Love Games

"Shit."

Stella continued to let out a string of expletives under her breath as she prodded the flat tire of her bicycle with her foot. Frowning, she crouched down and poked what appeared to be a silver nail embedded into the rubber. She chewed on her lip for a good while before rising and guiding the bike along with her, fully intending to walk it home. She didn't even realize that she wasn't alone until a stranger's voice spoke up.

"You live in town, don't you?" He asked. "Need a ride?"

She looked up to see a tall boy with golden blonde hair and green eyes watching her. The speed at which she assessed him was laudable, taking note of his gear and clumpy hair, because she quickly realized that he was a member of the soccer team just getting out of practice. Her gaze fell on the number of his jersey.

09

Stella looked down at her bicycle, unsure of what to do. She really should have accepted Alice's offer after all.

"Thank you, but I'd better walk this home so I can fix it for tomorrow," she said.

"Why don't you just leave it here? It's a long walk," he reasoned. "You can hitch a ride with me tomorrow morning and I'll bring a spare to fix it up here."

She pursed her lips as she stared at him, unable to fathom why he was so determined on giving her a lift. But it was a long journey by foot and it was already getting dark. Stella looked down at her bike again and then back at him. He seemed to sense her discomfort because he smiled in good humor.

"I'm Sam Rowe. What's your name?"

"Stella Montgomery," she said.

"Come on, I need the training anyway."

Stella slowly guided her bike back onto the racks and secured it with her chain. Pulling her backpack over her shoulders, she approached Sam hesitantly and perched herself on the back of his bicycle. Stella reached over and pinched the sides of his jersey, but he merely laughed and shook his head, "You're gonna fall off with a grip like that, Stella."

When he took off, Stella yelped when she nearly fell off the back and immediately grasped him around the waist. She was tense all the way down the hill, but she managed to relax as they reached the more familiar area around the city.

"So, where do you live?" He asked, glancing over his shoulder.

"Uh... Concerto Way," she said. "It's a bit past Ridgewood."

"I know where that is. I live over on Mayflower."

"Oh..."

They were quiet the rest of the way and Stella only called his attention to point out her house with the red mailbox. She climbed off and looked up at Sam with an awkward nod.

"Thanks for the ride..."

"I'll swing by and pick you up tomorrow," he offered. "Is six thirty alright?"

"You don't have to," Stella protested. "Really."

"I want to."

She blushed, taken aback by the way he spoke so unabashedly. Stella looked off to the side and scratched her head.

"Alright then," she was never good at saying no. "Six thirty."

"Great, see you then," Sam smiled at her, darkening her blush. "Night."

"Night..."

Stella returned his wave as he turned around and started down the lamplit street before heading into the house herself. The driveway was empty. She already knew that there was a good chance that her parents wouldn't be home tonight. She had just let herself in and locked the door behind her when the sound of her cellphone ringing in her pocket shattered the silence.

She looked down, staring at Elle's name and face lighting up the screen. Suddenly Stella felt as if she wasn't entirely alone, like she often did when coming home to an empty house. Swiping her finger across the screen, she lifted the phone to her ear as she slipped off her shoes and started up the stairs.

"Hello?"

"Hey Stella," Elle's voice was loud and clear. "Make it home ok? We let you go pretty late, didn't we?"

"I did, thanks," Stella said, hesitating to mention that she somehow hitched a ride back. Then again, Elle was a friend and she had a feeling this was something she'd want to hear about. "My bike had a nail in the tire, but someone gave me a ride home."

"Oh?" She was trying to sound unconcerned, but Stella could hear the undertones of interest. "Who?"

"This guy named Sam Rowe," she flipped on the light her room and dropped her bag on the floor beside her desk. "I have to ride with him tomorrow morning so he can help me fix my bike."

"Is he cute?"

Stella blushed immediately, dropping into her chair and scratching her head. "I-I guess he's... cute," she muttered, unable to stop herself from blushing. "He's actually on the soccer team, but I don't know why he was so persistent to help me."

"Maybe he thinks you're pretty," Elle giggled.

"I doubt that," she replied. "...What if it's just a mean prank? You know, like in the movies."

"If anyone did anything like that to you, me and the girls would definitely have to kick some ass."

"I would like to see that."

Elle laughed, shuffling around in the background, "Me too, me too. Well, you and I better go to sleep. You'll have to wake up early tomorrow and get ready."

"I have to do some readings first, but I'll call it a night soon," Stella said, thumbing through one of the textbooks sitting in front of her. "But good night."

"See you tomorrow!"

She waited until the line ended before bringing it down from her face and picking up a pencil instead. Stella sighed, tapping the tip to her notebook before slowly etching out a line of letters.

Sam Rowe.

The moment she realized what she just did, a fierce blush covered her face and she tore it out to tuck away from sight. Stella laughed lightly to herself, forcing herself to turn her attention to the subject at hand. The last thing she should do was think about it too much and Elle had already reassured her. It would be foolish to worry about it now, she reasoned.

Still, Stella couldn't help but think about the golden haired boy once more before completely devoting herself to her studies.

* * *

The next morning, Sam was already sitting in the front of the house as Stella stepped out. She hurriedly locked the door behind her, then pulled on her jacket as she crossed the lawn to frown at the boy with green eyes. She was well aware that her ears were probably turning red from embarrassment, but it should have been unnoticeable in the lack of morning light. The lamp lights had yet to flicker out and the streets were still quiet.

"I'm so sorry, I thought you said six thirty," Stella said. "Were you waiting long?"

"No, Stella, it's alright. I did say six thirty," Sam confirmed, standing up. "I didn't want to make you wait, so I came over a bit early. Hope your parents don't think anything of me loitering out here."

"Oh, they didn't come home last night," she said, threading her arms through her backpack and climbing on after him. "They're too busy with work to be concerned about their daughter all the time."

"I know how you feel," Sam said. "My parents are out every now and then, but at least I have my younger sister to pick on."

"Thanks for the ride, by the way," Stella murmured.

"No problem, Stella," he grinned. "Can't let a pretty girl make such a long trip on her own."

Stella blushed so hard that she thought her ears would singe her hair. The imaginary Elle on her shoulder was making a ruckus at the comment, but she said nothing and tentatively wrapped her arms around his waist with an uneasy chuckle.

"I couldn't actually find the spare," Sam said navigating through the streets with practiced ease. "But I can at least fix it up enough for the trip back down."

"That's fine," she said, falling silent as she watched him struggle to pedal them both up the hill. "Should I get off?"

"No! No, don't. I can do this," the boy all but wheezed. "This sort of thing is good for training."

"Ok…" Stella trailed off, resisting the urge to jump off there to save him the trouble.

They kept quiet the entire ride up the hill, half because Stella didn't want to interrupt and half because Sam was too winded to start a conversation. By the time they crested the top of the hill and bypass the school gates, Sam was red in the face and coated in a thin sheen of sweat. Stella immediately slipped off as they neared the bike racks and offered him a bottle of water from her bag.

"Oh, thanks," he said, taking the bottle and drinking half of it after he secured the lock. "This one is yours, right?"

Stella's blue bicycle was one of the few on the rack this early in the morning with a notably flat tire. She nodded her head and he crouched down to get a better look at it. Stella stood back and watched curiously as he started rummaging through his bag for something to fix it with.

"This is pretty simple," he told her. "But you should get it fixed soon so we won't have to do this everyday."

Stella nodded her head, hesitating with her words before speaking up, "Thanks again… Sam."

Sam looked up at her, slightly surprised that she finally worked up the courage to say his name, then he smiled.

"Anytime, Stella."