"Shit!" I mumble to myself as I see the pouring rain. It's already Friday afternoon; the week has gone by faster than I've imagined, and luckily, with no more incidents.

Now, I'm outside of the post office, staring at the torrents of water falling from the dark clouds, so much that the echo on the little canopy in front of the building currently sheltering me doesn't even resemble a flick flack fleck anymore. I keep on waiting for a lull, but it's only getting worse by the minute. So taking my courage in both hands and a big breath, I head in the deluge because I still have a long way to go.

Of course, I don't have an umbrella or a hood; I don't even have a sweater, since this morning the sky has been all clear and blue. And what have I been thinking when I've decided to go get my package with the books I've ordered at the post office after school?! I've thought it would be a great reward after my first hard week of school! If I hadn't, I would have had time to go home before it has started raining. If the line hadn't been that long too, and if the post office workers had hurried up a little! I curse them in my head as I've barely walked a few meters, and the rain is already soaking my clothes, adding to the burden of my schoolbag, my sports bag, and my package. The curses escape from my head to my lips when my bags slide down my arms and everything ends up on the ground. I slowly bend down to pick all my stuff, the drops of rain, along with the tiredness of the week, falling like tons on my shoulders.

That's just when I hear the sound of an engine coming, the unmistakable roar of a motorbike that slows down and stops next to me. The weariness gives way to fright, but both are as heavy and would make running difficult. I already imagine all the worst scenarios: a murderer, a rapist, a serial killer... and the streets are empty, so no one can save me. I fumble to reach my compasses in my bag – in case, it can make a great weapon to defend myself.

"Do you need a ride?"

I finally risk a glance to the side and see a pair of tenebrous eyes appearing slowly from behind the visor of a helmet. I stand up and look behind me to be sure Alex Carter is really talking to me, a reflex I guess.

"Yes, Elena, I was talking to you," he says with an amused look.

"You know my name?" I ask surprised since most people don't remember it, even though they're in my class for years. I'm invisible...

"Yeah, you're not easy to forget!" The glint in the eyes lets me guess the smirk forming behind his helmet.

I don't really know why, but I smile, and I gaze down at the puddles at my feet to try to hide the red tickling my cheeks. Looking down, I suddenly become aware of my appearance. I must look like a drowned rat with my hair soaked and disheveled, and my soaked shirt clinging to my body. While Alex Carter is looking like a god with his legendary black leather jacket gleaming with the rain. Now that he's taking off his helmet, it's even truer. His devious smirk is on display, and his slightly messed hair is looking even better as it's getting wet, a few wet curls falling on his forehead and making him even sexier.

"So, do you want me to drive you home?"

"Oh, no, you don't have to. I'll be ok. I don't want to bother you." I shake my head a little too vigorously.

"Come on! It doesn't bother me and it's pouring down!"

A loud thunderclap roars as if to prove his point.

Shivers run down my spine against the soaked cotton of my shirt, and my heart echoes the thunder as I consider what to do. I really don't like storms; I'm terrified of them. But Alex Carter can be scary too. He's a bad boy, and I don't really know him; the first rule is to never accept a ride from strangers. Yet how to say no to those eyes?! Nevertheless, if my parents know I've gone on a motorcycle with Alex Carter, I'm dead! It's a lot of contradictions, but I add another one because at the same time, I'm soaked, tired and the thunder keeps rumbling. I still have a lot to walk to get home and it would take only a few minutes in motorbike.

"Or maybe the 'good girl' is too scared to go on a bike?" He pulls me out of my dilemma as he holds out his helmet with an air of defiance and his famous smirk.

I don't know what's happening to me, but I don't think; my hands grab his helmet and give him my bags in exchange. With adrenaline pumping in my veins, I climb on his bike and tell him with the same air of challenge, "What makes you think it's my first time on a motorbike?" And I put his helmet on.

He raises his eyebrows, seemingly taken aback, but he keeps his smirk as I hear him chuckle and mumble something. He quickly joins me, putting my bags in the luggage carrier. Then, just like that, he makes my eyes pop out of their sockets as he takes off his jacket. My sudden and brief confidence vanishes as I wonder what he's doing, staring at his white tee-shirt and exposed biceps, until the leather falls on my shoulders. He's so close now that I can smell his perfume, an intoxicating mix of spicy and sweet that catches my breath. All my senses are standing on edge with his presence so close, and I don't even dare to look up. My heart skips a beat, and heat spreads from there to my cheeks when his fingers lightly brush the skin of my neck in the process. A loud thunderclap bursts at the same moment, making me jump, and I don't know if I'm shivering from his light touch or because of the loud noise.

Alex leans away as fast as he's come. He gets on his bike and turns around. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah, but... you don't have a helmet?" I ask, my eyebrows creasing.

"No, but don't worry. I'm used to live dangerously." He turns back toward the road. "Hold on!" He takes my hands, and this time, I have no doubt about the cause behind my shivers as he places them around his waist, where I can feel his strong abs underneath his shirt.

The bike starts in a roar, with a jolt that brings me closer to him. Usually, I like to keep my distance from people, and I'm not really good with human contact and closeness with people, but strangely, with him, right here, I feel safe and comfortable. A warmth spreads from the contact of his back against my chest, heating up my soaked skin. So I keep my arms tight around him, only removing them to indicate him the directions.

The ride goes by in way less time than it would have taken on foot. The empty streets and walls of concrete bordering them that usually look endless when I come back from school are passing by fast before my eyes, maybe too fast for my liking.

In no time we're standing in front of my house, his helmet already in his big hand again, yet my bags still in his other hand. He holds them out to me, but then he retracts.

"I'm actually impressed. Have you really ridden on a motorbike before?" he asks, his smoldering eyes observing me.

"Yes, I almost was on a motorbike before I knew how to walk. My Dad goes biking and he used to take me with him. We don't do it anymore, it's...complicated..." I look down, but the intensity of his piercing gaze that I feel on my skin makes me glance up.

He is studying me with his penetrating dark eyes, yet he doesn't ask anything, which I appreciate. Neither of us is speaking, and we're immersed in a comfortable silence for a few seconds. The only sound is the lapping of the rain that keeps falling, wetting us even more. Nonetheless, none of us seems bothered by our soaked hair and drenched clothes. That's only when I catch myself staring for a little too long at his six-pack clearly visible underneath his steeped shirt that I realize I'm still wearing his jacket.

"Oh, here your jacket, thank you... and thank you for the ride."

"You're welcome!" He gives me one of his famous smirks, which leaves me speechless.

My burning cheeks and shy awkwardness coming back, I quickly tell him, "Er...Bye."

Once I've closed the door and I'm comfortably standing in the warm air of my house, I hear his bike roars over the loud thumps of my heart.

***

"I don't know exactly. I wasn't there, we left before anything happened cuz Mel was already loaded!" Judy explains to me and another girl from our class. She's chewing on her gum, yet she can't contain her typical 'gossip-excited' smile as she talks about Saturday big party, the main topic of conversation of everyone this Monday morning, since the cops have turned up there. Well, that's what Judy has told me because, of course, I haven't been at that party.

"Apparently, there was a fight between some football players and the bad boys' gang. Plus, they found drugs. They arrested several guys: Damien Brown, Brick Richard, Logan Turner, Alex Carter..."

My heart jumps loudly, and I don't hear the other names. My mind drifts back to Friday... His kind offer and his attentions, his penetrating gaze and his warm chest... I've felt safe and comfortable with him. It's difficult to think it's also the same boy that Judy is talking about, the one who would fight and deal drugs. But everyone knows he's bad news, and he clearly screams danger. So the question is why for me he hasn't appeared that bad and dangerous? This boy is a mystery.

"This is not the first time the bad boys' gang gets arrested and surely not the last!" Judy shrugs with a wave of her hand as if it is nothing, but the bothered thuds of my heart are telling me the contrary.

"Do you think they'll come in class today?" the other girl, Tina, asks, starting to chew on the gum Judy has just offered her.

"Oh! Speaking of class, I have to go to my locker to get my science book. See you!"

I leave them here and head quickly to my locker to avoid getting late again.

I get my books ready for my next classes when I come across the see-through packet of cookies we've made with my Mom. I shake my head and smile, thinking about yesterday...

*FLASHBACK*

"Don't you think we've made 'a little too much'?!" I shake my head, the laughter already gaining my voice as I stare in a mix of awe and disbelief between my Mom and the ton of small spotted biscuits lying on two wide baking sheets in front os us. I swear there is enough to feed an army, and even though the smell of sweet and chocolate titillating my nostrils and the sight of the still hot, chewy inside and crispy outside pastries are whetting my appetite, I know we won't be able to humanly eat them all.

"Better too much than too little!" she replies as the typical Italian Mom! "And it will be eaten in no time!" She bits into one and adds with a wicked smile, "And if we have too much, maybe you could offer some to someone... like your knight in shining armor of Friday!"

I widen my eyes before I look her dead in the eyes. "Mom! Stop it! I've already told you: that's not what you think. This is just a guy from my class who offered me a ride because it was pouring down and he took pity."

I haven't told her that the guy has been one of the baddest bad boys of the town and that the ride has been on a motorbike. I haven't lied; I just haven't mentioned it... What she doesn't know can't hurt her, and so, can't hurt me! Besides, it doesn't matter now.

"And anyway, guys are not interested in nerdy girls like me."

"Don't say that!" Her playful smile disappears, and she pushes one of her brown curls away from her face to focus her serious gaze on me. "You're a beautiful girl – no, a beautiful young woman, and any guy would be lucky to have you!"

I smile shyly, grateful for constant uplift, even though I don't agree with her. I've never caught any boy's interest. I'm transparent – not that it bothers me because I'm not handling really well when eyes are on me! But why would a guy be interested in an ordinary girl like me? I mean it's not my slim silhouette and average height, neither my mid-long dark blond hair and hazel eyes that could make me stand out from the other girls. Besides, the fact that I don't wear make-up – I don't see the use, and it takes too much time, in my view – and that I generally wear clothes to be as invisible as possible aren't eyes' catcher either. I'm not even talking about my nose and my belly, which I think are making me stand out, but not in the most flattering way. If despite all of this, a weird guy would be attracted by me, the second I would talk, the spell would be broken – actually, the second I won't talk or just spill a stuttering mess of 'er' because that's what I always do when I'm nervous.

I don't tell any of this to my Mom. We will never agree on this, and she isn't objective on the matter, since I'm her precious and only child.

The important is that I remember it and don't let her sweet cheering give me false hope. I know that dating isn't for girls like me in high school and that guys are not interested in me, even less one of the hottest guys in school who can have all the girls at his feet; not that it matters anyway.

I'm biting on my lower lip more than in the cookie in my hand when my Mom makes me jump out of my thoughts. "And something tells me there's more..." Her eyes twinkle with their unique and typical 'Mom that knows it all' spark, before she adds, "Is he hot?"

"Mom!" I warn her monotonously, though the burn quickly rushes to my cheeks.

"Okay, okay, I stop!" She puts her hands in the air. "But you could still offer him some cookies to thank him, that would be nice!" She offers me a smile that I can't resist.

*END OF FLASHBACK*

Now, that's why I'm staring at the packet in my hand, and after several back-and-forths between my bag and my locker, the packet finally ends up back in my bag, just in case... maybe... I don't know...

I'm still pondering about this, hesitating to just put the packet in my locker and forget it, when I'm about to close my locker door, and someone closes it for me, making me jump in surprise.

Who do you think it is? ;)

Will she give him the cookies? Should she? And do you think Alex could be a 'knight in shining armor'? ;)

I hope you like this story so far, please let me know what you think in the comments, vote, add to your library...

I'm new here, so your help and feedbacks are more than welcome! :)