"Dude!! Moving is brutal!!" Shane barked, leaning against the counter at Storm Chargers. So yesterday, was so moving day...and it was a massacre! But being there with my two best friends was priceless...

Pointing a wrench at him, I smile, "See I told you! It's no joke!"

"But it's so much fun!!" Tori giggled. She was wearing a long, flowy, blue, Hawaiian floral print skirt with a cute little white tank top. Aaahhhhhh....She jumped onto the counter and sat near the register, near me, hunched over, right next to her. She smells like the most edible fruit...so good... I can't really place my finger on it...smells like....

"Man, you guys look wrecked!" A familiar voice rings throughout Storm Chargers. Suddenly, Tori jumps down from the counter and runs toward the voice..

"Oh my God!!!", She yells..she sounds so happy. Shane looks over at me, still afraid to lift my head.

"Blake!!!" Tori sceams, wrapping her arms around him.

My jaw drops to the floor immediately...Do I look surprised?? Probably not....But, wait, do I look pissed?? Oh...definitely...

Shane nudges my shoulder and the look on my face, you know, the look of pure evil and fiery death, quickly fades to a mask of sheer, bullshit joy... "Oh Blake! Oh Blake!" I squeal, totally mocking Tori. She's too excited to care....That makes me feel worse....

"Hey! Whats up guys?!" Blake exclaims, way too excitedly.. Maybe I'm just bitter..ya think?? Blake and Tori walk up to where me and Shane are standing. I make my way from behind the counter. Blake and Shane hand shake, and half-hug each other..You know , the manly hug....not too much hug...just enough...

"Hey dude! Long time no see!!" Shane smiles.

"I know , man!" Blake makes his way over to me. Way uncomfortable, I hope I'm not too obvious...

"Hey Blake, how's it goin' , man?" I half-hug my navy friend and he pats me on the back kinda hard. My eyes pop open, startled by the sting his hand left on my back...Woah...Dude, whats up with that?

"Hey, Dustin..How's the track been treatin' ya?" Blake laughs. Tori looks over at me...then at Blake...then at Shane...I catch Shane and Tori exchange confused shrugs, while me and Blake nod at each other. I'm feeling more and more awkward by the second..whats all this tension about?

"So....Blake, how's college going? C'mon, we wanna hear all about it!" Tori says, smiling and looking at me and Shane nervously, "Don't we , guys?"

"Yeah, of course, dude!" Shane says, crossing his arms.

"Dude..." I say , scratching my head "Where's Hunter?"

"Good question," Blake looks at his watch ," He shoulda been here by now."

"Well, where was he?....I mean...he's supposed to meet you here?" I add.

"Yeah..he said he had to go meet somebody, and he'd catch up with me.."

"Woah..well, who was he meeting?" I ask, concerned.

"Your guess is as good as mine. He didn't say.." Blake says, quickly turning all his attention back to Tori...I stand puzzled , trying to think where Hunter could be..I do miss riding with him..and Blake.

"College is cool..it's interesting..the only thing I hate is not being able to see certain people I care about." Blake looks directly at Tori. Gee...I wonder who he means by 'certain people'....oh, spare me...Tori blushes, smiling uncontrollably..she looks down and giggles. And I am trying so hard to keep that obvious death glare from posessing my face. I have to break this cheesy, vomit worthy moment.

"Um, yeah...right...so, theres no Motocross track where you guys are?" I say, feeling my heart break a little, while my skin tightens. And I'm guessing, that's 'cuz I'm kinda pissed...

"No...there's not." Blake seems to be annoyed with everything I say. I really don't understand why... I mean... he's only thieving the girl of my dreams right in front of me...maybe I should be the one annoyed...

"So, what do you do for sports?" Shane jumps in, glancing at me, making sure I'm not looking like I'm about to murder someone...again...

"Me and Hunter been riding...Not much lately, but we try to as much as we could..we go down to the nearest beach and ride round the wooded area..it's not great, but hey, we make it work, ya know." Blake speaks nonchalantly. He sounds a little off. Maybe college changed him.

"So, we should go riding today, bro! I been so, bustin' out sweet lap times...my freestyle has been giving me a hard time, but-"

"Yeah ...sounds cool, but I got things to do. Tori and I were gonna catch a movie and some dinner." Blake cut me off...Totally rude!! What the hell is wrong with him?? He is so lucky I'm a patient dude 'cuz-

"We are? Um..ok..sounds great!" Tori smiles..looking way unsure of anything that's going on, "I'm off today, that'll work...but you can go riding before-hand if you want, that's not a problem."

"Yeah, man...just a couple of laps." I say, brushing his rudeness off.

"Nah, maybe another time.."

"Dude-"

"Hey, don't you have some bikes to fix??" Blakes' ill-mannered seriousness set off something..and it's not good.

"What?!" Shocked at how nasty his comment was, I stare at him with my mouth open and my eyes widened. I squeeze the wrench in my hand tightly. Shane is grabbing my arm now and I know he knows that I know just what he's thinking. Tori's face dropped and her pale skin blushed to a bright red...No one knows what to say, I guess.

"You heard me! You work here, right?? So go work!!!" Blake scolds.

I feel my face distort, skin burning, fists clenching...my fingers, almost purple, from squeezing the wrench so tight. Tori looks at me as if she's trying to tell me telepathically that she's speechless and she's sorry.

I just feel so angry and embarrassed and just wrong! The only logical thing I could do is walk away...

I nod and swallow hard. I look at Shane, shaking my head , and with that, I walk away...And yeah, I do have bikes to fix..so that's where I'll focus my energy.

"Dustin!" Tori yells out to me , but does nothing. Whatever...she wants to be with Blake, fine...that's cool.. it's not like I expected anything to go my way... I slam the door to the backroom, where Kelly is sorting shipment. She looks up at me...

"What on earth is wrong?" She says reading my face. I throw the wrench at the work bench and it falls to the floor, making a series of loud thuds. Kelly jumps for each bang...

"Dustin!!??" She stands up and runs over to me placing a hand to my chest, "Woah, woah!! What's going on??" Kelly pulls up a stool and pushes me onto it. "Sit down and spill it!" She puts her hands to her hips.

"Oh man, Kel!! He is so fucking lucky I have respect!" I shake my head, breathing in and out, trying to relax but my blood is boiling and my heart is racing like mad.

"Who? What happened?" Kelly has her hands on my shoulders, holding me still on the stool.

"How the hell? What the fuck, man??" I yell...pissing myself off even more.

"Dustin!" Kelly yells at me,"Tell me what's going on!"

I take a deep breath and look at Kel with fiery eyes, "Blake!"

"He's back?" Kelly exclaims, addled by everything that's going on.

"Oh, he's back alright!!! With a stick up his ass and a major attitude problem!!" I push the hair from my face.

"What happened? He got smart with you?"

"He totally chumped me! In front of everyone!! I don't know what the hell his problem is but he better fix it!!"

"Wait...just now???" Kelly asks, still way confused and baffled.

"Yes!!!"

"Are you kidding?? What did he say??" Kelly pulled up a stool for her to sit on in front of me.

"Everytime I said anything he came out with crazy attitude and just totally brushed me off left and right..then I was like , ' hey lets go riding' and he played me!! He was like making plans for Tori without even asking her and that shit pissed me off!! Oh!! And then!! Oh, this is the best part!! Yeah, this takes the cake! He said,' Hey don't you have some bikes to fix? You work here so go work!' "

Kellys' eyes widened with the drop of her jaw. She stared at me as I stared back at her, biting my bottom lip, furious as all hell. Kelly suddenly blurted, "Oh my God! What on earth?? I.....I...What's gotten into him? No one said anything?"

"Not at all!! No one said one word! He just fucking chumped me in front of my family! And no one said nothing! Screw that, Kel! Screw that!"

"Yeah..definitely! College made him a prick, huh?"

"I don't think it made him a prick...I think it just brought his prickness out to the surface."

"I can't believe that he said that to you!" Kelly shook her head, still in awe at Blake and his actions.

"yeah and that's just it- It was only me he was acting like that to! What did I ever do to anybody that I always get shit on? I think I'm a good person...I just... I don't get it." I'm feeling a little calmer now.. my boiling blood is down to a simmer and slowly ,but surely , my yelling is reducing to a calm voice.

Kelly looks at me and sighs, "Look at me, Dustin." She says softly. I return her glance with a pissy face. "You are an amazing person. Whoever can't see that in you, doesn't deserve a second of your time. Don't ever feel belittled by anyone. Never let them make you feel anything short of who you are." Kelly smiles as she speaks to me.

"And who am I?" I question. Maybe the question I'm asking out loud should really be aimed towards myself.

"Are you kidding?" Kelly laughs," You are Dustin Brooks! The most loyal, gracious, sweet, bighearted, funniest, amazing person I know. That's who you are. You don't forget that, ya hear me!"

A smile finds it's way on my face and I know Kelly truly means every word. "Awe..thanks Kel." I say automatically grabbing her and stealing a hug, "Thanks.." I whisper to her.

"Oh! You know I love you Dustin!" She hugs me back, "I gotta love ya to put up with ya!" She laughs. I join her in laughter as she stands up and fixes her clothes.

"Well, I gotta get out on the floor before people decide to steal and act a fool." She places her hand on my shoulder. "If you need me-"

"I know!" I smile. I feel much better. I feel like me breaking Blakes face is petty and dumb. But, that's just for now...

Kelly squeezes my shoulder and walks towards the door.

"Hey, Kel!" I quickly call out. She spins around. "Thanks."

She throws up her thumb and winks at me. Giggling, she walks out onto the sales floor. Leaving me alone with my tool and my bikes. Not to mention my thoughts...

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Soo there is is! Chapter 6! I had a lot of fun writing this one..please tell me what you think ! thanks

cyn