at him again. Jeremy wheeled slowly through the parking lot until he found a space close to the front where he could keep an eye on his bike throughout the day (and so everyone else could as well). He put the bike in neutral and revved the engine a couple of times before shutting it down. Still aware of the eyes on him, Jeremy got his books out of one of the saddle bags and walked up to the front doors.
He tried to be cool most of the day like Ratchet had taught him, but fifth period was coming up, and that was the only class he had with Jenny. All this false bravado aside, Jeremy was pretty nervous. As he walked into fifth period, he saw Jenny already in her chair, and he took a deep breath. Walking up to her, Jeremy said, “So… are you going to let me buy you a milkshake sometime?”
Jenny smiled and looked up at him, saying, “You know my dad will never let me date a guy who rides a motorcycle, right?”
Jeremy paused for a moment, nodding. Then he said, “So we’ll have to keep it secret then, huh? I’m cool with that.”
Jenny giggled a little and looked down at her pencil. Then she said, “If you want to give me a ride over to the Dairy Freeze after school, I can probably justify about twenty minutes. I’ll tell my mom I was hanging out with friends.”
“Well that’s not a lie,” Jeremy justified, “we’re friends now, right?”
“Sure.” she said, looking up at him. Jeremy had never seen eyes so blue before. He hoped Jenny couldn’t tell he was shaking.
The teacher’s voice snapped Jeremy back to reality. “All right class, everyone take a seat and we’ll get started.”
As Jeremy made his way to his seat in the back of the classroom, he couldn’t believe what had just transpired. Was he really going out with Jenny Mahoney? ‘The’ Jenny Mahoney? ‘Captain of the volleyball team’ Jenny Mahoney? It didn’t seem real, and Jeremy had no idea what went on the rest of the day, because all he could think about was those blue eyes… looking up at him… saying “Sure.”
When the last bell of the day rang, Jeremy got his books together and headed out to his bike. He put his books in one of the saddle bags and straddled the bike, waiting. As the other students came out and got into their own vehicles, Jeremy got various looks he found amusing. Some people looked at him in fear. Jeremy understood that. He would never hurt any of them, but he understood that bikers could be scary. Some people looked at him in disgust. Mostly jocks, but some of the preps and nerds as well. Jeremy did not understand that. He never looked at them in disgust just because they were different from him, why would they look at him that way? Some girls looked at him in a different way. “Hey baby...” one of them called out as she waved. Jeremy smiled and nodded.
Finally, Jenny came out of the building and looked around. When she saw Jeremy, she smiled and came walking over. One of the jocks noticed and yelled out, “Be careful Jenny, you don’t know what you’ll catch standing next to that one!”
Jeremy turned the ignition on his bike and the engine roared to life. The jock was yelling something else, but Jeremy revved the engine and held his free hand up to his ear, shaking his head like he was listening but couldn’t hear what the jock was saying. The jock sneered and walked away.
Jenny yelled over the sound of the engine, “I LIKE YOUR BIKE!”
“I THINK IT LIKES YOU TOO! HOP ON!” Jeremy yelled back.
She lifted her leg over the seat and snuggled up behind Jeremy, wrapping her arms around his waist. “HOLD ON!” he yelled as he tapped it into gear and took off out of the parking lot. It was a short ride over to the Dairy Freeze, but Jeremy was on top of the world. If someone had told him last year at this time that he would have a bike that looked like this, and that Jenny Mahoney would be riding on the back of it, he wouldn’t have believed them.
They pulled up to the Dairy Freeze and found a parking spot. After getting their milkshakes, they sat down at a table on the patio. Jeremy tried not to be creepy, but he just couldn’t keep his eyes off of Jenny. “So…” she said after a couple of sips, “what do you do with your time, Jeremy Bonds?”
“What do you mean?” he responded.
“Well,” she went on, “nobody ever sees you at football games or basketball games. I never see you at school plays or even parties. What do you do with your time?”
Jeremy looked down at his milkshake and then back up at Jenny. “I don’t know,” he said, “work I guess.”
“Where do you work?” she delved.
“You know that motorcycle shop down on Queen street?” he asked. “I work there.”
Jenny took another sip of milkshake. “Do you like it?” she said.
“Yeah.” Jeremy responded. “I do. Ratchet is cool, and it gives me something to do. Plus, it pays better than flipping burgers.” Jenny nodded, and Jeremy went on, “So, what do you do with your time Jenny Mahoney?”
“Well, volleyball during season.” she answered. “I’ve be applying to colleges too, since I’ll be a senior next year. Other than that, just hanging out with friends and working at Driggers clothing on the weekend.” Jenny paused for a moment, then said, “Why do you look at me like that?”
“Like what?” said Jeremy.
“Like you’ve never seen a girl before…” she clarified.
Jeremy looked down at his milkshake again and smiled, trying to remember what Ratchet taught him. After a moment, he looked back up at Jenny and said, “You are the most beautiful girl I’ve ever known, and I can’t believe I’m sitting here talking to you. I look at you and I forget my own name. I know your dad would kill me if he caught you here with me, but I don’t care. These twenty minutes I get to spend with you today would be totally worth it.”
“How is it you’re so tough on the outside and so sweet on the inside?” Jenny asked. “But speaking of my dad, our twenty minutes are about up. Can you take me back to my car at school?”
“Do I have to?” Jeremy said.
Jenny smiled again. “Yes, Jeremy Bonds, you have to. But that doesn’t mean we can’t do this again sometime.”
They threw their cups away and got back on Jeremy’s bike. He started it up and pulled out of the parking lot, then on down the street. Jeremy purposely drove as slow as he could back to the high school. When he pulled in, there were only a couple of cars left in the lot. He pulled up to Jenny’s car and turned off his bike.
“Thanks for the milkshake, and the ride.” Jenny said, holding out her hand.
“Any time.” Jeremy responded, shaking her hand.
They stood there for a few seconds, looking at each other with their hands still clasped. Finally, Jenny looked around to make sure no one was looking. Seeing no one, she leaned in and gave Jeremy a kiss. “I’ll see you at school tomorrow, Jeremy Bonds.” she said. Then she got in her car and drove away.
Jeremy half-wished someone was there to see the kiss, because no one was going to believe it. Still, the memory would stay with him for the rest of his life. Starting his bike back up, Jeremy headed off to the shop to get some work done. As he rode down the main strip, he noticed a pickup truck behind him. It was following a little too close for comfort, so Jeremy waved them around. The truck just got closer, until it was right on his fender. Jeremy hit the gas and took off, and the truck did its best to follow. He tried to zigzag in and out of traffic, but Jeremy was still a fairly inexperienced rider. He couldn’t lose the truck completely, there was just too much traffic.
Passing a familiar building on the left, Jeremy smiled. He took the next left turn and circled around the block, the truck still right behind him. Jeremy pulled the bike into an alley behind the familiar building and stopped in front of the back door. The truck stopped right behind him, blocking Jeremy from getting out. When the truck doors opened, three big jocks got out with baseball bats and began walking slowly toward Jeremy.
“That was a dumb move, grease monkey.” the first one said. Jeremy r
ecognized him as the jock who was talking to Jenny in the hall. “It’s gonna be a shame to get blood all over that pretty new bike…”
Suddenly Skeeter came out of the back door of the building with a couple of big bikers. “Hey kid,” he said. “You really need to watch who you’re hanging out with these days. These guys look like total losers.”
“This ain’t your business.” the jock said. “Besides, we’re just high-school kids. You can’t touch us.”
Skeeter looked over the three jocks, then said, “The year on your letter jackets is this year. That means you’re seniors, which means you’re eighteen… which means you’re fair game. You’re on my property, so I’m officially defending myself.” Skeeter reached down beside a dumpster and grabbed a piece of metal pipe. Walking up beside Jeremy, he said, “You boys can leave in your truck or in an ambulance. I’ll let you decide.”
The first jock pointed his bat at Jeremy and said, “This ain’t over, grease monkey”, and he started walking back to his truck. The others joined him, keeping an eye on Skeeter and Jeremy. The truck backed