A/N: Hey guys, thanks so much for favoriting and reviewing! It means a lot! Sorry this took so long. I thought I put it up before I left for Tennessee, but apparently not. We, as in my fiancee and I, went to visit his parents to tell them about the engagement. All went well! My parents are the ones we're freaking out about. Special thanks to ash1151 because your review meant a lot! Okay, well that's enough rambling from me...
Chapter Fourteen
After a lot of bribing from Nick, the woman came to her conclusion. I now had to spend four hours for the next six Sunday's doing community service like picking up trash and stuff. Along with that, I would have to pay $2,000; my mother was going to murder me. Mom was absolutely furious when she picked up the phone just to find out I had gotten in trouble with the law this time. I was released from my handcuffs with a few dirty looks from the officers anywhere close to me. The woman grumbled the entire time she was unlocking them; I followed Nick out of the station after that.
"Want a ride?" he asked quietly.
I looked at him with big eyes, "You'd give me a ride after I stole your motorcycle?" He shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets and starting towards his motorcycle. Biting my lip, I sighed and ran after him, "Well, wait for me!"
He slid off his leather jacket and threw it to me, "Put it on."
"Why?" I gave him a weird look, but put the jacket on anyway.
"Protection," he murmured and then also handed me his helmet. "Get on," he stuck the key in the ignition and revved the engine loudly.
I shoved the helmet on my head and zipped up the too-big jacket. It hung down around my mid-thighs and the sleeves were long enough to hide my hands in the depths. Instantly coated in heat, I immediately started sweating and I tried to remember if I had put on deodorant this morning. When I couldn't come up with an answer, I mentally groaned in defeat. Still, I threw my leg over the bike and settled my feet on the little pedal things with my arms resting around Nick's waist. The helmet had a visor to keep the wind out of my face while Nick slid on some sunglasses instead.
"Ready?" he asked over the rumbling of the engine.
Resting my chin on his broad shoulder, I nodded. "Ready!" and he literally took off.
The woman was scolding me for speeding when she should really be locking him up for it. He was reaching 80 while screeching down streets, but his driving was so much smoother. While I was jerky and constantly looking around me, his arms were rock hard and steady. Seeing that he was distracted, I slowly removed one hand from around his waist to rest it on his other shoulder. If he noticed, he didn't do anything to acknowledge me while my fingers trailed down to his bicep. Yep, I squeezed his bicep; the thing was rock solid and I could barely wrap two hands around it with my fingers connecting.
"Are you really feeling me up right now?" Nick asked, his smug voice dripping with amusement.
I flushed, "Psh, no!"
"Sure," he trailed off, and I could tell he was smirking. I moved my arm back to his waist, and then I glanced around at the things that were passing us at an ungodly speed. We were on a four-lane road, and Nick was easily weaving in and out enough to escape any oncoming traffic. He got a lot of honks and I'm pretty sure half the population of this town was currently cussing him out, but we were getting through.
"Do you know where you're going?!" I yelled over the sound of the wind rushing past. Nick abruptly turned into the parking lot of a gas station, making me yelp at the sudden change.
He came to a stop and then looked at me, "No."
It would be awesome if this was one of those stories where the guy just happened to know where the girl lived. And yet she never expects him to be a stalker. Instead, this is my life where I have to explain in detail about where I live. You're probably wondering why I won't just give him my address so that way he can drop me off with a kiss goodnight (enter my sarcastic snort here with a "like that would ever happen"). I can't give him the address because I don't know the address. This has probably the longest, most exhausting day of my life and I can't even get home to pass out.
"Oh, well neither do I…" I trail off, biting my lip; I push the visor up on the helmet.
Nick mutters under his breath for a second before looking at me. "You're being serious?"
"Does it look like I would ever joke about something like this?!" I gestured to my face. He opened his mouth to answer, but I quickly cut him off because I realized how stupid that question was. "Don't answer that. I'll just… explain the route I use on the bus," I decided.
He rolled his eyes, "Learn your address."
"I'm working on it!" I exclaimed indignantly.
Turning back to the front, he once again started up the motorcycle. My arms returned to their places around his waist after I flipped my visor back down. It took fifty minutes of my shitty instructions and Nick's annoyed huffs before I recognized my house. The yellow kind of stuck out from the brick houses surrounding it; Nick snickered quietly when he noticed. I slapped him on the shoulder as he turned into the short driveway, turning off the motorcycle. Quickly, I swung off just to stumble and fall on my ass; Nick amusedly looks down at me with both eyebrows raised.
"Good thing you were wearing the helmet. We don't need you getting more brain damage," he smirked at me.
"Shut up," I grumbled, but didn't make a move to get up.
"You don't want some help getting off your ass? Because I seem to be doing a lot of that lately."
"You know, just because you're Mr. Smooth with the biggest ego but shortest speaking record on this planet doesn't mean you can make fun of me for one mistake." He looked at me in disbelief. I huffed, "Fine, two mistakes," I gave in.
He nodded, satisfied, "Do you want to explain?"
"Not necessarily."
"Fine," he shrugged his shoulders.
This is where I should pour my heart and soul out to him, right? Where I should tell him all about how my dad passed, and about my "troubled" past. Instead, I just glared at him, "You're annoying, you know?"
"Still haven't heard the thank you," he shrugged.
"If you keep doing that, your shoulders will get stuck."
Just to mess with me, he shrugged five times in a row. "That'd be a shame."
"It'll be a shame when you have a broken nose to go with it."
"Nice comeback. Helmet?" he reached his hand out towards me.
I got back on my feet and yanked the helmet off of me, handing it over. He set it on his lap and reached out once again for the leather jacket. Slightly reluctant to part with it, I slowly unzipped it and slid it down and off my arms. It wasn't that I wanted to keep it so that way I could "have a piece of him tonight when I go to sleep". Oh, hell to the no; I wanted to keep it so I could wash it because I'm pretty sure it's drenched in my sweat. Hey, it's not my fault he made me put on a leather jacket in weather that felt like my skin was slowly being melted off of my body.
"You seem particularly chatty today," I smirked. "Anything else you want to say before you race into the night on your motorcycle?"
"Yeah," he says surprising me. "Do it again, and I won't be so easy on you."
I held my hands up in mock surrender, "Wouldn't dream of it, Nicholas."
He glares at me, "You sure I'm the annoying one?" and then he left.
With my mouth still gaping open, I turn to look at the urine-colored house behind me. I cursed when I glanced at my wrist watch and found that it was going on midnight. My mom was pissed enough, being home way past my curfew was just going to make it worse. As quietly as I could, I pushed open the front door after quickly unlocking it. It creaked, making me pinch my eyes shut; my back was awkwardly bent like I was a hunchback as I tried to quietly make it inside. Because, you know, the way my back is totally makes a difference when it comes to being quiet.
"Maximum Martinez!" it wasn't my mother that hissed at me on my way upstairs.
I mentally groaned when I found Ella, hands on her hips, at the top of the stairs. "What?" I hissed back quietly, continuing on my journey up the creaking stairs.
"Do you know how much trouble you're in? Not only did you just put Mom into a place with more debt than we already owe. But you also ruined her respect for you! You stole a motorcycle when you knew that you can't even drive one. We're lucky you made it out alive!" she sure sounded like my mom; she looked like her, too.
I held up my hand to get her to just stop talking. Jesus, the people in my family can talk and sometimes they all just blend together in my ears. "Ella, I'm sure I'm going to be getting the exact same lecture from Mom in the morning. So, I need you to move to the side, let me go to my bedroom, pass out on my bed, and then I can wake up with a long night's sleep. Isn't that fair?" I brushed past her.
"You've gone too far this time, Max," she murmured from behind me.
My shoulders tensed, "I went too far in Maine. This isn't Maine, and I haven't done any of that stuff since the move. Don't you dare act like you're the perfect daughter because you aren't!" I hissed.
She let out a shaky breath, pivoted on her heels, and shut her bedroom door behind her. I rubbed at my temples, my eyes shutting as I tried to gain my regular breathing pattern back. After a few seconds, I went to the door of the twins' bedroom to make sure they were good. Both were sound asleep, blonde curls thrown all over their pillowcases while they curl into their blankets and stuffed animals. I finally made it to my own bedroom where the dark walls made it seem like I just entered an ongoing abyss. Without changing, I threw my boots to the side, collapsed on my bed, curled into my sheets like the twins, and passed out.
"Hey, Max?" a small voice asked; I slowly looked up from my iPod. Angel was standing in the doorway of my bedroom, digging her shoe into the carpet.
I sigh, already knowing what was coming, "Yeah, Ange?"
"Mommy wants to see you," she inclined her head, her blue eyes locking onto mine.
It was Thursday, and I had stayed in my bedroom all morning except when I left to shower. I had even skipped breakfast just to avoid talking to my mother. When I got out of the shower, I had thrown on a pair of extremely ripped black skinny jeans. Along with those was a gray tank-top that had a navy blue American Eagle on the front. Then I slid on some gray Chuck Taylor tennis shoes and a chain with a black feather hanging off of it as a necklace. With that done, I dried my hair as fast as possible and then shoved a black beanie on top of my blonde hair.
"Fine," I moan, getting to my feet. Angel reaches up and takes my hand, smiling up at me with that adorable look she always maintains.
She sighs, "Max, is everything okay with you and Mommy?"
I ruffle her perfect blonde curls with my fingers, "Not really, sweetheart. But you don't need to worry about it because I'll make it better," I declare with what I hoped was a convincing smile. Angel slowly nodded as we reached the foot of the stairs. She squeezed my hand and then skipped to the living room where Gazzy was waiting for her with red finger paints, a dinosaur toy, and three of her plastic Barbie dolls.
"Take a seat," Mom said as soon as I entered the kitchen.
I dropped down at the dining room table, drumming my fingers on the top. "Look, Mom, I know I messed up, but-"
"Don't," she holds her hand up to me, silencing the rest of my speech. "I'm going to speak, and you're going to listen without opening your mouth even once. Do you understand?" she remained standing, hands placed strictly on her hips. Biting my bottom lip, I slowly nod to tell her I understood; she dropped her hands and then came what I was waiting for. "You have once again gone with your instincts and gotten yourself in trouble, but this time it's costing me. It's costing this family, Maximum. With Angel's bills already on my hands, I don't need to owe more money for something that shouldn't have happened in the first place!
"This has gone on for too long, Max. You're almost eighteen; you should know better than to steal a motorcycle and then speed without your license! This is costing more than a thousand dollars plus a terrible image on this family. You have messed up for the last time, Max. You're going to change. You will make the cross country team because I know you can, you will be getting a job anywhere in this town, you will be paying off your own debt, and you will succeed in school this year. Do you understand me?" even though I was dying to snap back at her, I knew I couldn't.
So, I slowly nodded instead, "I understand," I murmured quietly. This could seriously not get any worse; I had to participate in school and get a job because of my stupid mistake.
She nodded then stuck her hand out, "Give me your iPod." I was wrong; it just got ten times worse.