one night stand episode 3

Outside, the teenage boys were hounding the brown-eyed girl in the hoody. She was walking away from them towards the main road and they kept following her. I could hear them cackling.

“Are you a f*ggot?” The words wafted through the air like a foul stench. I saw them pull at her clothing as she tried to get away. “Answer me! Are you a friggin’ f*ggot? Friggin’ f*ggot!”

I felt my stomach turn in disgust. Quickly, I started my power bike, swept round the bend and came to a stop right in front of group. “Back off.” I stared them down best as I could, aware of the fact that they had the advantage in numbers.

The orange-haired boy sneered, “And what will you do if we don’t?”

I pulled out a Taser and he immediately recoiled. “I would use this without thinking twice about it. Don’t tempt me” it seemed like he had been on the receiving end of a voltage charge before. And he had certainly not forgotten the displeasure.

“Bitch!” he hissed. But he took several cautious steps back. “Your friend is a freak!” he maintained stubbornly, “What is this thing anyway, a boy or a girl?”

“Why do you got to know?” I asked.

“Fvcking freaks!”

I ignored his brutish slur and focused instead on the girl. “Hop on.” I said to her. There was only a moment’s hesitation in her eyes before she climbed on behind me. She held me by the waist – gingerly – respectful of my personal space. “You’ll have to do better than that” I told her, “We’ll be going really fast.” I took her arms (they were really long and sinewy beneath the fabric) and wrapped them around my torso, “There.” I felt her relax as her warmth travelled through the layers of fabric to find me.

I tore across the night at ninety miles per hour with my six-pack wedged before me and the stranger pressed up against my back. There was no way to make conversation above the wicked roar of the machine and from inside the helmets over our heads. It was only after we arrived at Costa’s deli that I could speak to her.

“Thank you” was the first thing she said as soon as the helmet came off. “You saved my life back there. Things went out of hand so quickly.” Her voice was deep, but not in a way that was definitively masculine. It was pragmatic – intimate – sexy.

“You’re not from around here, are you?” my gaze fell to her back-pack.

“No” she admitted. “I was waiting for a friend to pick me up. Visiting.”

I nodded. “You could text her – or him – that you would be waiting at Costa’s Deli.”

She nodded.

“I am Marlee by the way” I said.

“Ari.”

Ari. That was such a beautiful name. She told me she was named after the little mermaid.

“Okay, Ari. Let’s go inside and wait for your friend.”

She looked at me, sceptical “You know, you don’t have to wait with me.”

I gave her a look. “I know that. I want to” I started to walk towards the building and she followed me. Inside, it was warm and cozy. It smelled of strong coffee and melted cheese. There was soft music playing in the background – I could make out the lyrics of Garth Brooks over the cacophony of hushed conversation from clusters of several patrons. We sat in our booth on opposite sides of a narrow table bedecked by a red and white chequered table cloth.

“So aren’t you going to ask?” Ari said after we had placed our order for two Mocha Lattes.

“Ask what?”

“If I am a boy or a girl.”

Her stare was hard, unflinching, defiant………but I sensed that the hardness was merely a mask, and that it concealed a vulnerable spot that had been poked too many times. I was taken aback by her sudden intensity, and when she noticed my hesitation, playfulness crept into her eyes and softened her expression. But she still wanted an answer, “It’s pretty obvious to me that you’re a girl. I never even questioned it” I said. And then, I have no idea why I thought to add, “The most gorgeous girl I have ever seen actually.” I had to clear my throat after that unsolicited declaration. It was a little awkward.