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Amara Knight

The motorcycle race between Harry and me was set to take place behind the school on a desolate, bumpy, uneven road. For me, the competition wasn't just Harry; it was also the exceedingly hard, rocky route, which I had never driven on before. I had always considered myself a queen of smooth roads.

With my shades on, I sat on Tory's sports motorcycle with my feet still touching the ground. Being familiar with the expensive, beastly sport two-wheeler, I knew how far I needed to accelerate to find optimum speed. I took the liberty to twist the expensive-looking spike rubber cover clad left handlebar as my right hand worked the front brake on the right handlebar.

The students who wished to witness the race had congregated on both sides of the road, yelling and shouting for their favorite riders. I craved the quick tempo, the adrenaline, the speed, and, of course, the desire to win for my supporters and Sia. My friends had me surrounded by them, giving me advice on what to do and what not to do, as well as inspiring me to beat that clown shoes, Harry.

Tory wrapped his arm around my shoulder and patted me firmly. "He must not win. Show him what happens when someone messes with us."

"I will," I assured him.

Joshua patted my back. "Make sure to throw that asshole into the potholes."

I laughed. "Will try."

"Kick his ass, girl!" Becky squeaked.

Drew came in front of the handle, accessing the road ahead of me, then he faced me. "Kicking his ass 'n all is fine but you better dive safely; the road ahead is rough as hell."

Sia came forward, patting my back. "Drew's right. Drive safe, okay?" I nodded my head.

"Hey, Knight, will you race or just stand there all day? Having cold feet already?" Harry's mocking remark caused me to turn my face to him with a smirk.

Bringing the motorcycle to life, I directed it to the middle of the road next to him. His sister, her minions, and some of his buddies stood with him.

I smirked at Grace. "If you want to witness the race, you might wanna leave your baby brother to himself now. Please, over to the side." I signaled her to move away.

They all moved away in furry but not before Grace mumbled something in her brother's ear.

"All set to lose, Knight?" Harry sarcastically laughed, bringing the engine of his vehicle to life.

I grinned. "Let's see if your balls are big enough to win."

With that, we sped down the road. Hardly a few seconds into the race, Harry fluttered his motorcycle closer to me, almost knocking me over the first pothole and I cursed when I heard loud laughter from Harry who drove past me.

"What, Knight, you got stuck in the first pothole? There are many ahead! Better watch ya."

He thought I was going to take it lightly? Nope.

Determined to show him the face of defeat, with a slight flick of my wrist, the indicator in the rev limiter moved to the right and I accelerated up like an air jet. Within another few seconds on the road, I carefully dodged the potholes and small gravel that could cause the motorcycle to slip. I felt like I had been doing it for years.

Once I sped past him, I mocked him back by raising my middle finger at him and the things went pretty wild. One moment he was ahead of me and the very next moment, I accelerated past him.

He deliberately came on my side, and in my path, to play the dirty game. I played a fair game, unlike him, who used childish techniques to keep me from winning, but they didn't appear to work because his tricks backfired on him a few times when he bounced violently on the potholes, almost falling face first.

I drove with triumphant pride until we reached the road's end, which was barred by an old grubby, torn grey wall. When we took a U-turn to drive back to the start point which was the finish point as well, Harry got the lead.

The hollers became louder as we approached the finish line. The sound of my name being chanted filled me with the hope that I would win. I sped past him, avoiding all the obstacles on the way. Soon, I saw the finish line, which was merely a few meters away from me, and Harry no way near me.

However, when my rejoicing gaze traveled to my supporters, and my friends, I found their expressions concerning. Another alarming thing for me was that they were shouting for me as if warning me about something, rather than screaming in joy.

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Ryan Peterson

How could I have been so oblivious?

Zoe's refusal to leave my side as we walked to the parking lot, despite my best efforts to keep a safe space between us, demonstrated my bumbling obliviousness.

Austin and Illiana, who were just behind us, couldn't stop laughing at my futile attempts to free my arm from Zoe's grip. I tried to come to a standstill and allow Owen and Zoe to walk ahead of me so I could have her walk with him, but she only dragged me with her.

The parking lot possessed a strange silence. The unruly area which used to be occupied by the wild, unmanageable crowd was devoid of a single being. Quite unusual.

"This place seems to like hit with some ghostly affairs. Where could have everybody gone?" Owen muttered, accessing the area just as I and others were doing.

Just then, distinctive chatters and feral hollers along with fierce claps reached our ears, which urged all of us to hurriedly march down there.

At the back of the school, an entirely different state of craziness lingered in the air. Students gathered on either side of the road bounced cheerfully, screaming and throwing objects in the air.

Knowing that these wild folks were always up for some unnecessary things, I decided to let them be and asked my friends to walk back until I heard cheers of Amara's name; Harry included.

My sense went into overdrive, prompting me to impatiently push my way through the crowd to the front, only to find Amara riding a motorcycle with Harry chasing after her on his motorcycle. They were racing.

Not only that she was driving at a concerning speed, but she also didn't have any protective gear on.

I heard Owen from behind me. "Of course, it's Amara. She and nuisance go hand in hand."

Locating her gang in the raging crowd, I rushed to them and questioned no one in particular,

"What is going on over here?" My voice was firm with worry for Amara's safety concealed in it.

All of them faced me but Becky chose to answer. "Harry challenged her for a race. C'mon, let's cheer for her together."

"What?" I screeched. "How could you all have allowed this?"

Joshua exclaimed, "How could we have allowed Harry to win over us? He must be taught a lesson."

Tory came near me, gritting his teeth, "She requires no one's permission, Ryan. Unlike you, we support her every decision she makes."

I glared at him. "This explains why she is riding your motorcycle. If you're going to back her in every decision, you might as well look out for her safety."

I then eyed everybody and snapped, "Why was it that no one bothered to put a helmet on her head? You put her safety at risk for your own amusement, huh?"

All of their faces dropped in guilt and I ran my fingers in my hair, mentally praying for her not to slip, considering the dangerous speed she was driving at.

Tory again opened his mouth. "Take it easy, will you? She isn't riding for the first time, alright?"

"She isn't. And there is no denying she is way too good at it, but there is always the possibility of what-ifs." I shot back before switching my gaze to Amara who appeared to be reaching the finish line.

Everyone's gaze went back to the race and I sighed in relief when Amara crossed the finish line and cheered for herself uncontrollably. However, my relief was short-lived and my fears came alive.

My heart almost stopped when Harry crashed his motorcycle into Amara's from behind, making her lose balance and fall down on the gravelly road. Once cheering crowd now filled the air with their gasps.

Everything seemed to be moving at a glacial pace. I noticed her collapsing. I heard her scream and saw her legs crushed by her motorcycle. I hurried to her in fear, leaving my schoolbag on the filthy ground, with others following me.

"Amara." I kneeled to attend to her while Drew peeled off the motorcycle from her legs. Tory, Joshua, and Becky charged at Harry.

"Ow," She groaned in pain, her eyes closed.

"You'll be alright, okay?" I assured her as I assisted her in standing up, but she was unable to do so because of her injured ankle. Luckily, she did not hit her head on the road, or something worse could have happened.

Witnessing her struggling to stand as she gripped my arm for her dear life, I immediately called for Austin.

"Austin, bring your car, we need to take her to the hospital," I shouted. Her ankle required an X-ray scan.

I again tried to bring her to her feet but she cried, "No, no, crap, it hurts."

Seeing her wailing in pain, I had no choice left but to lift her in my arms. I proceeded to slide my hands under her when Zoe rushed over, saying, "Here, let me help her stand."

"It's alright, I'll carry her. Seems like she can't stand." I scooped her up in my arms. She whimpered and nuzzled her face in the crook of my neck, fisting my t-shirt for support. Her soft, warm lips unintentionally brushed across my neck, sending shivers up and down my spine.

Before I could lose myself in the first-ever experience of feeling the touch of her lips, I composed myself and rushed inside Austin's car then we drove to a nearby hospital.

Her wails of pain tore my heart into million pieces. My gaze was drawn to her ankle, which had now swelled and had turned a vivid crimson color. She had never listened to me and did everything recklessly; a reason why I reprimanded her. I never enjoyed doing it but was for her own good. Besides, I couldn't see her crying in pain.

It wasn't the first time she'd hurt herself as a result of her irresponsible behavior. When she was in middle school, she accepted a challenge from a classmate to jump off a slide, but she fractured her wrist. Her obstinacy and desire to avoid being labeled as a loser resulted in multiple injuries, yet she never turned down a challenge, no matter how absurd.

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I did not leave her side in the hospital. When the doctor examined her, I held her hand in mine when she cried in pain. I stayed plastered to the door of the X-ray room. I interlinked her fingers with mine when the doctor gave her a painkiller shot and I did not leave her hand even when the doctor wrapped her foot with a crepe bandage.

"You youngsters are so reckless. It's a good thing it's only a sprain and not a fracture." The doctor commented when she was done wrapping her ankle, then she faced us. "There's nothing to worry about. You can take her home."

Once the doctor was gone, everybody rushed to see her. Drew glared at her. "Damn it, Knight, you scared the shit out of me. That dickhead Harry, he's so gonna get it from me."

"We have already shown him his place. While you were bringing her to the hospital we were giving Harry a good beating for doing this to her," Tory triumphantly declared, as if it were the acceptable thing to do.

"Every punch we threw at him was to avenge you and Sia. I'm sure he wouldn't come near any of you ever again." Joshua uttered, bringing Sia to his side.

Amara clenched her jaw. "Even if he tries again, I'd deform his face and stab him with a fork."

I let go of her hand, causing her to stare at it in astonishment as if she had no idea she had been holding my hand all along.

"Bold of you to say this when you know you were wrong as well." I snapped. "How could you have been so reckless?"

My sudden outburst caused her to wince visibly. She or no other expected me to get mad. Her eyes turned wide before understanding overtook her and she lowered her head in what appeared to be guilt. Despite her feelings of guilt, I felt compelled to say what needed to be said.
Not caring if we had spectators, I lashed out at her.

"Why were you not wearing your helmet? You were driving at a dangerous speed without protecting your head. What if it was your head instead of your ankle. Tell me, do you not care about your safety? Or is it just your obstinate attitude you care about?"

My outburst caused her to snap her head up. Frown graced her brows. "Hey, stop chastising me. Leave me conscious to hear an earful from mamma as well."

"Do you think it is funny?" I snapped in disbelief.

She sighed and lowering her head she fiddled with her fingers, then muttered lowly, "No. It's just... She's gonna cry because of me."

I scoffed. "Should have thought before accepting that absurd challenge."

Tory, eyeing me, went near her bed. "Stop with your outrage, Ryan. She's injured and needs rest."

"And whose fault is it she's lying in this hospital bed?" I snapped at him.

Our glare game continued for a while before he decided to turn to Amara. "C'mon, let's get you home."

Before he could assist her in standing, I swiftly grabbed her hand. "I'll contact her chauffeur and drop her off at her house. Amara, come on."

She fought back by attempting to free her hand from my grip. "No, you are going to scold me all the way home. I won't go with you."

"Well, you're in no position to choose. You will go with me. End of discussion." I made sure my words drilled into her head so she wouldn't whine again.

I phoned her chauffeur and requested that he meet us at the hospital exit gates. Since she couldn't put her foot on the floor, without informing her, I scooped her up in my arms again, making her squeak in surprise.

"What are you doing? Put me down; I can walk on my own." She wiggled in my arms to set herself free but I held her tightly against myself.

"Yeah sure, you can." I scoffed and carried her out of her the room despite her fights.

Outside the room, I stopped when Zoe approached us and looked at Amara. "Umm, you alright? You are not in any pain, are you?"

Amara, who had been protesting in my arms stopped struggling and slid her arm around my neck as she replied to Zoe, smiling gently, "A little. Nothing I can't endure. Thank you for your concern; I'll be fine in a day or two."

"Yeah, of course." Zoe smiled at her before glancing at me. "Will you be able to manage by yourself? If not, I'll gladly help you escort her home."

Her concern for Amara was evident on her face. She was one empathetic girl; she understood the pain of others. I smiled warmly at her and before I could utter a word, Amara spoke,

"Thank you for offering your help, Zoe, but I really don't want to trouble you. Besides, I don't want you to experience the torture I'll be going through all the way home with him."

Amara's reply made me smirk in amusement. I lowered my gaze to the jealous girl curled up in my arms. "How considerate of you thinking of others, Amara."

I then glanced at Zoe and chuckled. "Guess, Amara wants to be tortured in no one's presence. Thank you, Zoe but I'm sure I'll manage."

I then walked past her in the corridor, smiling to myself.

"Why are you smiling like that?"

I darted my gaze at Amara who had her brows furrowed. Cute.

"You were protesting in my arms until Zoe showed up. I wonder what suddenly changed?" I smirked, wiggling my brows.

Blush trickled her cheeks as she tried to avert her eyes, trying to unwrap her arm from around my neck, but I didn't allow her. She looked at me, her eyes narrowed. "It's not at all what you are thinking. I...I did that to balance myself. What if you had dropped me on the floor?"

"Sure. Sure." I rolled my eyes and continued walking quietly until she chose to speak up.

"Ryan, don't tell my parents I fell off the motorcycle."

I quirked an eyebrow. "Why'd you want to keep it hidden from them? They'll be furious at you and me both if they get to know it from someone else.

She groaned. "Ugh, don't think of that far. Just lie to them, okay?"

"And break the trust they have in me? No." I stated, casually.

She gave me a tight-lipped charming grin while glaring at me. "How about you don't say anything at all and let me take the matter into my hands?"

It was fun to have the upper hand, to tease her. I grinned. "That's something I could do. But if they ask me, I'm going to tell them the truth right away... in detail."

"Ugh, you are so annoying!" She growled.

"Right back at you," I said with a grin.

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