To Fill the Void

Placing the test on the desk, with not one glance from the professor -whose nose was too buried in his book- I skipped my way out of the half full class room. The test I had been stressing over for days was finally over and I knew mostly everything, and now I was ready to get the hell off this campus. This was the only other class I had today, and since I was done with the test, I was done for the day.

Damon was still probably in class, and I didn’t have the keys to the car; wonderful. I made my way across the campus till I came to the courtyard where I sat myself down at one of the benches surrounding the fountain that sat in the middle. I hesitated to call one of the guys, I had already become better friends with Pat, but after what happened at the bowling alley, I wanted a little distance.

After the little outburst of Kennedy’s, things for me became awkward, all eyes had been on me and things for the night died off. My brother ended up talking the guys into taking us home before our game even ended, which had gotten a few groans from Jared and Garrett who were convinced they were going to win. John didn’t say anything to me since, and when we finally got home, I locked myself in my room and called Tony, despite the time of night it was, he was there.

He always was.

The thing about Tony is that he understood like no other person could. He did worse things than me, and some he still did, but never for the same purposes -some for no purpose at all, but for the hell of it. Despite the fact that he did the worse drugs imaginable, he was the one hounding me the worse about all the “shit” I did. He once said I should have gone to a therapist, but I didn’t want some guy fucking with my mind. So, for now, Tony was my therapist and my little lovelies and their companion liquor were enough therapy for me.

I decided against calling Pat, thinking that my brother would get out soon, but what seemed like soon turned into an hour. It was when I stopped pacing and looked at my phone, that I remembered he had soccer practice today and that he was suppose to give me the keys before we parted ways this morning. But I had been too stressed out to even think about it.

Letting out a sigh, I began to skim through my phonebook looking for Pat’s number when hands were placed over my eyes making me jump.

“Guess who?” asked the voice, but I couldn’t place who it was. I didn’t know a lot of people on campus, and they all had classes at this time.

“I don‘t know.” I said slowly, as I bit my lip thinking.

“Me.”

The hands were removed from my face, as I turned in my seat to look up into the green eyes of the boy. A smirk playing his lips, as I smiled at him.

“Hey Adriane, what are you doing here?” I asked a little confused, he never mentioned going to school, but then again I never asked.

“I go here..” he laughed, shoving me with his hip over on the seat, taking up the now empty space next to me on the bench. “I‘m an art major.” He patted the sketchpad that I hadn’t noticed earlier, as it sat in his lap.

“Oh, that’s cool.” I smiled at him, and he returned it. I stared down at the book, considering whether or not to ask if I could look. Reading my mind, and seeing my stare, he swiftly handed the book to me as I pulled my legs under me on the seat.

I turned the pages admiring all of his work, as I explained to him I was waiting for my brother. The sketches that filled the pages were actually really good. Random images and some that you had to stare at and admire to understand its reason, and they were really deep. With the small talk we had between turning pages, I told him how I was majoring in writing, which he insisted on reading what I had in my bag, but some of the things were too personal. He understood.

Flipping the back of the book shut, and turning it over in my lap, I looked up at Adriane through my bangs. “These are amazing,” I smiled, handing the book back to him, watching as he tucked it back into his messenger bag.

“Any word from your brother?” he asked, moving his hair out of his face, the sun catching his eyes. I took out my phone to see no missed calls or messages, and shook my head at him in response. “Need a ride?”

“Uh, I don‘t want to be a burden.” I don’t want to go home, is more like it.

“No problem, it‘ll be fun.” He winked at me, before grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the parking lot of the college. The gesture caught me off guard, as I pulled my bag with one hand back onto my shoulder, considering one hand was clasped in Adrian’s.

He led me off the campus and into the crowded parking lot, his hand still wrapped around mine. I scanned the parking lot, trying to figure out what car could possibly belong to the boy. But it wasn’t a car that he stopped at, as he let go of my hand to pull out the key and grab a helmet.

“You drive a motorcycle?” I asked a little scared.

“Yeah, got it for my birthday a while back.” He smiled, grazing his hand over the shiny black bike. “Why, you scared?” he asked, looking up from the bike and at me. Placing the helmet on his head, he picked up the extra one he had attached to the bike, tossing it back and forth in his hands.

“Honestly.. Kind of.” I said a little embarrassed, shifting on my feet, considering if this was a good idea or not. “My dad and brother always warned me that I‘m going to get myself killed on one of them. I used to want one when I was younger, but quickly got over it when my uncle fell off his.” I explained, biting my lip.

“Well, live a little, girl.” He smiled. “I‘ll go slow for you.” I thought it over in my head, as I continued to stare from him back at the bike. “It‘s okay if you don‘t want to, but I think you‘ll be waiting awhile for your brother.”

It had already been an hour, which meant my brother was out of his last class and now headed, or already at, his practice. The practice would be at least for two hours, and I was bored as hell on that bench. I could just call Pat after all, but what about the free ride in front of me? “Fine, I‘ll go.”

Grabbing the helmet out of his hand, his smile grew bigger. Helping me up onto the bike, he got on in front of me, instructing me to hold onto him around his waist. I didn’t even hesitate to grab on, I clung my body to him as he started up the motor, kicking off the kickstand.

“Hold on, good girl.” He mused, as he pushed down the helmets frame and we sped off out the parking lot.

---

Trying to give Adriane directions over the loud noise coming from the bike was difficult, but we managed to make it to my house, where he cut the engine and helped me off the bike. His arm brushed against mine as he walked me up to my door, but neither of us moved away.

“That wasn‘t as bad as I thought it would be.” I said a little shakily, because the truth was I was petrified. The ride had been like an adrenalin rush, and as much as I didn’t want to get back on the bike, the part of my mind that wanted to get back on was bigger then that. “Thank you.” I smiled.

“No problem, told you it was nothing.” He smiled down at me, as I shifted a little uncomfortable.

The silence grew between us, as I was about to get ready to grab for the doorknob. I watched as Adriane took a step closer to me, placing his hand on the side of my face as he brushed my bangs away from my eyes, and I didn’t back away as his face came closer to mine. My mind shouted for me to stop him, but the rest of me was allowing him to come closer, that was until the front door of the house opened to reveal a tall figure.

“Oh, uh, sorry.” John almost smirked as he leaned in to the door’s frame, crossing his arms in pure amusement. “Ellie, you‘re grandmother is looking for you.” His eyes diverted to me kindly, before back at Adrian where they hardened.

“Okay.” I replied baffled, turning back to Adrian. “Thanks for the ride, really. I‘ll see you around?” I left the question handing, as Adriane brought his gaze back at me from John, he nodded his head silently before turning and jogging back off towards his bike.

I watched as his bike disappeared down the street, before pushing John aside in the doorway, making my way into the house. “What are you doing here?” I asked still confused, as I threw my bag onto the couch, causing the grey fur ball cat to jump off, scared.

“I was looking for Garrett, so I came here.” He replied, shoving his hands into his skinny jeans, following me into the kitchen.

“Well he‘s not here obviously.” I raised my eyebrows, catching onto his lie.

“That’s when I realized that I actually needed a cup of sugar.” He said slowly, pulling the cliché excuse out of the back of his mind. He smiled meekly.

“Then where’s your cup? And aren’t you supposed to do that with your neighbors?” I scrunched my eyebrows together.

“I need one of those too! And I don’t know my neighbors that well, I live in an apartment. For all I know they could be planning to poison me, rape me, and drop my body off in the desert!” I laughed at his story.

“You’re the one who drives a fucking white van, how do I know you aren’t going to use my sugar to lure kids into your van?”

“Don’t hate! Okay, fine.” He sighed, accepting defeat. “I was looking for you. Your grandmother said you were at school, and she let me wait for you, she‘s really nice.” He smiled a little shyly, and I tried to hide the blush rising on my cheeks.

“Well you found me.” I smiled, turning and leaning on the kitchen counter, keeping my eyes on him. The feeling in my stomach swarmed as he paced the kitchen in front of me.

“Well, I was wondering..” he trailed off, the anxiety eating me alive inside. “If you were busy Saturday.” His eyes met mine again, as I cocked my head to the side, it was my turn to be amused.

“Why?”

“Because..” he trailed off once more, and the laughter was building up inside me, as I watched him get antsy. “I want to take you somewhere.”

“Where?”

“It depends if you say yes.” He says, a smirk placed on his face, he raised his eyebrow at me. He saw the amusement in my face, and he crossed the kitchen where he leant against the counter next to me. “It‘s a surprise.”

“What if I don’t like surprises?” I questioned, the curiosity building up in me. I wanted to know, and he knew that, he could see it in my face. I wasn’t the biggest fan of surprises, I always had to know, and he was taking over the fact that this time I was the one getting antsy.

“Well then you will miss a great surprise.” He continued to smirk, as he whispered his words to me.

“What if I say yes? Do I get to know now?”

“So you‘re saying yes?”

“I didn‘t say that.”

“But that’s what you implied, so I take that as a yes. Plus, let‘s be truthful, Ellie. You can‘t resist me.” He finished, before pushing himself off the counter and crossing the room.

“Well, isn’t someone a little cocky?” I asked, crossing my arms.

“And isn‘t someone a little bad, riding that motorcycle with that guy?” He copied my actions.

“You don‘t know the half of it. Why, you jealous?”

“Extremely.”

I couldn’t hide the rush of heat from coming to my face, as he smiled knowing he was the reason for it. “I‘ll pick you up at seven, bye princess.” He smirked before leaving the kitchen, and I could hear the front door open and close.

I was definitely not a princess.