The morning after the show, I'd slept in for the first time in forever.
Unfortunately, it happened on a Monday.
I bolted out the door after throwing on my school uniform, racing to the bus stop with an unbuttoned blouse and an unzipped school bag. Lungs burning. Face glowing. Sweat spewing. But, for the first time in forever ...
I missed the bus by two seconds.
It was parked for half a minute before it drove off with its usual morning cluster.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
My phone chimed in my skirt. I pulled it out of my pocket and read Tasha's caller ID: LOCA, glowing on the screen before I plopped on a bench.
"Gee," I seethed after tapping the green icon. "Thanks for the wakeup call."
"Please tell me you're here."
"Do you see me there?" I groaned, rubbing my temples. "I knew last night was a terrible idea. I never should've-"
"Bon, listen! You've got to get over here! Pronto!" she whispered frantically, "The ape's already on campus! I repeat, the ape. Has. LANDED!"
I sprung up, "Liar!"
"Swear! He's entering the building as we speak."
"But Mr. Monovan's always late on Monday's! Always!"
"Not this Monday!"
"But the bus just left! There won't be another one for another half hour," I plopped back on the bench, burying my face in my palm. "Tasha, you've got to do something! You've got to stop him! Distract him!"
"What? How?"
"I don't know! Think of something! Anything! Please! You can't let him mark me absent! You've got to at least-"
"Rough morning?"
I yelped, scurrying away from the eavesdropper behind me. At a safe distance, I glanced over my shoulder.
Hazel eyes blinked at me.
"T-Tash..." My gaze dropped to the floor. "I-I... I got to go!"
"What? But what am I supposed to-"
Beep.
Speechless, I returned to the bench after shoving my cell in my pocket. Fiddling with my fingers, my eyes stayed glued on my mary-janes.
"Don't mind me," she said with her shoulder pressed against a pole and a cigarette between her lips. "I was just passing through."
"You're... you… aren't you..." I couldn't muster up anything coherent to say in front of her. My brain had practically stopped functioning. She was too perfect. Too beautiful. Too wonderful. Too unreal.
"Erin," she introduced herself after tossing the cigarette on the floor to snuf it out with her leather boot. "You're front row, right? From last night?" She held her hand out to me, smiling softly.
"Bonnibel!" I blurted before my cheeks started burning. "I-I mean, Bonnie! I mean yes! Yes, I am - was front row. That was me."
She leaned back after closing her palm. My face burned twice as hotter after I realized I'd forgotten to shake her hand.
"I figured." Her smile faded. "You're the one who stole my shirt."
My head swung up. Stole?
My face felt cold when I caught her blank stare.
Suddenly mortified, all the events of last night started racing back. Did I misunderstand the situation? Didn't she throw it to the crowd as as souvenir? Did I really steal it?
"No, no, no!" I bolted upright, tears welling up in my eyes. "I didn't mean to - I never meant to... I thought... I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!"
"Woah, easy, easy!" She held her hands up, chuckling awkwardly. "I was just teasing. Bad joke, I guess."
I pursed my lips and buried my face in my hands, humilated by my reaction. I wanted to runaway as far as possible to hide under a rock somewhere and disappear.
But my feet were cemented in place.
"Terrible joke," I agreed. She chuckled again, patting my shoulder.
"You're right, you're right. I'm sorry," she said before her hand slid away. "Here, let me make it up to you."
I lifted my head. She nodded to something to the side. I lowered my hands and looked over and spotted a lonely motorbike parked on the curb.
"You need a ride, don't you?" She said after moving past me, in the direction of the red vehicle.
"No, I-I can't accept—"
"It's a half hour wait." She stopped beside her bike, snatching a black helmet that was hanging on the handle. "That's a lot of time." She held it out to me. "Are you sure you can afford to waste it?"
I tried to protest, but I couldn't conjure up a good lie. Partly because she was right, I was running short on time. But largely because I didn't want to protest. Even if it meant I'd be indebted to her for life, a ride with Erin Hellster was too good an opportunity to pass up.
"Thank you," I said sheepishly after rushing over to take the helmet.
She smiled, swinging her leg over the seat. She scooted forward to give me space before she affirmed, "Hop on."
I carefully mimicked her moves and sat behind her, clutching the sides of the seat with no other place to put them. She laughed.
"You'll fall," she took my wrists and pulled them around her waist. "Make sure to hold tight," she instructed before she put the keys in the ignition. Twisting one handle, the bike awoke with a thundering roar.
"Your destination, m'lady?" Erin asked.
"S-Saint Maria's?"
"The academy?" She glanced back at me. I nodded. "Sheesh," she muttered before she kicked the mount and pressed her foot into the accelerator.
Then we were flying.
The world zipped past us in blurs of colors. I couldn't hear anything but the swoosh of wind and the thundering of her bike as we twisted and turned down streets. Slightly dizzy, I pressed my head into her back and shut my eyes. I could feel her her heartbeat pulsing through my hands and I tried to focus on that for a while. It made me feel less queasy. Then the wind settled. The twisting seized.
Then we had arrived.
"Thank you," I stepped off the bike, returning her helmet. "Really. I appreciate the help."
"Anytime time," she took it back.
"Here," I reached into my skirt pocket and pulled out a five-dollar bill. "I don't have much, but—"
She gently pushed my hand away. "I don't need that."
"But I wouldn't feel right accepting a free ride from you."
"Then don't. Make it up to me some other way," she insisted.
"How?" I blinked.
She bit her lower lip, pondering on it for a moment before she suggested, "I spared some time for you. Only fair you spare some time for me."
Erin reached into her back pocket and uncapped a sharpie before she snatched my wrist. Quickly, she scribbled ten digits across my arm before jotting four letters below them.
"Erin," I read aloud.
"Call me when you've got the time," She capped her marker and slid it back into her pocket. "Bonnibel."
My eyes shot up to hers before they disappeared behind her helmet. I couldn't see her expression, but I imagined she was smiling behind the headwear, since my bright red face reflected in her visor. Then her bike was resurrected and she was gone just as fast as she'd arrived. A gust of wind was all that followed her, carrying the familiar scent of sweat and nicotine that her burgundy tank top also emitted.
Unfortunately, I didn't make it to class on time. But even though I was marked tardy, a smile was plastered on my face that entire morning.