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“Careful, Heather,” JD muttered for the millionth time, clenching one fist as he tried to pretend his nerves weren’t getting the better of him. “Just go easy at first.”
“I’m fine,” Heather snapped, she brought her foot down on the kick-starter again, still not managing to start the bike.
JD snorted. “Try again, this time, a little less aggression.” He dearly hoped his bike would survive this insane idea.
Heather glared at him. “Aggression is how I do things.” She stamped down again, and this time the engine roared to life.
“Okay, you’re ready to start, remember what I told--”
She must have remembered, because she revved the engine a couple times, drowning out whatever he might have said.
Flicking a smile over her shoulder at him, Heather squeezed the gas and shot forward a few feet.
The engine died.
Ripping off her helmet, Heather turned back to him. “Why the fuck is this so hard?”
“Because this is the first time you’ve ever tried? Also, you have to rev it again after you release the choke. You know, we could try this again some other time…”
“I’m not quitting,” Heather snapped. “Let me try again.”
Resigned, JD walked her through the steps again.
This time she got it, and JD found himself punching the air and jogging to keep up with her slightly unsteady ride.
Heather stopped and turned to him, nearly toppling the bike in the process. JD caught it just in time. “Jesus, Heather!”
“It’s fine, whatever. But did you see me? I did it!”
Taking a deep breath to push his panic aside, JD smiled. “Yeah, you did good. Still a little unbalanced though, could you feel that?”
“Yeah, but it wasn’t that bad. I did good!”
“Yeah, it was good, until you’re going seventy miles per hour and you crash and die. Or even if you fell going ten, your parents would be up my ass with a lawsuit in point oh seven seconds.”
Heather rolled her eyes. “Like your dad’s never had to deal with a lawsuit.”
“Yeah, and he deals with it by packing up and hauling ass out of town. You’d never hear from me again.”
She was thoughtful for a long minute. “But then I’d have Veronica to myself… “
“You’re impossible.” He rolled his eyes. “Want to try again? This time just remember to think about your center of gravity and try to get used to feel of the bike. Don’t go too fast until you’re sure you have it.”
Heather smiled and flipped the visor down on her helmet. “Got it!”
This time she started the bike on the first try and set off down the empty road at a slow, steady pace. This time she wobbled far less, and JD could almost see her confidence growing. After a couple dozen feet, he stopped running alongside her to watch her go.
She went a couple hundred feet before pulling the brake and stopping. She kicked down the stand and jumped off-- rather clumsily-- so she could run up and hug him. “I did it!”
JD hugged her back. “Hell yeah you did!”
Heather was practically jumping up and down. “What’s next? When can I go on real roads?”
JD looked out over the empty stretch of road, and the cornfields on either side. “This is probably where you should stay for a bit. You still don’t know how to turn.”
“Who needs turns?” Heather said. “Can I go again?”
He nodded. “Slow! You had one good ride, that doesn’t mean you’re perfect.” Be careful, He pleaded silently.
Heather tossed her hair, a gesture her helmet impeded somewhat. “It’s only a matter of time.” She climbed on the bike.
“You still can’t turn.”
She stuck her tongue out at him and kick-started the engine again, taking off down the road at nearly twice the speed she’d been at last time. JD was sprinting to keep up.
“HEATHER!”
If she could hear him, she was doing a damn good job of pretending she couldn’t, because she kept right on driving.
“HEATHER!”
The bike wobbled, and JD, unable to keep up, watched in horror as Heather got off balance, the front tire pulling the wrong way.
At the last possible second, Heather recovered, getting the bike back under control and pulling it to a stop. JD broke into a sprint again to grab her as she staggered off the bike.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded, shaking a little. “Holy shit.”
“Does anything hurt?” It was a stupid question. She hadn’t fallen off, and nothing had really happened, but it had come so close. It seemed impossible that she hadn’t been injured.
Heather shook her head. “I’m fine. I think that’s enough for today.”
JD really, really wanted to let her leave it there. Wanted to take her home so they could find a shitty movie on TV while they waited for Veronica to join them later. But he couldn’t do it.
“No.”
“I’m sorry?” Heather looked up at him, shocked and evidently a little pissed.
“Listen, Heather, if you stop now, you’ll never try again. You have to go one last time.”
“I don’t have to do anything.”
“So your parents were right then?” JD asked, knowing it was a low-blow. “Doing this is stupid and dangerous, and only a stupid, dangerous person would try it.”
“That’s not what I said,” Heather replied, and though her tone was stiff, JD could see that she was trying not to cry.
“So go again. Prove them wrong.”
She was glaring at him now, and JD knew he was winning. “What if I don’t want to?”
JD shrugged. “That’s fine. I won’t make you.” He wouldn’t have to. Heather’s personality didn’t allow for anything less than perfection. She wouldn’t quit.
“I hate you,” Heather said, grabbing her helmet out of his hands and shoving it onto her head.
She managed a perfect start, revving the engine one last time before she pulled away from him.
There was no wobbling this time. She rode perfectly, the lines of her back taught and in-control as she drove away from him down the exact center of the road.
After several yards, she stopped. “Good enough?”
JD smiled. “Better. You were perfect. Move over; I’m driving home.”
“What you don’t trust me? I thought I was perfect?”
“You still can’t fucking turn.”