Chapter 11: A Surprise in Luck

"By the way, how did you know I was in here?" I ask. He tosses me the bag. It's navy with his last name in white lettering. "First, I have some basketball shorts in there and a t-shirt you can throw on," he says. I gently take the clothes out. They are clean and pressed, shockingly so. I half expected them to be a wrinkled mess. Turns out Chase keeps a pretty clean life outside of the drugs. "Now, second." I look at him and twirl my finger before he continues, telling him to turn around. He seems disappointed, but I show that I don't care. On the inside, my heart is pounding fast. This is the closest a guy has seen me naked. I have to remind myself that I am still mad about the drug incident. He clears his throat. "Second, I overheard Courtney and her minions of evil bragging about taking your clothes. They tossed them in the garbage can outside," he said. I paused. I don't have a lot of uniforms to begin with, and they tossed my gym clothes. That's two outfits down. How am I going to explain this to my mom? "Maybe I can save them from the trash." I wonder aloud "Or you could just get new clothes. It's not like they cost a lot," he says, maybe not expecting to come off as judgmental, but he certainly did. "Well, that's rude. Not everyone has loads of money like your parents," I shoot back as I shimmy the shorts on. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that." He pauses and says, "I'm sorry about your clothes. They aren't able to be saved. They shredded them before tossing them out." "Great, the torment is never-ending," I say and look down at what I'm wearing. "I wanted to leave that part out, but part of me suspects you would jump in the trash to get them out," he says solemnly. He's right, which revives equal parts pride and embarrassment for going through such lengths. "I believe my things, no matter the value, should be taken care of. Everyone should think that. It's how we show appreciation," I reply and walk past him and through the door. "That's a good point. I guess that's something I need to work on." He walks with me in silence for a bit. "Will you let me take you home?" The question comes out waving as if he is unsure or even nervous about asking. He runs a hand through his dark hair and looks at me with those eyes. I almost collapse. "Depends. Are you high right now?" I ask, full of concern. As much as I can appreciate his massive help today, I can't forget the last few times I gave him my trust. "No, not at all. I'm sorry about that. I wasn't thinking." He hands me his helmet. I look at the helmet and just let it waiver. I didn't think he let anyone ride on his bike, even with him. "You want me to ride on this? Are you taking me home this way?" I ask as he starts to laugh. "Yes, that is the plan. Of course, I can't force you. I can imagine if you don't let me take you home, then you'll have to call your mom and explain what happened to your clothes." He makes a valid point. I pretend to think about it a while longer. I don't want to seem too eager, and I feel like maybe I should still be excessively angry about our last interaction. I need a ride home though, plus nothing would feel better than to rub this in Courtney's face. "That would be great." I grab the helmet and swing my leg over the bike. It hums between my legs. I suddenly remember that I have never been on a motorcycle before. I am scared and turned on at the same time. I direct him to my place again. I learn that he needs very little help and can navigate there by himself for the most part. He has good and bad in him like everyone else. He does drive me insane. "Thank you for your help today. I honestly don't know how I could have survived without you being there." I swing my leg off the bike and hand him his helmet back. Luckily, my mom is not home to see me disembark a motorcycle. She would probably die right on the spot. "No problem, thank you for trusting me again." He winks. "It is a pleasure doing business with you." I reach my hand out for a shake. It seems appropriate. We aren't friends, really, right? He grabs my hand and shakes it. He then pulls me quickly to his face and kisses me. The kiss goes on for eternity, his lips warm and soft. I've never been kissed before. This is it. This is my first. Chase is my first. He slips in a little tongue but not too much, and he pulls back slowly. "I have been wanting to do that," he says. "Thank you, I mean… for the ride home. Yeah, bye." I turn my back on him and head inside. I close the door. My cheeks are hot, and my body is tingly. I run up to my room and crash on the bed. I feel like a child that was just told she was going to Disney World. Everything is spinning. Right then, I decide to call Hannah. I need to tell someone. Hannah picks up the phone, sounding groggy. I almost forgot she is sick. "Hannah, you will not believe what just happened!" I shriek, sounding more and more like an excited toddler. "What? Calm yourself. My head is pounding," she says, somewhat manlike. "He kissed me!" I shout. "He, who, what?" Hannah's voice raises as much as she can muster. "Chase, he took me home on his bike, and he kissed me." I can feel my face stretching itself as much as possible into a smile. I spend the next twenty minutes telling Hannah everything that happened earlier, from my clothes being stolen to being rescued by Chase and back again to the kiss. I can't help but look at myself in the mirror. Do I look different? I'm being ridiculous. "Those b*tches. I've never seen Courtney hate someone so much," she replies. "It's crazy, right?" I have her on speaker as I get changed into my clothes. I shove Chase's extras in a bag in my closet. I will have to wash these when my mom is gone all day and return them to him as soon as possible. "I also cannot believe you and Chase kissed." Her shock is also mine. I shiver at the thought. "I need to shake this feeling right now. I feel giddy. It's weirding me out," I say, feeling more myself now that I am wearing my clothes. I played with the edge of my shorts. My mind needs something else to occupy it. "So that makes twice he has saved you from total embarrassment and social annihilation," Hannah points out, progressively sounding better the more we talk. "Oh, that's right, I want to forget the almost drowning part," I point out, reliving the several faces peering over me when I come to that night. "This damsel in distress look seems to be working for you." She laughs, and I roll my eyes. If only I was smart enough to do this on purpose, but that's not me. "I am just getting lucky lately. Okay, the good comes with the bad obviously." I stop messing with the hem of my shorts and start to pace. I wonder how many steps I am getting today with all of this pacing and panic. "Aria," her voice gets serious, "I am sorry I wasn't there for you today." A remorseful Hannah, I have learned, is not a fun Hannah. It's still nice to have a friend who cares so deeply. I hope this friendship lasts, unlike the ones I have had in the past. "It's not your fault. You should be allowed sick days. I am old enough to take care of myself." I think for a second and say, "Or at least try to without the aid of someone else." "Yeah, I guess it is okay when the person saving you has abs for days." Hannah laughs and then coughs into the phone, which sounds like a wind tunnel in my ear. "Ouch, girl, you need to get rid of that cold because I am not looking forward to tomorrow without you," I say and shudder at the fact I might relive today again, then again. Maybe that's not a bad thing if I get the same ending. "You'll be fine. You have someone watching over you it sounds like." Hannah has a sing-song tone to her now. "True, but who protects me from him?" I ask. A few minutes later, we hang up.