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Three days of girly research and Detta was ready to snap. The only time she left the house was to run to the drug store and hoard all of the Cosmos, Glamours and Vogues she could. Creative writing wasn't her forte but, for now, she was going to tap into every ounce of creativity she could muster in order for her column to come off as believable. Plus, it would make her editor angry to know that she was actually able to comply with his request. She knew he was fully expecting her to put up a fight but she was going to shatter his expectations.
This time, she walked down to the Boardwalk, for one reason or another. Safety be damned. She still had her knife in her shoulder bag that was tucked close to her body. She had spent so much time inside that the last thing she wanted to do was box herself into her car. She sat on a bench facing the ocean, her feet, clad in her failsafe boots, resting on the railing in front of her, her dress billowing in the breeze, wrapping itself around her legs. She had been sitting there for a while, just staring at the darkened sea and the beach littered with bonfires. She was close enough to one that the smell from the smoke was going to go home with her on her clothes.
Pressure on the bench next to her jerked her out of her cocoon of serenity and she looked to see who had taken a seat. Platinum, clad head to toe in black and looking out towards the ocean. Detta rolled her eyes and returned her gaze to her water.
"What do you want?" she asked, attempting to hide all evidence of a moody inflection in her voice.
"To sit. Is that ok with you?"
"Of all the places, all the benches on this Boardwalk, you choose the one seat next to me?"
Both their gazes remained fixed in front of them but, like the poles, the repellant feeling between them was evident. He turned to look at her.
"What's your name?"
"What, your friend didn't tell you?" she replied, rolling her eyes and turning to look at him.
He smirked. "Detta."
"You going to ask me about the weather next?"
He smirked again. "You don't like me, do you?"
"I don't know you enough to not like you. Don't know you enough to like you. But you don't exactly exude warm and fuzzy feelings. And I wouldn't really say you were charming during our first encounter."
"I was just welcoming you."
"Yeah, well, next time you welcome someone, you might want to take the death out of your eyes." Platinum released a silent laugh but said nothing. Detta fidgeted a little before saying, "Do you have a name because in my head I just call you Platinum. I could call you Weird Intimidating Death Guy but it takes up too much of my thought process."
"We wouldn't want to do that," he said, a hint of sarcasm in his voice but before Detta could rebut, he continued. "You mean, Marko didn't tell you?" he said, mocking her previous tone.
She looked up at him. "Nope. Didn't mention you or your other friends."
He chuckled. "David. Any other nicknames I should know about?"
"Wiley."
"That could only be Paul."
"The Brood."
"The ever-stoic Dwayne."
"He does know how to speak, right?"
"Very well. He just chooses his words wisely. And, of course, you've already met Marko." Detta looked behind her, scanning the crowd for the other boys. "They're here somewhere. I have no doubt you'll run into them later."
"Do you?"
He looked at her. It wasn't a glare but it was more than a look. She couldn't quite read it. "Shouldn't you be getting to work?"
Detta frowned and rummaged around in her bag, looking for her watch. "Shit." She gathered herself and started walking away but abruptly turned. "Um, nice…talking to you?" She didn't quite know what to say. He made her uneasy but didn't want to leave without saying anything.
Apparently he felt the same way. "Likewise." He wore a half smile of politeness. She returned and then rushed down the Boardwalk towards the pier.
"I'm late, I know. I'm sorry!" Detta said as she rushed into the store and flew into the back room to deposit her things. She stood in the doorway of the office, trying to catch her breath.
"Detta, don't worry. Are you hungry? We were just about to order food." Max handed her a menu to look over. Italian.
She added her order to the queue and set to work with Max. Stopping only to eat, they finally finished the first ad as the store was closing. It was her job to get it to the paper by deadline the following day. She reminded him it wouldn't get in tomorrow's paper but it would be in the day after. He gave his nod of approval and bid her good night.
She had just gotten past the end of the Boardwalk, walking along the main street when a roar of engines began to catch up to her from behind. Detta rolled her eyes, knowing who those engines, those bikes, belonged to. She continued walking until David soared past her, cutting his bike in front of her path, blocking her. He was smiling, really more like smirking, at her as the other boys followed suit, forming a half circle around her with Marko bringing up the rear.
"Looks like you need a ride," David bellowed over the engines.
"Looks like, yeah but these," she slapped her legs, "are still working ok."
"What's the matter, Movie Mama? Afraid we'll bite?" Paul laughed.
She looked at Wiley, now with a proper name of Paul, and scoffed. "I know you would." He laughed, caught a little off guard. She guessed no girl had ever thrown a retort at him like that before. "And I'm not afraid," she said defiantly.
"So take the offer." Detta spun around. It was Marko who spoke this time. She hid a smile from him and turned to look at the other boys. Paul seemed to have a permanent smile etched onto his face. The brooding one, now known as Dwayne, just stared at her.
When her gaze got to David, he hoisted his eyebrows. "Well?"
"Where?"
"A bar. The Marko can bring you home. Fulfill his offer."
What had she got to lose, other than her neck? Her intuition was usually spot on and this time no alarms were going off except those around David. Something still wasn't sitting right with her about him. She just couldn't put her finger on it. Dwayne seemed more inviting and he hadn't done anything except breathe in her general direction.
"Come on," came Marko's voice from behind her.
She looked back to David who gave her a closed-mouth smile before revving his engine.
"Come on!" Marko's voice was a little more impatient as he reached for her wrist and pulled her towards the back of his bike, easing her on.
She was about to step on the exhaust pipe to get herself up but Marko quickly stopped her. "Not on that! You've never ridden on a bike before, have you?"
"No," she said flatly, looking around at the other boys, expecting them to laugh.
"Use that," he said, pointing to a silver rod extending from the bike.
She stepped on it and, using his shoulder to steady herself, hoisted herself behind him, resting her other foot on a similar rod on the other side. She obsessively tucked her dress firmly under her legs, not wanting it flying up around her waist as they rode.
"You're going to want to get closer. You won't be able to hold on being that far away," he said over his shoulder.
It was then Detta realized she was sitting at the very top of the back seat, her body about a foot and a half away from his. She slid forward and put her hands on his waist. He grabbed them and wrapped them tight around his body, joining them on his stomach. She could feel him laugh. His patchwork jacket was rough against her skin but his long curls were a gentle contrast.
She looked at the other boys from behind Marko. They never laughed at her ineptitude on a bike, however David did look rather smug. Paul chuckled but not in a demeaning sort of way and she thought she even saw Dwayne crack a small smile but that disappeared when he revved his engine. David pulled out first, followed by Dwayne and Paul and then Marko. Detta let out a small squeak as the bike lurched forward and she could feel a chuckle in Marko's stomach. Her dress was starting to fly up and she inched closer to Marko's body in the hopes that it would keep it down. She clutched her bag closely to her side, trying to keep it from emptying out on the ride.
"Lean into the turn!" Marko yelled as they rounded a corner.
Detta gripped him tighter as the bike leaned sideways, feeling like the tires were going to slip out from underneath them. The wind whipped through her hair, lashing about her face, her eyes drying out. She could feel the vibrations from the bike in her stomach, feel them in Marko. She grabbed tighter at his body as they wove between the few cars that were on the road. She touched his skin briefly and quickly snapped her hand away, burying her face behind his shoulder to hide her blushing cheeks. However, she felt that his skin was like ice, freezing to touch. Probably the air. It was much cooler riding on a motorcycle than just standing around and Detta wished she had a jacket on her, something to cover the Goosebumps.
She had no concept of time, not being able to tell how long they were riding but they had arrives at their destination. It looked like a dive bar, a seedy joint on the outskirts of town. They all parked their bikes just outside the door and dismounted. Detta tried to be graceful but it was difficult in a dress. She was trying not to catch it on the skull Marko had situated on the back of his bike. She ran her fingers through her hair, desperately trying to free it of residual wind and painful knots.
"Enjoy the ride, Mama?" Paul walked up to her, laughing.
"Paul, do me a favor."
"Absolutely."
"Call me Detta."
"Can do. So?"
"Not bad. Like riding in a taxi but safer." This rendered a few chuckles.
"The messy look suits you," David said as he walked by her and into the bar.
"Thanks," she replied in a sardonic tone.
They followed David in, Marko walking behind her as they entered. Detta fought back a cringe. By definition she wasn't girly but she would have to cry foul here. The floor looked to have a layer of dirt covering it; the lights caked in a film of dust. A moose head hung on a far wall next to a well-worn dartboard and a beat up pool table. A few older men sat scattered around the bar, grunting to each other and watching one of the two TV screens on either end of the bar.
"Drinks!" David yelled, raising his eyebrows towards Detta.
"Dirty Martini, extra dirt, two olives."
David let out a hearty laugh and walked to the bar.
"Back here," Marko said, placing his fingertips on her back and nudging her in the right direction. She was led to a table in back, along the same wall as the pool table and moose head. She checked the seat before sitting down, afraid to sit in grime, and the other boys followed suit, Marko remaining standing next to her.
Moments later David wandered over balancing five beer bottles between his fingers. "They were out of dirt," he said, looked at Detta.
Detta reached for the bottle. "Should have figured," she said before taking a swig. "So is this a regular haunt for you guys? Not really the greatest place to pick up chicks, is it?"
Paul laughed. "Why? You wanna pick up some chicks"
Detta raised an eyebrow to him. "Wouldn't you like to see that?"
"Front row seats!" He laughed and clapped his hands together.
"This is where we wind down, not get riled up. There are other places we go for that," David answered, rolling his eyes at Paul.
"I would hope so," Detta said, muffling a laugh.
She took another pull from the bottle and glanced over at Marko who was talking to Dwayne. So the stoic one does speak. Marko looked young, younger than the rest of them, younger than her, but he didn't feel young. The way he held himself he seemed to be much older, aged, wiser. His skin was smooth and his eyes a piercing blue, rather chiseled features that should have said innocence but something else muted that. Just like that thing she didn't like about David, it was the same thing that stole Marko's innocence. She just couldn't pinpoint what it was. He was welcoming in a way that differed from the rest of the boys. Paul was welcoming in a grab-your-ass fashion. Dwayne was warm in a silent sort of way and David was as welcoming as a deer at a firing range. It was something she hoped to pinpoint over time. Time? Am I looking to spend more time with them? Do I want to?
Marko was turning his head and Detta quickly looked away, hiding herself behind her bottle and taking a swig. She wasn't exactly being inconspicuous but it didn't matter. No one said anything anyway.
Marko gave her a ride home an hour later, without the company of the rest of the boys.
"You know the town pretty well, don't you?" Detta said as she dismounted once they reached her house.
"I've lived here for a while. You alone here?" he asked as he leaned against his bike.
"Yeah but I don't mind. I can't work with other people around." Marko rested coolly against his bike and Detta stood a few feet from him. He gave her a wicked smiled. "Oh no you don't! You're going to have to work for the privilege of getting invited into my house. I'm not that easy."
Marko gave a hearty laugh, not at all disappointed. "I like that. Hard to get."
"Do you now?"
He crossed his arms over his chest and gave her a playful smile. "I do."
"Looks like I'll have to keep it up then. Goodnight, Marko." She smiled at him before turning towards the door.
"Hopefully not for long," he called after her.
She turned around, a wide grin spread across her face. He was ready to take off but was still staring her down. "We'll see."
He flashed her a wide smile and she returned his wicked grin. He laughed, gave her a quick wave and took off. Detta stood on the stoop watching after him, trying her best not to jump head first into the deep end.
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