-Joy Ride- Xx-Katherine-xX & Nightecho

[Xx-Katherine-xX]

Hunter has been sheltered for most of her upbringing, coddled by her loving but overprotective father well into her teenage years. She's yet to experience most of the milestones that her same-age peers take for granted, like attending a school dance or getting their driver’s license. The only time that Hunter isn’t under the watchful eye of her father is when she's at school and even then, she's under strict orders to come straight home once that dismissal bell rings. Nathanieal hasn’t resided with a parent/guardian since he was legally able to live on his own. He didn’t come from a nurturing environment, not even close, but he's not looking for a pity party about it. Nathaniel fends for himself in this world and he's earned a bit of a reputation for snubbing his nose at authority at every opportunity.


Hunter encounters Nathaniel one afternoon as she's making her way to the bus. Hunter can’t help but stare with envy as Nathaniel mounts his motorcycle—able to ride off whenever and wherever he pleases. Nathaniel catches Hunter staring and he offer Hunter a ride. Hunter accepts, hastily snatching up her first little taste of freedom.

 

[Xx-Katherine-xX]

The alarm went off for the second time as Hunter lay there, face down against her pillow. She eventually found the motivation to roll over and get on her feet. The hardwood floors felt cold under her bare feet and she flexed her toes, the black nail polish gleaming under the morning light. Hunt padded over to her closet, and quickly chose an outfit. Fall had finally hit and it was starting to get colder. She chose a black sweat shirt, a pair of jeans, and her black moccasin boots.


She dressed quickly and then went to the tiny bathroom that branched off of her bedroom. She washed her face and applied some light makeup before pulling her long blonde hair up into a messy bun. When she was finished she slipped downstairs where her dad was waiting at the table with breakfast.


"Morning, Dad."


"Morning, honey."


Hunter slid into her seat at the table and ate her cereal quietly as her dad read the paper. He shook his head and folded after some time, setting it down on the table.


"Everything all right?" Hunt asked.


"Fine. Fine. Just politics. Not anything you need to worry about."


"Oh."


Her father stood up and took his plate to the sink to wash it.


"Hunter, you're going to have to take the bus this afternoon. I have to work late."


Hunter was surprised. Her father never let her take the bus on her own. But she certainly wasn't going to object. She finished eating and cleaned her bowl before walking out to the car with her dad. She grabbed her bag from beside the front door before leaving and not long after they had left the house, they were outside the school.


"Have a great day, hon. I love you."


"You too, Dad."


--


Hunter's day had been rather uneventful. Just the same monotonous day like any other. When the bell for seventh period rang, she hurried outside the door and found a bench in the parking lot to wait for the bus at. She sat quietly and played on her phone for some time, until she glanced up and saw a boy.


He was certainly attractive, but that wasn't what had caught her attention. It was his choice in transportation. The boy had walked over to a sleek motorcycle, and Hunter stared with envy. If only Dad trusted me with something like that, she thought to herself as she gazed wistfully at the shiny black paint.


((@Nightecho ))

 

[Nightecho]

Nathaniel sighed as he made his way out to the parking lot. His day had been frustrating, to say the least. First, his English teacher had gotten upset over the fact that he hadn't written her five page persuasive essay on a current issue. As if Nathaniel even cared about current issues, much less had time to write the stupid essay in the first place. He probably wouldn't even finish the school year, so his grades didn't mean anything to him. And he had to put in long nights at the garage to afford both the rent on his appartment and the parts to fix up his bike. He sighed. And then when he had told her what exactly she could do with the damn essay, he had gotten sent to the principle. Again. It had almost become a sort of game between the two of them now. He would pretend to be 'sorry' for whatever he had done and say he wouldn't do it again. The principle would give him detention so he would learn his lesson and pretend to believe him. Nathaniel wouldn't even bother to show up for the detention. And a few days later he would get sent down again and the whole process would repeat itself.


He shook his head as he reached his motorcycle, grabbing his helmet and getting on. Today was the one day that he didn't have to go into work until later in the evening, and he sure wasn't going to waste it in detention. No, he was going to go home and work on his bike for a bit. It was a lot better than it had been when he first bought it, but it still needed a lot of work, and some of the new parts he had ordered had come in the day before. At least, that was his plan until he saw the girl. She was sitting on a bench waiting for her bus and watching him. He would normally have ignored her, but there was something about her that made him pause. And she was kind of cute, too. So he called out, "Need a ride anywhere?"

 

[Xx-Katherine-xX]

Hunter had eventually went back to her phone, but her head shot up when she heard someone call in her direction. She glanced around and made eye contact with the motorcycle boy. Her eyebrows shot up and she bit her lip. Was he really talking to her? He seemed far too...cool to ever think about speaking to a girl like her.


She fumbled about in her brain for a response but all that came out was a ridiculous sounding, "Um..." Suddenly, Hunter became determined. C'mon Hunt, she thought, pull yourself together. This is your chance to do something insane. So, she stood up, grabbed her bag, and walked over to him.


"Y'know, um, I don't really need to be anywhere but I wouldn't mind taking a ride with you."


She internally cursed herself. How could she be so awkward? Her silly attempt at flirting was a fluke. Hunt wished she could just disappear at this very moment. Her eyes fell away from the boy's face and down to the fringe of her boots. She could feel her face heating up, the blood rushing to her cheeks and making her blush bright red.

 

[Nightecho]

Nathaniel was slightly amused by her obvious awkwardness and embarassment, but there was also something kind of intriguing about her. Most of the girls in the school were predictable and boring, but she seemed different. He definitely wouldn't mind getting to know her a bit better. So he said, "I was just going to go back to my place and work on the bike a bit. You're welcome to come along, if you have no where else to go. At least there'll be pizza and possibly some conversation. What do you think?" He didn't usually bring anyone else back to his appartment, but he was willing to make an exception in order to find out more about her.

 

[Xx-Katherine-xX]

Hunter glanced back up at his face, taking in the dark hair and intensely green eyes. He was dreamy. She was startled back to reality though as she realized he was asking her something...something about going to his place.


This was obviously a bad idea. Her father had always told her to never, under any circumstances go to a boy's house alone with him. But Hunter was tired of being under his protective watch.


"Yeah, sure. I'd like that."


A slight smile flirted across her lips and she nervously bit the bottom one. Her toes curled up in her boots and she slipped her phone into her back pocket. Her gaze had turned back over to the bike and suddenly she was nervous. She'd never rode on a motorcycle before and she could only hope this boy was a good driver.

 

[Nightecho]

Nathaniel smiled at her, noticing her hesitation, and the way she looked at the motorcycle. She had obviously never ridden one before. Nor did she trust him fully. Smart girl, for that one. He didn't really fully trust anyone. In his world, someone who was cautious was someone who stayed alive. Still, he was glad she had accepted. Hoping to make her feel a bit safer, he held the helmet out to her. "Here," he said. "You probably have more of a brain to protect than I do anyway," he joked, giving her a lopsided grin and gesturing for her to get on the seat behind him.

 

[Xx-Katherine-xX]

"I don't know about that but okay."


Hunt pulled her hair out of the top know that it was in and let it down before pulling the helmet on over her now wavy blonde hair. She looked quizzically at the seat, not quite sure how to get on. She watched as boy swung his leg over the side and she furrowed her brow. She could that, couldn't she?


Hunter approached the bike with some uncertainty and swing her leg over the side with little effort. She had always been very flexible and ballet dancing definitely made it even better. She adjusted herself until she was comfortable. She wasn't sure where to put her hands or how she was expected to stay on the metal machine.

 

[Nightecho]

Nathaniel couldn't help it. He laughed a bit at her uncertainty. "You're going to want to hold on if you don't want to fall off," he teased, reacing back to grab one of her arms and wrap it around him waist. Then he started the motorcycle, pausing to give her time to tighten her grip before hitting the gas, heading out of the school parking lot and toward his apartment. Normally he sped quite a bit, loving the freedom he felt when riding, but this time he stuck to the speed limits, figuring the girl wouldn't exactly be comfortable with higher speeds. Not to mention she was new to riding, and he didn't want her to fall off.

 

[Xx-Katherine-xX]

Blood rushed to her cheeks again as he wrapped her arms around his torso. She could feel his body and could tell it was pretty well muscled. As the bike started, Hunt jumped and tightened her grip on his waist. And suddenly they were flying down the streets.


Hunt loved the feeling of the wind against her skin and she even loosened her grip on him a little bit as she got more comfortable. It wasn't nearly as scary as it had seemed. In fact, it was exhilarating.

 

[Nightecho]

Nathaniel grinned as he felt the girl relax a bit. She may not have ridden a motorcycle before, but she certainly seemed to like it. The ride didn't last very long, though. His apartment was pretty close to school. It had to have been, since he'd had to walk to the school from the day he moved in until the point where he had fixed his motorcycle up to the point where it was actually driveable. He pulled into a parking spot outside the building, shutting the bike off and getting off. "Why don't you come up to my apartment with me?" he offered. "I can order pizza and we can talk for a while before I take you home."

 

[Xx-Katherine-xX]

Hunter slid off the bike, breathless and pumped full of adrenaline. She was breathing heavy as pulled the helmet off, handing it back to the boy.


"That was...amazing."


She swayed a little bit as she got her balance back and ran a hand through her hair. Pizza honestly sounded so good right now.


"Yeah. That would be nice." She faced him uncertainty and suddenly remembered she had completely forgotten to introduce herself. "I'm Hunter, by the way. I can't believe I hopped on your bike and didn't even tell you my name. Good job, Hunt." She chuckled awkwardly. She certainly wasn't cut out for this.


((@Nightecho ))

 

[Nightecho]

Nathaniel laughed. "Don't worry about it," he told her. "I'm Nathaniel." He led her up to his apartment. It wasn't exactly the nicest, with it's clashing paint colors, holes in the carpet, and appliances that didn't work, but at least it was clean. He made sure of that. It was very small with just a living room/ kitchen combination in the front, and his bedroom and the bathroom in the back. He gestured over to the couch. "If you wait here, I'll go order the pizza and be right back." He didn't have a cell phone, since they were way too expensive for him to afford, and the land line was in his bedroom, since that was where he used it most. He walked back to make the call, disappearing into the back room.

 

[Xx-Katherine-xX]

Hunter walked in and was a bit surprised. She was of the upper middle class and her house certainly wasn't average and was at least a hundred times nicer than this. The apartment was cozier though. Her house was much too big for just her and her father. When Nathaniel walked off to call for pizza, Hunter wasn't quite sure what to do so she wandered around the small kitchen-living room space.


"I can pick up some of the tab, if you need me too." She didn't mean for it sound as if she thought he couldn't get it. She just meant it as a common courtesy.

 

[Nightecho]

Nathaniel shook his head as he walked into the room. "Nah, it's fine. I've got it." He didn't mind taking care of it. Pizza wasn't that expensive, and he wasn't used to accepting monetary help from, well, anyone really. And he preferred it that way. It was nice, knowing he didn't have to rely on anyone but himself. "There's some cold soda or water in the fridge if you want any," he added, calling through the doorway. "Make yourself at home." And with that he closed the door to make the phone call.

 

[Xx-Katherine-xX]

Hunter felt incredibly awkward. She had just met this boy and here she was in his house. She looked for something to do, and at his comment, she decided she might see what he had to drink in the fridge. She pulled the handle to open the refrigerator door and bent down to see what was inside. There were a few Cokes and bottles of water; being the health freak that she was, she took the water though. She ambled back toward the entryway area, trying to be as unawkward as possible, and, of course, failing miserably.

 

[Nightecho]

Nathaniel finished placing the pizza order and walked back out to the main room, noticing Hunter's awkwardness. It didn't look like she was very familiar with visiting other people's homes. Probably more of a home body, then. He walked over to the fridge and grabbed a coke, then went and sat on the couch, propping his feet up on the coffee table. His mother would have thrown a fit over that if she were here, but she wasn't, so it didn't really matter. He popped the can open, taking a sip before asking, "I take it you enjoyed your first ride on a motorcycle?" He grinned a bit at that, knowing the answer perfectly well.

 

[Xx-Katherine-xX]

Hunter crossed over and took a spot beside Nathaniel, leaving a large space between the two of them. She glanced down at his feet on the table and grimaced, her father would've been horrified. She turned her attention back to him though as he spoke to her. "It was incredible. I expected it to be terrifying, and it was. But in the most exhilarating way ever." She sighed a bit wistfully. She had never felt so free before until she rode on that motorcycle with him.

 

[Nightecho]

Nathaniel laughed. "Yeah, I love the freedom of the motorcycle. But mostly I just brought it 'cause it was cheap. Came into the garage I work at in a really sorry state, and when the owner found out how much work had to go into it he decided to just buy a new one so I bought it off of him. Been fixing it up myself." He paused, then asked, "So what about you? We don't really know each other, so I was hoping you might tell me a bit about yourself."

 

[Xx-Katherine-xX]

Hunter nodded as he spoke and was a little startled by his questoin. She wasn't really sure what exactly to say. She never thought of herself as very interesting. "Um, well, what's there to know? I'm originally from Seattle but I moved to Portland in the seventh grade with my dad and my brother. I really like photography and reading and I guess motorcycles now." She chuckled and bit her lip, a nervous habit she had picked up when she was very young. "What about you? I mean, what's there to you besides the motorcycles?"

 

[Nightecho]

Nathaniel laughed. "Not much, really," he admitted. "I live here alone, and I work as a mechanic at a garage in the area. I generally work pretty long hours, so I don't have much spare time, and what little I do have usually goes towards fixing up and maintaining the bike." He shrugged slightly. It was true. So much of his time was taken up by work and school that he didn't have a chance to do much else besides those two things.

 

[Xx-Katherine-xX]

"Oh." Hunter smiled slightly, the left corner of her mouth pulled up into a half smile. She wasn't quite sure what to say to that. It was certainly interesting - more interesting than anything she did. She almost wanted to ask where his parents were but weren't so sure that was the kind of question she could, or should, just ask. It seemed too personal. And he hadn't asked where her mom was. "At least you enjoy what you do, right?" It was a basic response, and a little dumb in her opinion but she didn't know what else to say.

 

[Nightecho]

Nathaniel tipped his head slightly, "Yeah, there is that," he agreed. And he did. Machines, unlike people, were predictable. They didn't surprise him, and he knew how to fix them if they didn't work properly. Which was more than he could say about his people skills. He didn't really get along with anything living that well. Even animals didn't seem to like him. "So, got any plans after you graduate?" he asked, changing the subject. He figured she seemed like one of those people who wanted to go to college. Of course, he supposed most people did. Personally, though, he hated school. He couldn't imagine subjecting himself to any more of it.

 

[Xx-Katherine-xX]

Hunter smiled, college was a favorite subject. "Yeah. I plan to attend UMASS and get my degree in teaching. What about you?" She didn't think he was one of those boys who would go to college and get a degree. He seemed more laid back, almost like he didn't care much about anything or anyone. It was nice though. She wasn't used to being around someone like that. Her dad was so uptight and her brother was incredibly overprotective of her, even though he had already gone off to school.

 

[Nightecho]

Nathaniel shrugged slightly. So he had been right in his guess about her. She did want to go to college. Although she wouldn't have struck him as the teaching sort. She seemed awfully shy for someone who wanted to teach. He supposed that wasn't really his business, though. "I don't think much will change, really," he said. "I'll probably just start picking up even more time at the garage, since I won't have to be in school all day."