Chapter 6

I leaned against my bike boringly as people started rushing out of the school entrance. My green eyes roamed through the sea of heads, trying to find the specific dark brown hair among them all. I fetched my pack of cigarettes and lighter, then grabbed one. Lighting it up, I placed it in my mouth and took a few puffs before blowing out the smoke in satisfaction. My gaze finally landed on the messy brown hair and the owner's pair of anxious eyes.

I beckoned him over with a toothy smile and he furrowed his brows in wonder. I watched him walk towards me while grabbing the cigarette between my index and middle finger and putting the lighter away. Once he reached me, he gazed around with the same anxiousness in his eyes. I blew out another cloud of smoke, finally making him look back at me.

"Uh, hey. What are you doing here?" Chase asked while fidgeting with the sleeves of his sweater.

"Is that question your only way of greeting?" I mused.

His face flushed a little and I grinned, inhaling more of the cigarette contents. This earned me the slightest of scowls on his behalf, making it clear that the cigarette didn't appease him.

"I—uh, no. It's just—aren't you supposed to be suspended?" he asked, deciding to ignore the cancer stick.

I gave a careless, one-shouldered shrug, blowing out yet another cloud of smoke. "That I am." I chuckled. "What about it?"

His mouth opened then closed, probably not knowing an answer to my question. He shook his head slightly and brought his right hand to the back of his neck. "Nothing. Uh, you waiting for your friends?"

"I'm not waiting for anyone. At least not anymore." I grinned. He furrowed his brows, probably confused and wondering what I meant. "You are already standing in front of me, silly."

"Wait—you were waiting for me?" He blushed slightly. "What for?"

I decided not to answer right away. Instead, I flicked what was left of the cigarette to the ground and stomped on it with the heel of my boot. He watched my every move expectantly, awaiting an answer. I reached for the helmet that was still hanging on the handle and threw it at him. He managed to catch it before it fell to the ground, his eyes now wide with surprise.

"Put that on," I ordered. He just stared at the helmet dumbly. "What? Don't tell me I have to give step-by-step instructions on how to put a helmet on to a nerd."

"Huh? No!" Chase said quickly. "Why exactly do you want me to put this on?"

"Why else would I give you a helmet?" I rolled my eyes. "And here I thought you were actually intelligent. What a shame. I guess you're just looks and no brain."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

I held back a small laugh at his slightly offended and flustered expression. I ignored his question and opened the small compartment to grab some sunglasses. Securing my hair in a tight bun, I put the sunglasses on and hopped on my bike. "Hop on, nerd. We're starting your lessons today." I smirked.

His dumbfounded yet astonished expression was perfect enough to take a picture of and hang on a wall. "Wait, what? B-But I have to study for my English test tomorrow! Plus, I've got a biology project due next week."

"Oh, come on, Chase. We both know that you will ace that test and get that project done in a day. Get on and let's not waste any more time." I sighed and turned the key in the ignition, causing the bike to roar to life. He looked at the bike nervously, and very reluctantly placed the helmet on his head. I watched in amusement as he secured the straps under his chin and held on to his bag rather tightly, staring at me through the visor.

I just raised my eyebrows and waited patiently for him to position himself on the seat behind me. Once he finally did so, I peeked over my shoulder and grinned. "Hang on tight, nerd. We don't want you to accidentally fall off now, do we?"

Before he could say anything, I revved the engine and almost laughed as his arms secured themselves rather tightly around my waist. Knowing he was mostly safe, I rode out of the school grounds and onto the streets. Chase was completely tense behind me, his head hidden on my shoulder and his arms tight. Luckily, not tight enough to squeeze my organs and make them come out through my mouth.

It didn't take long to arrive at the gym. Once I parked my baby on my usual spot, I killed the engine and took my glasses off. "Alright, we're here."

"Were you planning to kill us?" Chase blurted out, jumping off the bike as if it was made on fire, and took his helmet off. He looked completely bewildered with his wide eyes and messed up hair. I calmly got off the bike and stretched my limbs, not really letting his astonishment bother me. "Judging by the several honks I heard on our way here, you almost crashed into a car at least twice!"

"Relax, Chase. I know how to drive this baby. Now let's get moving, I'm excited for this." I chuckled. He frowned at me as I snatched the helmet from his hands and made my way inside the building. I didn't bother to check if he was following me as I encountered Wesley, who was behind the desk. Judging by the low grumbling behind my back, I could tell that Chase was right on my tail.

"Lily, back again so soon?" Wesley greeted with a smile. My response to him was me throwing my helmet and him catching it with ease. "You brought company, I see."

"Wesley, meet Chase. I'm going to need the back room for a special training." I grinned. He narrowed his eyes as my grin got wider. "I promise I will give the keys back by six."

I looked over my shoulder at Chase, who was looking around the gym and fiddling nervously. Turning my eyes back to Wesley, I gave him the best pout and puppy dog eyes I could muster. After a few seconds, he gave in and let out a sigh while reaching for the keys. I smiled widely as he threw them with a warning glare.

"This better be for training, only," he warned and I laughed. I winked and saluted him mockingly before grabbing Chase by the wrist and pulling him with me. He didn't seem to mind as I dragged him past all the equipment and sweaty bodies over to a hallway by the very back.

Once I reached a door, I let go of his wrist and turned the key in the lock.

"Where are we?" Chase finally asked. I simply motioned him to follow me as I opened the door and stepped inside. He hesitantly did so, and I felt the wall beside the door to find the switch. After massaging the hard surface for a bit, I successfully found the switch and flicked it on. The room lit up instantly.

In the middle of the room was a boxing ring with a chair on two ends. By the far side were a set of lockers, running down the wall, and a door at the far back, which led to a full bathroom with showers. On the wall to my right, laid a stack of towels, gloves, and water bottles, while at the other side of the room were a few exercising machines and yoga mats. Beside the bathroom was another door that led to a changing room and a water fountain which was pretty much broken down.

"Welcome to the training room!" I chirped as I pushed him inside and closed the door behind me. He watched in awe at his surroundings, taking in everything. I watched smugly as his eyes shone a little and he ran a hand through his hair. "This is where I will be teaching you some self-defense."

I left him to wander around and walked to one of the many lockers. I opened the one by the far end - the closest one to the changing room, and pulled out some clean clothes. Closing it back up, I walked over to Chase, handing him the clothes and telling him to go change. I certainly wasn't going to train with him with those jeans and hoodie he had on. He furrowed his brows a bit but didn't question it and did as told. While he changed, I took some sweatpants from the same locker and put them on right there—it wasn't like he would put those clothes on in just a second and walk out of the changing room to see me in my underwear.

Chase walked out of the room just as I threw my jeans inside the locker. I turned to look at him and I felt my eyes widen a bit at how well he looked in the black shirt I gave him. Simple, but quite hot. A hot nerd doesn't sound bad.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked since I kept staring. I smirked and shook my head, grabbing the clothes in his hands and throwing them into the locker as well. Walking over to the yoga mats, I told him to follow me and turned on a speaker beside them. I plugged the aux cord to my phone and selected the first song of Fall Out Boy that I found.

I turned to him. "Time to—" I trailed off as I realized something. "Oh, you don't have glasses today. Couldn't you get new ones?"

His shoulders tensed up a little and a faint blush appeared on his cheeks. I raised my eyebrows at this, wondering what got him so flustered. With a shy scratch to the tip of his nose, he said, "I may have convinced my mom on getting me contact lenses..."

At first, I was confused. It didn't take me much to remember and soon enough, I had a smirk adorning my face.

"Don't tell me that the nerdy Chase actually listened to the troublemaker," I asked in amusement, not helping with his blushing case. I chuckled and shook my head slightly. "Alright, time's running. Let's warm up first."

We positioned ourselves on different yoga mats and started stretching our limbs. After about five minutes and two more Fall out Boy songs, we finished. After that, I took us over to the bathrooms, immediately earning a curious look from Chase. I walked inside, making my way to the far side of the showers where there was another door. I unlocked it and stepped through the threshold, smiling at what was in front of us.

"Since when did gyms have a running track at the back? First was a training room with a boxing ring, and now this?" Chase asked in bewilderment, making me laugh.

"All I can say is that Wesley is a very special man," I said. Which was entirely true. "Enough chit-chat. It's time to test your resistance."

"My resistance? What for?" he asked with a tilt of his head. "As far as I know, running isn't involved with self-defense."

"So what if it doesn't? You've got to open up those lungs one way or another. Plus, it might come in handy if you decide to run away, after all." I chuckled. "Now go. I will be taking time here."

He gave me a skeptical look but decided to stop questioning me as he made his way to the running track. I waited patiently as he positioned himself and gave me a small, unsure nod. I gave him a small smirk and crossed my arms over my chest as I watched him.

"Ready. Set. Go!"

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[Edited: August 19th, 2020 by michh_44]

Oof, the self-defense lessons finally start! Is anyone excited? Huh? No one? Well, that's sad. Let's just hope that everything goes alright with Chase! As always, thank you very much for taking some of your time to read my book. Feel free to comment your thoughts on it. Lots of love x