Interesting.
“My name is Yasmine, not Barbie.”
“Nice to meet you, Yasmine,” I lie and smile at her in a way that has her taking an involuntary step back. “Can I pass? Or are we about to get you all ugly looking?”
“I don’t take kindly to threats.”
“She’s a black belt in karate,” the girl that laughed before states, looking proud.
“And I have a switchblade in my boot and fuck all to lose.” They all step back at my words. “I’m not here to cause any shit with y’all, but I will if I have to.”
“Just stay out of my way.” She’s trying to be brave but failing, soon as I mentioned my knife, she lost her gumption and mentally pissed herself.
“You’re the one blocking my path here.”
She takes another step back and looks at her posse who look like they want to be anywhere but here. I’m glad to see they’re a diverse group, it’s a shame they don’t look to have more than a handful of brain cells between them.
“Before you toddle on,” I say, eyeing them all up. “Who would you say is the most arrogant guy in school?”
Barbie’s brows furrow with confusion. “Why?”
“Just wondering who to avoid.”
It’s the girl who laughed that looks at her nail beds and responds, “Definitely Nok. He’s super arrogant.”
“But so hot,” the girl to her left adds with a dreamy sigh.
“Don’t get mixed up with Nok, he’s not good people,” Barbie surprisingly warns.
I give her a look. “Is that your way of telling me you’re sleeping with him?”
Her posse look at her, a silent conversation passing between them. Not a good one from what I can tell too.
Barbie flips her blonde hair over her shoulder and raises her chin. “Hell no. I’ve been there and done that. He’s… Nok is dangerous.”
My skin prickles with excitement. “Dangerous how?”
“He’s rough, gets into a lot of trouble,” the girl who laughed says quietly as the others glance around them. “He’s basically immune to the law too.”
“Yeah,” the final girl adds, her eyes wide. “He like totally doesn’t care about anything and he hates white people.”
Of course he does, that’s not going to help my case much.
“The locals did try to sell his family’s lands to push an oil pipe through, we did a fundraiser to stop that shit and it’s protected lands now,” Barbie adds, frowning at her friend. “But they’re right, he’s dangerous.”
“If he hates white people why did he sleep with you?”
“That’s why he slept with her.”
Barbie nods her agreement. “He’s not a nice guy.”
“Thank you for the heads-up.” I’m about to move around her when she steps in front of me again.
“This is Tish,” Barbie says, pointing at the girl who laughed. “Mila, and Kim.”
Why is she introducing them like I care?
“Pleasure,” I murmur, looking at the girls from right to left. It’s nice to see such a diverse group of friends, even if they are mega bitches. “May I get on with my day, Queen Barbie?”
“It’s Yasmine.”
I stick my thumb up and saunter past. This school is hell already.
“You need friends here if you want to survive,” Barbie calls after me, her words echoing along the near-empty hall.
“She’s right,” Tish adds.
“Friends will just slow me down,” I utter to myself and continue on my way.
Besides… I don’t plan on surviving.
I explore some more but my aim now is the reception. I’m hoping I can sweet talk my way into getting more information on this Nokosi character. Such as where he lives.
The receptionist is a no go. The sour-faced bitch wouldn’t even smile. There’s no way I’m getting into the system this way.
I’ll just have to do some good old-fashioned stalking.
Except Nokosi isn’t here. He was sent home after his fight this morning. So was the guy he fought with. She told me that much at least.
Ugh.
Now I’ve got to wait until tomorrow.
I need to practice patience. I’m too eager.
I head back out to the halls and squeeze through the crowds of people, glaring at those who don’t move.
Columbia River is quite possibly the most beautiful place I have ever been. Truly. Oregon is incredible.
I drive my forest green Kurz pit bike, something we agreed I wouldn’t ride to school because I would just stick out like a sore thumb wacked by a hammer. So, I take my dad’s silver Prius to school and leave the bike out of sight. I hate this arrangement. I love my bike, I hate Dad’s car.
I needed to get out of there, my new home, if I can call it that.
My sister is losing her fucking mind, so it’s best to just stay out of her way. She doesn’t like it here, but then again, she doesn’t like it anywhere. She doesn’t like much of anything, or anyone. We don’t talk anymore, not like we used to. I’d shed a tear over it, but I don’t really care anymore. I don’t really care about anything, or anyone.
I burn rubber, one foot on the ground as the engine roars and my back wheel kicks up dirt and grass, creating a small ditch in the lumpy earth.
My bare hand feels on fire as I twist the throttle to full speed.
I shoot forward, taking the first hill with ease, landing with a jarring thud that almost throws me off and will give me some major monkey butt. I did not land it right so now I’m frustrated. I spin on the spot, creating a circular rivet and then line myself up with the next slope.
I fly at it and catch air again, performing a whip, though not a full one because the slope didn’t give me enough height to work with. I land skewwhiff but correct it and keep going, ready for the next slope. This place is a biker’s dream, so many rocky paths and slopes to catch. The dirt is solid beneath a thin layer of wet, and the grass isn’t too long to maneuver through.
I rotate round, letting the sound of the engine overtake all my senses, and hit the biggest slope. But I snag, my chest feels tight as something hits me across the shoulders. The wind leaves my lungs and my bike goes forward as my body stays in the same place before slamming hard onto the ground on my back.
Can’t breathe.
I’ve been clotheslined.
I roll onto my side, spluttering for air as the pain in my chest and back intensifies. That’s going to hurt tomorrow. Fuck. It already does.
I can hardly breathe. I wasn’t expecting it. I knew I should have found a place with less trees. Though I don’t think a tree did this to me.
I look up at the sky through the dark shade of my helmet and try to steady my breathing.
I hear footsteps getting closer and voices getting louder.
“Howah!” one voice breathes. “It’s like a chick, cri.”
“You think she’s dead?”
A foot taps my helmet.
I close my eyes when one of them flips my visor up, revealing my eyes.
“I think she is.”
“F’reals?”
“I don’t know, I’m not a doctor.”
His fingers go to my wrist which I keep limp. “I can’t feel a pulse, but her chest is moving.”