SVH06-Dangerous Love (4 page)

"Come on, man! Get out of the car!" Crunch demanded more loudly now.

Danny glanced nervously at Jessica, who looked like she wanted to disappear. This was not the kind of attention she liked, Elizabeth knew. The last thing Jessica wanted was for the entire school to see her new

boyfriend wimp out in the face of danger. Danny must have realized that too, because he finally, reluctantly, got out of the car.

Fear evident through his thin facade of bravado, Danny stepped out and faced the much taller, much more ripped Crunch McAllister. Jessica instantly slipped out the other door and scurried to Elizabeth's side, a safe distance away.

"He's going to kill him," Jessica predicted. "I can't watch."

But just like the rest of the SVH crowd, she didn't look away.

"I thought you were too cool to hang out here," Elizabeth said under her breath.

"Well, Danny wanted to come, so ..."

"He's about to regret that decision," Bruce joked from behind them.

Crunch grabbed the front of Danny's jacket and dragged him over to the SUV. Everyone gasped, but no one made a move to help. Elizabeth felt ashamed of the guys in her class and wished she could do something, but what? Go over and smack Crunch's shoulder with her book bag? He probably wouldn't even feel it.

"Look what you did!" Crunch roared, pointing his free hand at his bumper.

Danny relaxed a little bit, even though he was still in

Crunch's clutches. "It's just a tiny dent. You can barely even see it."

"You need your eyes checked, buddy, because I can see it just fine," Crunch replied. He dragged Danny around the side of the SUV. Danny tried to pull away, but to no avail. His face started to turn red with embarrassment and Elizabeth felt sick to her stomach. "Look at it," Crunch demanded. "Not a dent, not a mark, not a scratch anywhere until you came along."

Danny yanked himself backward and finally got free of Crunch's grip. He straightened his jacket and took a deep breath. "What do you want, Crunch?" he asked. "You want a few bucks to have a body shop guy bang that ding out of the bumper? You got it."

He reached for his wallet in his back pocket, but Crunch shoved him into the side of the SUV with a bang. Once again, everyone gasped.

"What I want is for losers like you to have more respect for my car," Crunch said, getting right in Danny's face.

"He's just looking for a fight," Allen said under his breath. "He just wants someone to pulverize."

"Dude, I'm ... I'm sorry," Danny said, raising his hands. "I don't know what you want me to do here. I--"

"How about you say your prayers," Crunch said through his teeth.

He drew back his fist. Danny closed his eyes. Finally, a couple of guys in the crowd sprang forward as if to tackle Crunch, but before they could, the loud roar of an engine caught everyone's attention. Even Crunch looked up as Todd's motorcycle zoomed into the parking lot. Danny opened one eye in a squint to see what had stopped his execution.

Todd pulled his bike to a halt at the end of the row of cars, and Elizabeth stopped breathing. He wasn't alone. There was a girl on the back of his bike, and she was wearing the pink helmet. Elizabeth's helmet. She had her arms locked tightly around Todd's torso. Elizabeth's heart was in her throat. Who the heck was this girl clinging to her boyfriend? Before she could even recover from her shock and figure out what to do next, Crunch let go of Danny and walked over to the still-idling bike, whistling.

"Nice ride, man," Crunch said, as if Danny were completely forgotten. "Ducati, right?"

"Yep." Todd took his helmet off and rested it on the gas tank. "How's it going, Crunch?" he asked, offering his hand, which Crunch quickly clasped. The two knew each other from football, and Todd was always defending Crunch when people trash-talked him. He had always managed to see Crunch's good side. Whatever that was.

"Not bad, Wilkins. How's she ride?" Crunch asked, salivating as he looked the bike over.

Todd held out his helmet. "Why don't you try her out and see?"

"Really?" Crunch's eyes lit up like a little kid's. "I'd kill for a bike like this."

"So go ahead. Try her out," Todd said.

"Just let me get off first," the girl on the back of the bike said with a laugh. She swung her long leg around, pulled off the pink helmet, and shook out her dark hair. It was Mandy Farmer, the girl who was supposedly working on some project with Todd. Elizabeth had never thought much about Mandy, but now that she saw her there holding her helmet, her dark hair tossed by the breeze, Mandy suddenly looked tall, lithe, beautiful, and confident. Elizabeth's temples began to throb.

Okay, you are not jealous, she thought. There is no reason to be jealous. Mandy is a nice, nonthreatening girl. Todd was just giving her a ride after school.

Which would have seemed a lot more innocent if she hadn't had her arms around him and her chest pressed into his back and--

Okay, not thinking about it!

"Thanks, man," Crunch said, straddling the seat Todd had just vacated. "I'll bring her right back."

"You'd better," Todd joked.

He and Mandy stood back as Crunch revved the engine, then took off. Instantly, the atmosphere around the Valley Diner relaxed.

"Dude. You just saved my life," Danny told Todd, grasping his hand.

Todd, having no clue what had preceded his arrival, looked perplexed. "Okay."

Crisis averted, the crowd began to make their way back into the diner, babbling about everything that had just happened. Jessica and Danny joined the throng, and Mandy handed the pink helmet to Todd as she walked by, thanking him for the ride. Elizabeth made herself smile at the girl, who had, after all, done nothing wrong.

"Okay, what did I miss?" Todd asked Elizabeth, unzipping his leather jacket.

"Oh, Crunch was just about to kick Danny's butt for dinging his car when you rode in here and broke the whole thing up," Elizabeth said with a shrug and a smile. "Guess you did your good deed for the day and you didn't even know it."

Todd grinned and slipped his arms around Elizabeth's waist. "Huh. Cool."

He leaned down to kiss Elizabeth and she sank into

him, forgetting all about Mandy. A few minutes later, they heard the roar of the Ducati's engine and Crunch flew back into the parking lot. He stopped the bike, killed the engine, and walked over to Todd and Liz.

"Dude. If you ever want to sell that baby, let me know," Crunch said, handing Todd's helmet and keys back to him. "That was freaking awesome."

"Don't hold your breath, man," Todd responded, bending over to attach both helmets to the bike. "I plan to keep this thing until it dies of old age. But if you ever want to take her out again, let me know."

"Thanks, man," Crunch said, slapping hands with Todd.

He walked over to his SUV and got right behind the wheel without even checking the dent again. Maybe Allen was right. Maybe Crunch had just been looking for anyone to fight. But apparently, riding Todd's motorcycle had gotten rid of any pent-up adrenaline he'd had in him. He pulled out of the parking lot and drove off as if nothing had happened.

Todd and Elizabeth turned and walked inside, where Mandy, Jessica, and Danny were all waiting for tables. The owner of the diner came out from behind the counter and shook Todd's hand.

"Thanks for distracting that kid. He has some temper,"

the portly man said, then whistled. "I could a had a lawsuit on my hands the first day back."

"It was nothing, really," Todd replied.

"Well, it's not to me," the owner said. "I'm gonna comp your meal. You and your lovely lady's. Whatever you want."

He put: one beefy arm around Todd and slung the other ... around Mandy's shoulders.

Elizabeth felt like she was going to throw up right there on the freshly tiled floor. Jessica shot her a stunned look and Mandy blushed beet red.

"Oh," Todd said, taken off guard. "Well ... thanks, but..."

"I'm not his lady," Mandy said with a laugh, ducking away. "She is."

Mandy pointed at Liz, who lifted a hand in a slight, embarrassed wave.

For a moment, the owner looked flummoxed, but then he laughed. "Fine, then! Free food for you and your two lovely ladies!"

Todd rolled his eyes like it was all too funny, but Elizabeth felt as if she were dying a little on the inside. Apparently, she wasn't the only one who had noticed how cozy Todd and Mandy had looked on his bike. Past the owner's shoulder, she saw Robin and Allen sitting at

their table with her huge plate of food waiting for her. Suddenly, she wasn't feeling hungry at all anymore. Not the tiniest bit.

"So, did you tell Todd off, or what?" Jessica said as she and Elizabeth emptied the dishwasher together that night. "Did you make him grovel? I hope you made him grovel."

Elizabeth dropped a pile of forks into the utensil drawer with a clatter. She had known all night that this was coming, but it still irritated her that Jessica felt the need to bring it up.

"Grovel? For what?" she asked innocently, slamming the drawer with her hip.

"Oh, please. We all saw Mandy ride up on that bike with Todd," Jessica said. "You can't tell me you weren't pissed."

Elizabeth's face warmed and she turned away from her sister to yank open the cabinet doors. "Why would I be pissed?"

"Because it's totally obvious that all Todd cares about is keeping the backseat of his bike warm!" Jessica exclaimed, frustrated.

"Give me a break, Jess," Elizabeth said calmly, even though her heart was pounding around inside her chest. "He was just giving her a ride."

"Yeah. Let's hope that's all he was giving her," Jessica said under her breath as she put a platter away.

"Jessica! Ew!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "Thanks a lot!"

"I'm just saying!" Jessica replied, wide-eyed. "Didn't you notice the way she was clinging to him when they pulled up? It didn't look so innocent to me."

"How else was she supposed to stay on the bike?" Elizabeth snapped, echoing the words she had been using all afternoon to try to make herself feel better. She shoved a plate into the cabinet and closed the door. "It was no big deal," she added. "She and Todd are working on a class project together and he gave her a lift after they were done. End of story."

Once Liz and Todd had found their own table at the diner, Todd had explained that he had met up with Winston and Mandy for a few minutes after football practice to make sure they knew what their assignments were for their project. That had been his reason for being late. Liz wished he had offered Winston a ride instead of Mandy, but she hadn't said anything. She had simply attempted to let the whole thing go.

Besides, Winston would have looked pretty ridiculous

in that pink helmet. He never would have lived that one down.

"Well, whatever. I just know that if it was my boyfriend, I wouldn't tolerate some random girl draping herself all over him like that," Jessica said with a shrug. "And in front of the entire school. So humiliating."

"Again. Thanks a lot," Elizabeth replied. "I don't know what you want me to do. I mean, I'm not going to tell Todd to get rid of the bike and I'm not going to be the jealous girlfriend who demands he never let anyone else ride on it. I've got to have a little self-respect."

"I'm not saying you should demand he never give rides to anyone else," Jessica replied, checking out her fingernails as she leaned back against the kitchen counter. "I'm just saying no strange girls allowed."

Elizabeth scoffed. "Mandy isn't a strange girl. We've known her since kindergarten."

"Yeah, well, even people you've known since kindergarten aren't above stealing your boyfriend," Jessica groused.

Elizabeth swallowed hard. "There is nothing going on between Todd and Mandy."

"Maybe not now," Jessica said, shoving away from the counter. "But I'd keep my eyes open if I were you," she added, giving Elizabeth a good slap on the shoulder.

"Can we change the subject already?" Elizabeth asked. "And PS, I don't want you jumping all over Todd about this when he comes over later. He's my boyfriend. I'll deal with it."

"Todd's coming over later?" Jessica asked, closing the dishwasher.

"Yeah. He wants to try to convince Mom and Dad to let me break the no-motorcycle rule," Elizabeth said.

"What?" Jessica blurted out, going ashen. "You're not actually thinking about getting on that thing, are you?"

"No. Of course not," Elizabeth answered automatically. "But Todd keeps talking about how safe it is. And lots of people do ride them every day without getting hurt--"

The truth was that ever since she'd seen Mandy holding on to Todd on his bike that afternoon, she had started to consider the possibility--just the possibility-- of one day riding with him. It wasn't fair that some other girl got to be that close to him, got to experience this thing with him that he loved so much--and that she didn't.

"Yeah, and a lot of people ride them and end up getting hurt! Like Rex!" Jessica shouted angrily.

"Jess, please calm down," Elizabeth hissed, worried that their parents might overhear.

"Forget it. I'm not sticking around to listen to you talk Mom and Dad into letting you on that death machine," Jessica said, grabbing her jacket off the hook near the door. "I'll be at Cara's if you wake up from your dream world."

She shoved through the back door and slammed it behind her. Elizabeth took a deep breath and let it out, collapsing forward onto the counter. She understood how Jessica felt, but she understood how Todd felt too. To him, his bike was just a means of transportation, no more dangerous than a car in the right hands. Accidents happened to people who drove cars, too, but she didn't go around worrying every time her sister or brother or parents got behind the wheel.

Elizabeth buried her head in her arms and groaned. Usually she was so utterly positive of what was right and what was wrong, but this time she was completely stumped.

CHAPTER 4

"We appreciate your coming over tonight," Ned Wakefield said, leaning forward on the opposite couch.

Elizabeth glanced up, awoken from her thoughts by what sounded like the beginnings of a goodbye. "Most guys in your situation wouldn't have bothered, I suspect."