Chapter 6: The Great Escape- Boys Like Girls
Zane was almost a full year older than Rikki so he received his driver's license first. Not that it mattered, Rikki was certain Emma's little brother would get a driver's license and a car before Rikki did. How could she or her father afford that? Rikki preferred walking or swimming to her destination anyway, owning a car would be somewhat pointless.
That's what she thought until she and Zane got back together. Rikki knew Cleo or Emma wouldn't approve of her not-so-new relationship. Rikki herself tried not to fall for him but that quickly became a losing battle. She stayed at the motocross tracks just to watch him race. She was awake for far too much of the night, staring at her ceiling thinking about him. She couldn't hold out for much longer. Still, she wasn't ready to face her friends yet. She needed more time so they couldn't go out in public. She was pleasantly surprised when he agreed to play her way.
That didn't mean she didn't want to go out to the movies or the mall with him. She found it difficult to see other young couples out and about without a care in the world. Anytime she found herself desperately wanting that, she imagined herself and Zane arm and arm, bumping into Cleo, Emma or even Lewis. No, she wasn't ready for that.
"I was thinking," Zane started one day as they laid on a sand dune, waves crashing in the background. "Maybe it's time we go on a date."
"What do you think we're doing now?" Rikki asked him.
"I mean a real date." Zane said. "At a restaurant or something."
"Ah, but that would violate one of our conditions, remember?" Rikki said with a bit of remorse.
"I know." Zane replied, sitting up from the sand. Rikki followed as not to get sand in her face. "But I imagine you didn't want to be seen in public because you didn't want your friends to find out about us, right?"
"Right." Rikki said, a confused look on her face.
"Well, correct me if I'm wrong but they seem to always be here." Zane said. "In Gold Coast."
"Right, we live here too." Rikki said.
"What if we weren't here?" Zane said. "I've been thinking, I could probably talk to my dad about taking the car for a day when he's not busy. We could go somewhere out if town, where no one knows us."
"I suppose that's not a terrible idea." Rikki replied. "Where were you thinking?"
"Brisbane's only about an hour away." Zane shrugged.
It only took two weeks until perfect timing struck. Harrison was out with another company president all day in a rental car. The water was a bit too cold for a swim so the girls were going to stay on land and Rikki knew she wouldn't have to come up with an excuse. She simply walked to Zane's home and hopped in the car with him. She was nervous leaving Gold Coast, they were technically in public. She wouldn't be surprised if she saw any of the girls or Lewis at a crosswalk.
"Are you all right?" Zane asked her with a knowing look on his face.
"Fine." Rikki replied. "Just a little nervous they'll see us is all."
"You'll be fine, Rikki." He told her at a red light. "Here, if you want you can chose a song to play."
Zane pulled his iPod out of his front pocket and handed it to her. Rikki smiled slightly as she took the expensive item. She would never own something like this in a million years. She shook her head before she got too lost in thought. Anytime money or lack there of crossed her mind, she'd always go to a dark place. She couldn't do that now.
Rikki shuffled through his songs, trying to find one she would like. His knowledge of rock music had certainly expanded since they started dating but he still had quite a bit of pop music on his iPod. She finally found a new song he had just downloaded that was a classic. She selected it and placed the iPod on the dashboard.
Paper bags and plastic hearts
All our belongings in shopping carts
It's goodbye, but we got one more night
Rikki started humming along to the song, feeling her worries start to melt away as they got closer to the outskirts of town. She looked over to Zane and saw he was staring at her.
"What is it?" She asked.
"Nothing." He replied. "This is a good song. I don't know it too well, but I like it."
"It's a classic." Rikki said. "Even Cleo knows this song."
Rikki listened to the song again and knew the chorus was coming up. It was so obvious and simple, Zane wouldn't have had to have heard the song very often to know this signature part of the song.
"You have to at least know this part." Rikki said. Zane nodded his head to the beat of the music as he must have known the chorus was coming too.
"Throw it away, forget yesterday, We'll make the great escape." He started belting out. He wasn't a great singer but Rikki wasn't either. She looked at him with wide eyes and a huge smile she couldn't wipe from her face.
"Come on, rock expert." Zane said once the chorus was over. "Am I the only one that's going to sing along?"
Rikki shook her head as the second verse came up. "Tonight will change our lives, It's so good to be by your side"
Zane didn't know the words to the verses but he tried to sing along nonetheless. Rikki did her best not to break into a fit of giggles as she sang along. Soon it was hard to hear the music over their laughter.
"Wait, you missed a turn." Rikki finally said toward the end of the song.
"Well, we'll figure it out." Zane said as he rewinded the song. "I could go for another listen, can't you?"
"Do you even know where we are?" Rikki asked. She remembered she forgot to tell her dad to make a turn on one of their moves and he had gotten so upset with her. Zane acting so care-free was different but welcome.
"I don't really care, Rikki." Zane replied. "So long as I'm with you, we'll figure it out."
They never made it to Brisbane. So much for their Great Escape.