"Shit! We're gonna be late back Ness" Zach exclaimed
"Gonna be? Think we already are dude" Ness laughed
"You guys need a ride?" Ness's opponent Adam asked, "we can get you home."
Ness and Zach looked at each other, a slight nod from each of them signaled their agreement
"Sure, where's your car?" Ness said
"Yeah, no car, when we say ride, we mean ride" Paul said jerking his head to indicate where they were parked, Ness's eyes lit up at the row of gleaming bikes, Zach looked a little more apprehensive but he sure as hell wasn't going to say no to Ness and watching her almost skipping on the sand – no mean feat in itself, Zach promised himself that no matter how terrifying it was, if Ness was having fun, he would be there.
Their new friends dropped them off at a little distance from Zach's home, nobody wanted a run-in with a freaked-out parent and motorbikes tended to make them do just that, but Ness had loved the ride, her face was flushed with the excitement,
"That was so cool!" she crowed as they walked up the sidewalk
"Yeah, sure, hmm…" Zach was not quite as enamored of the experience
"You didn't get a thrill out of that?"
"No, but it wasn't as awful as I was expecting, so that's a bonus" he looked at Ness, her eyes shining still with the buzz
"Honestly, Ness, when I saw the bikes, I thought I was gonna die, but yeah, it wasn't so bad."
"Chicken shit!"
"I'll never be as badass as you."
"Well, no, but you come a close second, Zachary Greene." Ness grinned, "At least we don't have to worry about finding a fight anymore, we found our own fight club!"
"Hell yeah!" Zach replied bumping his fist with hers.
Sophomore year continued in an easy pattern, both avoided fights at school even with extreme provocation sometimes, at weekends they headed for the Pier and a fight with their biker friends, Ness took the opportunity to learn more about motorcycles in general and was forever asking questions, eventually, one of them, Trey, allowed her to ride his bike around the parking lot. That was the day Zach felt a distance grow between them, he couldn't enjoy the bikes in the same way and for a moment he hated that their love of fights had brought them to the motorbikes, but he couldn't deny her the enjoyment she got. Once he passed his driving test, he was getting a car, Ness had already decided to go for a bike, and Zach knew she would be awesome, he even backed her up when she raised it with her parents, they wanted to get her a car, but she asked for a small-engine bike – the guys insisted it was best to start small and build up slowly. She got her bike, a crappy little 50cc but it was hers and she rode it to school, without any incidents or accidents so her dad upgraded it to a sweet-looking 125cc over the summer break.
Junior year was when things started to change.
Their lack of fights at school throughout the previous year had led some to think they had gone soft, so when Brad said something about 'prissy little girls thinking they're hard' Ness blew; everyone in the hall heard the cracking sound of his rib breaking, and it was only Zach that could stop her from breaking more. They sat in detention later that week and Ness was still angry,
"Jumped up little cock-sucking asshat" she muttered for the billionth time "why didn't you just let me kill the fucking asshole?"
"Because he wasn't worth getting a record for." He replied simply, "Geez, Ness! Let it go now, I doubt he'll ever speak to you again, let alone say something as fucking stupid as that!"
Ness gave him a sidelong glare but the look of concern on Zach's face eventually broke through the red mist and she let the anger melt away with a small sigh. Zach smile slightly,
"That was one helluva punch though, Ness" his smile grew a little, knowing the storm had finally passed.
Life plodded quietly by for the next few weeks with most kids deciding that it was simply best to avoid interacting with either of them, Brad eventually returned to classes and apart from shooting dagger looks at Ness it seemed to be water under the bridge. It wasn't.
Friday afternoon, three weeks after Brad had returned, Ness and Zach were talking in the school parking lot,
"I kinda have a date tomorrow," Zach said "I can put it off if you want, I mean, Saturdays have always been just us and fight club"
"Who with? You shouldn't put me above a date! I can hang out and talk bikes with the guys after beating them senseless…" Ness responded
"Chloe, she's in my math class."
"Blonde? Tall? Incredibly pretty, heart-shaped face?" Ness questioned; Zach nodded "She's in my English class." She added.
"You don't mind me ditching you?"
"Don't make a habit of it or I'll have to fight you! Go on, get lost already, I'll see you Monday" Ness grinned
"Sunday, I'll come tell you all about it" Zach replied grinning, Ness just rolled her eyes, put her helmet on and started her bike,
"Have fun tomorrow dude" she called over her shoulder and let the throttle out, moving quickly towards the exit.
Nobody that saw it could quite explain what happened, one-minute Ness had been riding normally, the next moment an unknown car had reversed at speed directly into her, knocking her off the bike and tossing her into the air like a ragdoll. The one thing everyone remembered was the scream, a low guttural almost primal sound, it ripped from Zach's chest even as he sprinted across the lot to her.