Bulletproof

14. Tyler

I yawn as I lean back on the brick wall. The sun is long gone, hidden behind a mass of white and grey clouds. The cigarette between my fingers just hangs there, burning away. I don't want it anymore. My thoughts have turned darker.

Nearly at the end of last class and I find myself here—doing absolutely nothing, slacking off like any other day. It's been a few days since I was beaten up and the marks are still there even though the swelling has gone down. My side still hurts but so far is okay. Though I'm not exactly a doctor so for all I know, it could be infected.

The cigarette is suddenly yanked out of my hand and I jolt upright, looking up to see a familiar guy smoking my own cigarette. He leans against the wall beside me and blows out smoke slowly.

"I didn't know you were a compulsive smoker," he muses.

"I'm not," I tell Ethan. "I'm a social smoker."

"Is that what they call it now?" He smirks.

"Screw off," I mutter and grab the cigarette, throwing it down on the ground and stomping it out.

"Well, that was a waste." Ethan sighs.

"What are you doing here?" I ask. "You shouldn't be hanging around a school when you're not a student. Someone's gonna label you as a pedophile."

"I'm checking up on you," Ethan laughs. "Jesus, when did that become such a bad thing?"

"You're not my dad," I mumble, raising myself up higher against the wall.

"Aw," Ethan coos mockingly. "Are you having an inferiority complex?"

"Fuck off," I hiss.

"Alright, alright!" Ethan raises his arms and then drops them after a few seconds. "Your face does look messed up, though."

"Thanks. I always like my friends to make sure I know I'm beautiful and don't get any insecurities."

"Insecurities," Ethan scoffs. "You don't even know what a damn insecurity is Mr. Let's-beat-the-crap-out-of-everyone-for-money. You ooze confidence like a zit."

"That's disgusting," I groan.

Ethan just flashes me a smile and shoves his hands into the pockets of his jacket. "So, are you coming?" he asks as the bell rings for the end of class.

"Coming?" I frown.

"To my race." He rolls his eyes. "You said you'd be there. You know . . . seeing as last time you were getting the shit beat out of you."

"It's always nice to have a friend who cares about when I'm being attacked," I deadpan.

"So are you coming or are you going to stand here and whine?" He raises his eyebrows.

I open my mouth to rattle off some poor excuse when the back doors to the school open right beside us. Laughter follows through the door and two familiar girls come walking out. I can tell by the huge smiles on their faces that they're talking about something amusing.

Franny quickly stops when she sees us, and her smile fades a little. "Hey, Tyler," she says, a little hesitantly.

I smile. "Hey, Franny."

The ginger friend looks at both of us with a smirk. Franny catches her friend's look and quickly slaps her shoulder. I bite back my laugh.

"Who's this?" Ethan asks from beside me.

The two girls look at him as if only just noticing he's there. I take a step to the side and gesture towards my friend. "This is Ethan. Ethan this is Francesca, and, uh . . . "

"Tally," the ginger pipes up and jumps forward, her hand shooting out for Ethan to take.

Ethan raises an eyebrow but doesn't seem to protest as he shakes the Tally's hand.

Franny frowns a little. "Didn't you go to school here?" she asks Ethan.

He nods. "Graduated last year."

"Yeah." She smiles. "I thought I remembered you. Didn't you do that prank on the vice principal? You filled all the draws in her desk with whipped cream?"

Ethan grins. "Yeah." He laughs. "You remember that?"

"Yeah, it was awesome."

"Fuck, those were good days" He shakes his head. "Her face was priceless when she got back into her office. Got in a ton of trouble for it, though. Doesn't matter . . . I graduated anyway!" Ethan hooks an arm around Franny's shoulders. "You guys should come along with us."

I give him a deathly glare. What the hell is he up to? He catches my eye but just smiles and looks over at Tally. "I have a race. Why don't you both join? I always like the support." He winks.

I roll my eyes at him and Tally laughs. "Race? No offense but you don't really look like the running type."

Ethan moves his arm off Franny and a pathetic little part of me is almost pleased. He leers over to Tally and tilts his head at her. "Oh, I'm no runner, Ginge."

"Don't call me that." She narrows her eyes on him.

"I'm a racer," he admits proudly, ignoring her comment. "As in motorcycle racing . . . as in dirt bike racing."

"You're a dirt biker?" Tally smiles in amusement. "That the best you could do?"

"Okay, Ginge. You come and watch me tonight and I'll show you just how good I can be."

"But won't it be embarrassing when you fall flat on your ass in front of a girl?"

"Oh, I never fall." Ethan grins. "If anyone's falling, it's you, right on your own flat ass."

Tally gasps and starts insulting Ethan again and the two end up in a battle of words, throwing witty remarks back and forth at each other. Franny moves closer to me, pressing her back against the wall and wrapping her arms around herself.

"Is he always like this?" she asks with amusement.

"Is she always like this?" I retort.

"Fair point. Tally's always been easy to rile up."

I laugh a little.

"You smoke?" she suddenly asks, her eyes on the cigarette I stomped out earlier.

"Oh yeah," I say. "Social smoker."

"Right."

"You?" I ask.

She shakes her head repeatedly. "Yeah, no. There's nothing really that appealing to me about smoke in my mouth . . . or anywhere, to be honest."

"Probably a better way to go anyway."

Her lips spread out into a grin. "Thanks."

"For what?" I scoff.

"Well most people call me a prude or something when I tell them that."

"There's nothing wrong with never smoking," I say. "Or drinking or doing drugs. You're better off not bothering with it in the first place."

We stand in a moment of silence (although it is clouded by the other two's back and forth conversation) until Franny leans over a little towards me. I can instantly smell a fragrance, a faint sweet smell which must be some sort of perfume. I hadn't noticed it before but now it seems like it's right there, calling straight out to me. It smells nice.

"Is he really a dirt biker?" she asks.

"He thinks he is," I say. "He's still a beginner and is slowly not coming last every race."

She looks surprised. "Wait, so he wasn't just bullshitting us?"

I laugh. "Franny, you've seen me with a huge cut down my side from an out-of-school activity, and you seriously can't believe that idiot drives around a muddy pit with a bunch of other idiots?"

"Well, when you put it like that . . . " She trails off and we laugh.

"You should come," I tell her, pulling on the zipper of my jacket.

"Really?" she says. "I mean you won't get annoyed with us there?"

I shrug. "Can't be any worse than being alone."

Franny bites her lip. I blink and look away quickly. She nods slowly and turns away, going over to Tally and taking her arm to grab her attention.

"I think we should go," she tells her friend. "To his race."

Tally glanced over at me. "Do you now? Since when have you been into dirt bike races?"

Franny smiles slyly. "There's a first for everything."

Ethan hollers and rests his arm over Franny's shoulders again.

"Tyler," he says. "Stick around with this chick. She's a keeper."

I look at Franny just in time to see her face flush pink. For once I think that Ethan might just be right.

***

I drive Franny and Tally to the racing stadium while Ethan rides his motorbike in front of us. It's a different stadium than usual so the drive is long and by the time we're there, it's getting darker. With my truck only being able to take a maximum of three people including myself, the two girls have to squeeze in pretty tight.

Franny's leg is pressing against mine the entire drive down and damn if it isn't noticeable.

I sigh in relief when I finally park the truck and get out. Maybe I stumble out of the car a little too fast, but the proximity is starting to get to my head.

Ethan comes to a stop beside my truck and climbs off his bike.

He steps forward with his hand out and I clasp it, bringing him forward for a quick hug. "Good luck," I say. "And for fuck's sake, be safe."

He nods and then turns to Franny and Tally, shooting them a quick grin. "Ladies," he says and then hops back on his bike, revving the engine as he heads towards the other side of the stadium.

I look over at the girls to see them staring at the huge stadium in awe. "Jeez, this looks pretty official," Tally murmurs.

"It is." I nod towards the entrance where people are already walking through. "Shall we?"

They nod and we all walk in together. I show the guy at the entrance Ethan's card, which is good for up to five guests. He lets us through and I pocket the card.

We are seated around the open stadium that is filled with viewers, staring down at the racing track. The tracks themselves are paved out of the dirt that covers the floor of the stadium.

I glance over at the two of them: Tally is in complete awe, but Franny seems a little overwhelmed.

"You okay?" I ask, my shoulder accidentally touching hers.

"Yeah I'm good."

I haven't pulled my shoulder away and she doesn't seem to mind so I keep it there, our bodies close together.

When the race starts twenty minutes later, I point out Ethan, who's now all business, nothing like the guy we interacted with just an hour ago. The competitors get into position on their bikes.

A countdown starts, engines rev, and then the signal goes to start.

Bikes pull off and skid along the tracks. They play dirty, knocking against each other and kicking each other out the way. After the first circuit, half of them are out and only the best are left. Ethan's still in. All business. I smile a little.

When the bikes go over a huge hill, they rev, climbing up, and then spin off when they reach the top. Some do flips and others just soar through the open air. When Ethan hits the hill, he spins off and kicks his legs out into a split over the bike. The crowd roars.

He lands easily and I look to see Tally on her feet with everyone else, cheering him on. I stand with Franny and notice the smile on her face and her eyes full of wonder.

I lean in and place my hand on her arm to get her attention. She looks up at me questioningly and I grin down at her.

"Welcome to my world."

- Ellie x