She would always walk with her best friend to school, and today was no different. They were nearing the end of their senior year at RichPoint High and neither of them could wait to get out of their small little town and move far away to college. She was getting ready to cross the street just before their school when her friend cried “Jess, watch out!” and jerked her back on the sidewalk before some guy on a motorcycle took her out. Her friend yelled “Jerk!” as he sped away. “Are you okay?” “I’m fine, Alaina. I guess some people are just in such a hurry that they’re willing to break traffic laws.” She said it sarcastically of course because she didn’t understand some people’s need to bend and break the rules. “He should have stopped and apologized for almost killing you! If it wasn’t for me, you could have died! And before senior prom! Oh what a tragedy that could have been!” Alaina was always the more dramatic of the two, but I guess that’s why she was getting into college on a drama scholarship. The two laughed as they got to class. “Alright everyone take your seats please.” Mr. Wright took attendance and waited for everyone to settle down. The vice principal came in with a shady looking guy behind her as she spoke softly with the teacher. “Looks like we have a new student joining us. Class this is Jet Thomas Emmunds--” “It’s JT. The other is my birth name but I don’t go by that.” He said in a husky almost rude sounding voice. “My apologies. Class, this is JT Emmunds, let’s make him feel welcome. Go ahead and take a seat anywhere you’d like.” So he went for the very back of the room. “I can’t believe he’s starting with 3 months left of school.” Alaina whispered to her. “It’s kinda embarrassing.” “Shh! That’s rude. You don’t know why he switched. Maybe his parents got a job here when they really needed one and he had no choice but to move?” “You are ever the optimist and always try to see the good in people.” “Why not? Innocent until proven guilty, right? That’s what my dad always says.” She looked back at JT and gave him a smile and wave which he returned but in more of a mocking tone. The hours dragged on and she waited until she could see him again so she could introduce herself. It wasn’t until lunch that she got that chance. “Hey, JT, right? I’m Jessica, well Jess for short. So where are you from?” “You can drop the whole act. I’m not interested in being your newest project.” He gave a wave of his hand as if he were shooing away a bug. Ugh, how rude. “I’m not trying to make you my project. I was just trying to be nice and introduce myself.” Then she saw the helmet in the seat next to him. “Wait, do you own a motorcycle?” He looked at her puzzled, “Yeah, why?” “You almost ran me over this morning!” “How could you have known it was me? I’m sure plenty of people drive motorcycles in this town.” “Actually you’re the only one. That’s how I know it was you. You could have killed someone!” He tensed up a bit. “I’m sorry, there’s no need to get all worked up about it. I’ll be more careful next time.” Was that it? He wasn’t gonna try to argue? It shocked her. “Okay, thank you. It might help to actually follow the rules. They’re there for a reason.” “Yeah the rules don’t always help the way they should though.” He said it almost under his breath but she caught it before leaving him on his own. Maybe he wasn’t all about danger. Maybe there was more to him. Her and Alaina walked to school again the next day, but JT didn’t show up for class. Ditching on the second day you arrive at a new school wasn’t really a good reputation to have. She wondered what he could have been up to that was so much more important than being at school. When she saw him, she would ask. Thankfully the next day he was in class, but because Alaina was always her partner for labs she’d have to wait until lunch. The suspense was killing her about why he’d been gone. Although she wondered if he would even tell her. “Hey, mind if I sit?” Jess usually sat with Alaina at lunch too, but she told her she wanted to be friendly and Alaina was too scared to sit with him. But she had other friends she could sit with so she wouldn’t be alone. “If you want to, I’m not gonna stop you. It's a free country after all.” He made room for her next to him. Not exactly what she had in mind, but she didn’t want to be rude either. “Thanks. So if you haven’t guessed already, I’m kinda nosy.” She laughed a little. “Why were you gone yesterday?” “I had to take care of some things.” “What kind of things?” She did tell him she was nosy. “I had to check on my little sister.” At least he wasn’t opposed to it. “Was she sick?” “No.” But he wasn’t giving a lot of details. “Then why were you gone all day?” “Man, you are nosy. My sister doesn’t live in town. I had to check on her and see if I could move her here.” “Doesn’t she live with your parents? Why would you need to move her here?” He got really tense all of a sudden. “It’s just my dad and because. You don’t need to know more than that.” “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry...well I was, but just because I am trying to get to know you. But you are kinda making it difficult for me to do that.” He turned away from her. “Trust me, that you don’t want to know.” He gathered his things and left. She wanted to know more about him and get him to trust her to tell her more, she could sense that there was, but maybe it was personal. How could she get him to trust her? She met him at his motorcycle after school. He had a very quizzical look on his face. “Whatcha doin?” “I decided you’re driving me home.” She said with confidence. “I thought you didn’t ride motorcycles.” “Well I don’t, but you do and maybe if I share something new with you, you’ll share with me too.” He tried to stop a smirk. “Alright, but you have to hold on tight.” He gave her his helmet and helped her on the back then climbed on in front. He kicked it to life and she screamed in his ear. “We haven’t even gone anywhere. Are you sure you want to do this?” She just nodded. “Alright, you gotta lean with me when I turn but not too much or we’ll both fall off.” He shouted over the engine and her face must have looked horrified, but she gave the okay and he took off. She held onto him for dear life. It was terrifying at first being on a motorcycle and being so exposed to the traffic around you. But as she was on it longer, she really began to love it. It was such a rush! And being up against him, she couldn’t help but notice how strong he was. His back was toned and his arms were much bigger than she first thought. He was definitely attractive. But could tell he had a troubled past by the way he talked about his sister and father. Probably best to not go there with her thoughts. He stopped in front of her house and helped her off. “That was such a rush!” She hugged him, despite what she had just told herself. But she couldn’t help it, it was exhilarating being on a motorcycle. “Thank you for taking me home.” He smiled. “Well you didn’t really give me much choice.” She laughed. “Yeah that’s true.” She knew she should say goodbye and let him leave, but she really wanted to get to know him more. “Why don’t you come inside? My mom is making dinner and you could stay.” He looked reluctant, but she didn’t want him to say no. “Please?” “Okay, I guess a meal wouldn’t kill me.” She brought him in and introduced him to her parents. He was actually a lot nicer than when she first met him. They sat and ate dinner together and laughed over stories of her childhood that her parents brought out as ways to embarrass her. Then she led him out back and they sat together on the couch swing. “Your parents are really great. You’re lucky, you know.” He suddenly sounded sad and she put a hand on his knee to comfort him, hoping he would open up and share with her. “What about yours?” She looked at him with her most compassionate and understanding gaze in the hopes that he would share. “My dad is nothing like that.” He hesitated and then went on. “My mom left us when we were little. She had enough of my dad but left me and my sister behind. My dad resented us for making her leave. He thought it was our fault and would beat me until I agreed with him. He tortured my little sister by making her watch. One day I finally hit him back and left. Once I turned 18, I started fighting for custody of my sister. That’s why I was gone all day yesterday.” “JT, I’m so sorry. I don’t even know what to say.” She hugged him for a long time. “Is there any way I can help? My dad’s a lawyer, maybe if we explain things to him he can help you win custody.” “No, I don’t want to get you in trouble.” He had an odd look on his face but she wasn't sure what it was. “We’ll be fine. He’s dealt with this kind of thing before. I’ll be right back.” She left him there and went in to tell her dad. She came back and said, “See? Easy as pie.” “You really shouldn’t have done that. I was fine on my own.” “But I just wanted to help.” Why was he getting so mad? “But you don’t understand what you just did! Jeez! You just don’t listen, do you?! I never should have told you.” He was starting to sound frantic and angry. “I’m sorry, I only wanted to help.” “But it won’t! Just leave it alone, for your own sake. Don’t...Just don’t.” He grabbed his helmet. “Don’t help. Leave me alone. Forget about me, I’ll be forgetting about you.” And he went through the house and drove away. She was heartbroken. She was just trying to help. Their drive and dinner and then their talk, she was really starting to think he liked her. She knew she liked him, but how could he be so careless with her. No one deserved to be treated that way. She went upstairs and cried herself to sleep. The next day he wasn’t at school and she was grateful. She didn’t want to see him, not after last night. She went through the day mechanically until she got home. “Mom, what’s wrong?” “Your dad’s in the hospital sweetie.” “What?” Her head started spinning. “What do you mean? What happened?” “There was a break-in at his firm and he was shot.” She had to sit or she’d pass out. “Was there anyone else injured?” “No, it seemed to be targeted.” Someone was targeting her dad? Who would want her dad dead? She went with her mom to the hospital and sat in the surgical waiting room as they operated on him. She saw a tall man in a hoodie waiting nearby. Weird. She wondered what he was doing there. She was almost going to approach him when a nurse came back telling them that her dad made it through surgery just fine and was in recovery. She grabbed her phone to call Alaina. “I thought I told you to leave me alone.” That was not Alaina, she must have called JT by mistake. She broke down in tears when she heard his voice. “My dad was shot.” She managed to get out between sobs. “What? Hang on, I’m on my way.” She hung up and sank down into the chair. She didn’t look up until she felt hands on hers pulling them away from her face. It was JT. “Talk to me. What happened?” “They said some guy went into the firm and shot my dad. Just him. He was targeted. And then there was this sketchy guy in a hood over there until the nurse came out.” “Jess, I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. My dad must have found out I was trying to take custody and is eliminating people in his way. He hates us, but he’d be darned if anyone takes what belongs to him. I’m so sorry. Why don’t I drive you home? You can get some things for your dad.” She just nodded. The drive home was not as pleasant as her first on the bike, but she wasn’t really paying attention. “I’ll wait out here while you get what you need.” Again she just nodded. She went upstairs to her parents' room and tried to think of what he might need. She didn’t realize she wasn’t alone until she felt something cold and sharp on her back and a hand that came and covered her mouth. “Don’t scream. I was expecting your father, but you’ll do just nicely to send that little rat of mine a message.” The man turned her around and took his hand off her mouth but moved the blade to her throat. She spoke carefully, “I know who you are. You’re JT’s dad. What do you want?” He looked at her coldly. “I want what’s mine. He’s trying to take what’s mine. So why don’t I take something from him. I was just gonna keep him from putting me away, but I think I’ll give him a taste of what it feels like to have something he loves taken from him.” “You’re wrong. He doesn’t love me. I met him a week ago. You can’t fall in love that fast. Plus he wants nothing to do with me.” There was no way he loved her, she didn’t even know if she loved him. How could she? It had been a week! “The only way he would tell anyone about me is if he loved them. Or at least was starting to. Looks like he won’t get the chance to see if it was really something.” He moved closer to her, but looked away and lowered his hand when he heard a noise. She took her opportunity, kneed him and ran. She didn’t know where she was gonna go, but she tried to get far enough away from him. She ran downstairs but tripped over a bump in the carpet. That was it, she was gonna be done for. She saw him running down the stairs and she backed up to try to get away from him. Then JT came out from behind the corner and hit his dad over the head with one of her mom’s glass bowls. Ouch, but it did the job and knocked him out. “I came in when you were taking too long. And when I heard him talking to you upstairs, I called the cops. They should be here soon. They can at least arrest him here for breaking and entering. They can find evidence for the other stuff after.” She didn’t care about that at the moment. She ran to him and hugged him. “You just saved my life, JT! I thought you were done with me?” He let go so he could look her in the eyes. “I only did that because I knew how dangerous my dad is and thought maybe he wouldn’t try anything if I pushed you away. There’s just something about you though that I can’t stay away from.” He brought one hand up and cupped her face while leaving the other arm around her waist to bring her closer. Then his lips touched hers with a gentleness that slowly grew. He moved his hand into her hair and drew her even closer deepening their kiss. They both pulled away a little out of breath. “You know I just might be falling for you, Jess.” Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest. “I might just be falling for you too, JT.” It was the last thing she had expected.