later, the bus pulled up at her stop and Tara was surprised to see Jackson Teller parked in front of her house, motorcycle idling, with a cigarette between his lips, looking every bit the Prince, as everyone had dubbed him. As she walked toward her house he called out to her, "Tara, right?"
"That's me, and you're Jackson Teller," she answered, "Or is it Prince Charming that you're
going by these days?"
"Just Jax darlin," he replied, smirking at her. "You wanna go for a ride?"
"Does that line work on all the girls," she asked playfully.
"Most of 'em," he admitted. "Something tells me you're not like most girls though.
"Usually no," she began, "But when's it my turn to have fun?"
"Right now," he grinned at her.
She dropped her backpack on the steps, threw her purse around her neck and under her arm so that she wouldn't lose it and walked back to his bike. "Where do you wanna go," he questioned her.
"What would I give if I could live out of these waters? What would I pay to spend a day warm on the sand," she wondered to herself. Outwardly she said, "Somewhere that i can smell the fresh air and feel the sunshine on my face, where I don't feel like I'm drowning in this small town."
"Hop on, I'll give you all the fresh air and sun you can handle," he spoke, handing her his helmet revving the engine as she settled in behind him. "Hold tight darlin, and lean the way i lean."
Tara agreed and the moment her arms were wrapped tightly around his middle he took off, causing her to let out a little squeak and squeeze him tighter. She could feel the rumble of laughter more than she could hear it, and knew he was chuckling at her.
Once she removed her face from his back, where she had hidden at first, the sun was warm on her face and the wind wasnt as bad as she had expected. Jax drove them out of town and down winding roads, her body leaning fluidly with his. Tara began to think "Looking around here you'd think, 'sure she's got everything.' But who cares? No big deal, I want more. I wanna be where the people are."
Jax pulled off the road and Tara found that they were sitting outside of a diner. "Hungry?" Jax asked. She nodded and they went in. Jax guided her to a table in the back and sat with his back to the wall. "Tell me about yourself, the mysterious Tara Knowles," he said with a friendly smirk.
The waitress came by to take their orders and once she was gone, Tara told him of her mother's death, her father's alcoholism, how she used her father's disability check to pay the bills as quickly as she could so that they had electricity and food. She had no real idea why she was opening up to him like that, but it felt good to share the burden with someone else.
After their food came Jax began to tell her about his life. His sick little brother had passed away, and a few years later his father had been killed in a tragic accident. He was prospecting to become a member of his father's motorcycle club when he turned eighteen next year. He'd be the youngest member ever patched in, because everyone knew that him prospecting was only a formality.
When they were finished eating and ready to leave, Tara reached to pull out her wallet but Jax stopped her. He dropped two twenties on the table and put his arm around her, "Let's go finish our ride?"
They ended up at the Teller-Morrow lot a few hours later and there was a party in full swing. "You wanna hang out here or you want something more quiet?"
Tara opted for quiet, she had really enjoyed talking to Jax. She hesitated at the door when he led her to a bedroom in the back of the clubhouse, "I didn't mean…"
"I didn't think you did, but you seemed like you wanted to talk, and this is the quietest place right now. This is where i stay most od the time," he explained.
Tara nodded and went through the door Jax had opened for her. Jax went back toward the main room and came back a minute later with two beers. He sat on one side of the bed and motioned for her to do the same. "I won't bite, I promise," he teased.
They sat and talked, sipping their beers, eventually ending up side by side against the headboard. Jax leaned across Tara and pulled a pack of smokes out of the table by the bed. When he opened it, Tara was mildly surprised to see it full of joints. Jax lit one and offered it to her. Typically she would have turned it down; drugs were not a part of her plan to get the hell away from this small town, but her plan wasn't exactly doing her any favors right now, so she took a hit and passed it baxk to Jax. She coughed a bit at first, but Jax was impressed at how quickly she became accustomed to it.
"I want more, I wanna be where the people are. I wanna see them dancing, walking around," Tara sang. Jax gave her a funny look and she laughed, "Its a song from The Little Mermaid, but it describes me so well. I've had the lyrics in my head for days."
"You really are nothing like most of the girls that I've brought back here," Jax said, laughing again. He threw his arm around her shoulders and kissed her cheek, causing her to blush.
"I hope that's a good thing," she said quietly.
"I think it is," Jax answered. "I've never actually enjoyed just talking to someone for so long. You're something else Tara Knowles."
Tara smiled, "Its getting late, I should probably get home."
"Stay here tonight," he began, pausing when she gave him a look. "Calm down. I can sleep out there in the main room on one of the couches if you don't trust me to behave."
"I'll stay, and so can you," she answered with a warm amile," Just keep your pants on."
"Yes ma'am," he smirked. "Scouts honor and all that shit." Jax grabbed Tara and pulled her down until the were laying face to face on the bed. Putting his hand on the side of her face, he softly kissed her lips. "I think I could fall in love with you Tara Knowles," he whispered.
She leaned her forehead against his and took a slow deep breath, "It sounds insane. I mean, we've been on one bike ride, had dinner together and shared a joint, but I think i could fall in love with you too Jackson Teller."
Jax and Tara slipped under the covers, still fully clothed, and curled up together, foreheads still touching. They looked into each others eyes as they slowly drifted off to sleep. Tara fell asleep with more of The Litttle Mermaid's words in her head, "Bet they don't reprimand their daughters, bright young women, sick of swimming, ready to stand and ready to know what the people know."
She woke early the next morning, curled against the warmth that was Jax. He was still fast asleep looked so peaceful. "What're you thinking," he asked, startling her.
"Just thinking that I could be a part of this world," she mumbled and ahe snuggled back down, hoping for a few more hours of sleep.