A Wild Ride (Levi tag any)

[Levi Rubenstein]

Denny Gold waved a chubby arm at his friend as Levi left the comic book store. “Celebratory comics,” as Denny had put it. As if the best way to celebrate life was to find a new diversion from it. Levi felt a tinge of shame as he slid three comics into his backpack and sat on his moped. No wonder he’s never unclasped a bra.

Levi had done his best all afternoon to keep himself distracted. He didn’t want to think about who he might not see when he returned to school. Admittedly he wouldn’t feel so bad if certain people didn’t show up for a day or two but he certainly didn’t want anyone to die. Luckily, none of his close friends were hurt, but there were still a lot of people he hadn’t heard about.

Like Sandy. Try as he might, Levi couldn’t find her in the mass that was two schools of students gathered into one auditorium. Even after the students were allowed to leave, Levi searched all over for his red haired neighbor but it was all for naught. Levi had been left to wonder.

Hi mother and sister were out of town, but he had talked his dad into hanging out later in the evening. Maybe Levi would get to stop by the set of some movie his dad was producing. He hoped it was something interesting. The last time he was on the lot he was forced to endure an hour of filming on some dance movie, and just like every other dance movie ever made it had a script that even Bruce Campbell would call terrible.

Lost in thought, Levi didn’t notice the person crossing the street right in his path. Only a shout woke him from his thoughts, with barely enough time to swerve out of the way. The motorized bike wobbled, but Levi barely managed to keep it up as he struck the curb with a very loud “thunk!” He slowed to a stop and pulled off his helmet, anger and frustration rising in him.

As usual, however, when Levi turned to face the person who in his mind was obviously in the wrong, what h really wanted to say wasn’t what came out of his mouth. What did manage to squeak out was much more meek and apologetic.

“I’m super sorry, I didn’t see you there."

[Sandy Meyers]

Sandy was heading home, still trying to absorb the events of the day. She had her IPOD in, set low with some bubble gum pop music playing trying to cheer her up. It wasn't working.

What were these people thinking? Did they wake up and decide to go shoot people at a school? It just didn't make sense, this was one of those times she wished she could be like one of her childhood heroes like Dorothy Gale or Alice and just go to another world when the real world was just too much to take.

She felt her Snoopy backpack starting to slide from her shoulders. She started to pull the straps up when the contents spilled to the street. It was nothing major but things she really didn't want to replace at the time.

She started to gather the things up when she looked up and saw a moped coming towards her. She went to move but caused the driver to swerve and hit the curb, she ran over to see if they were hurt or not.

She bit her lip as the helmet came off, she wasn't ready to be chewed out for something that was just an accident.

When saw who it was, a small smile started on her face. "Oh Levi, I'm sorry. You all right?"

[Levi Rubenstein]

So many emotions and thoughts ran through Levi’s head he thought for a second it might explode. The first thing was relief that Sandy was okay. He was happy for that fact, and also just plain happy to see her. He tried hard not to look like it though; he wanted to play it cool. But he wasn’t cool, and a smile escaped his lips. Then he wondered if Greg or anyone else close to her got hurt. She was smiling a little, so it was likely a no. What should he say to her? His mind raced, looking for common ground besides the day’s occurrence. He didn’t want to talk about that at all, ever. He wondered if she saw him. It was brave, but probably about the stupidest thing Levi’s ever done. He was glad everything erupted into chaos almost right away and that the gang members had pretty much ignore him. That was one of the few times in life he would be thankful for being invisible. But right now, he was glad to finally be noticed.

Words wanted to tumble out of his mouth, but Levi tried to maintain strong control over saying anything stupid. However, instead of saying something stupid he barely said anything at all.

“Oh, uh… hi Sandy,” he mumbled. He realized his hands were shaking just a bit and his heart was absolutely racing. Dismissing it as adrenaline from the near crash and not his body’s latent talent for going nutso around girls, he tried to forge on. “Sorry about that,” he motioned towards his motorcycle seeming moped. “I’ve been kinda distracted today.” There were a million things he wanted to say, but he was happy with the one thing that did end up coming out. It may have been the first time he ever asked it of a girl that wasn’t related to him.

“How are you?”

[Sandy Meyers]

"Its ok, I think everyone has been distracted today with everything that happened." She twirled the end of her hair around one of her fingers. A nervous habit she had.

"Really this was my fault, I stopped in the road and made you swerve. I should have just let the things go, after all objects can be replaced people can't." She laughed nervously.

She had seen him around school and the neighborhood and even though he wasn't gorgeous as Tyler or as muscular as Nate, he had his own thing going on. He was adorable.

She saw his hands shaking, she didn't know about his feelings for her. "Oh dear your shaking like a leaf, are you feeling ok? Do you need to sit down?" She looked around, the only place open was the curb, it was better than nothing.

She wasn't sure how to answer his question of how she was doing. After seeing the violence break out at school, does one say "Oh I'm fine just a few blood splatters here and there." She just smiled gently. "I'm fine now that the day is over." She smoothed the back of her jeans before she sat down.

[Levi Rubenstein]

“Oh, uhh… yeah sure.” Levi accepted the invitation to sit down with Sandy Meyers. THE Sandy Meyers! “I guess I’m just a little shaken up from the, uh…” Levi motioned towards his bike. It was a lie, and no doubt sitting so close to Sandy would only make his nervousness more palpable. But there was no way he was going to give up this opportunity. Who knows if it would ever happen again?

Levi walked to the curb and took a seat next to Sandy. She looked very pretty despite everything they had been through today, and Levi caught himself staring a bit as she talked. He glanced down at his feet and started picking at his shoes. They were getting a bit ratty, and he probably should get new ones, but he especially liked this old pair.

Silence existed for a few moments, neither student having anything to say. Levi wished he could be as cool as those guys at school, the jocks, or the theatre kids, who always have super interesting things to say. Maybe if Sandy was into comics or World of Warcraft, but Levi doubted that. But he had to say something.

“So how do you like being back at Gould?” That was not a very good question, seeing as how they’d been there one day and a school shooting kind of ruined it. “I mean, besides the, uh… you know.” It got him thinking about the day again, and though he didn’t necessarily want to rehash the day again, he was curious about Sandy’s version. He was also curious if she had seen his odd moment of bravery. “Where were you all day, anyway? I hope somewhere safe.”

[Sandy Meyers]

"That's understandable. Its not like you expect to see someone standing in the road when you drive along." She pushed some of her hair over her ear. "And if there is someone they usually have a chainsaw and some god awful Halloween mask on." She laughed.

She watched as he picked at his sneakers. They were, as her aunt would say, "well loved." She had a pair of shoes in the same condition.

"Just wish we could have been there under different circumstances." The idea of rats running the halls of Silver made her shiver. "I'm not one for conspiracies but it seemed like all this happened for a reason, you know what I mean?" She felt like she was babbling on about the day when she wanted to forget about it.

"Oh I was at the auditorium auditioning for 'Grease'. I figured if Greg can do it, then I can too! Now who knows if we'll get to do the show at all." She sighed sadly, her first audition and it looked like the show was going to be a bust.

She sniffed. "Sorry, I guess I'm just sort of worn out from the day." Her eyes misted over. "I get emotional when I'm tired."

[Levi Rubenstein]

A horror movie reference? Levi was surprised by Sandy’s comment, but it was cool. He made a mental note that maybe she liked horror movies. “Yeah, I think I would have been in trouble if it had been! My bike’s not equipped to protect me from homicidal maniacs!” Levi imagined trying to evade Leatherface on his moped, and it didn’t end well for him. He laughed a bit along with Sandy, and personally thought how well their laughs sounded together.

“Yeah,” remarked Levi, putting the pieces together in his head. “It is strange that it happened on the day the two schools were put together, and right after a bunch of rats just seemed to appear in Silver.” Levi’s forehead scrunched up as he thought more about the strange coincidence. Conspiracies flew through his mind. “Maybe someone planned all this! Someone should investigate.”

He didn’t know who could, though, or even if anyone else had thought of this. Sandy was smarter than Levi had thought, another thing he found absolutely incredible about her. Levi was scared of making direct eye contact with her, so he kept taking glances out of the corner of his eye, and every time he did she was just as pretty as before.

He was surprise when Sandy said she had auditioned for Grease, though he probably should have guessed that she would get into acting eventually, with her brother and all. But what if she got the lead and had to kiss some guy? While Levi wished the best for her, there was a part of him that hoped she didn’t get a part like that. Unless…

Levi wasn’t a big liar, but sometimes a small little lie would hurt, would it? “I was, uh, thinking of auditioning too. That would be kinda neat if we were in the play together, huh? And I bet they still do it. I doubt they’d cancel the whole thing just cause of, well, today.” The wheels in Levi’s head were turning, and he pictured himself up on stage, singing and dancing, Sandy Meyers in his arms. It was a masterful plan. Hopefully he could still audition when school resumed.

Sandy seemed to get a little down. Levi was disappointed she was tired. He didn’t want to leave her side, but he also didn’t want to keep her if he needed to get home. Maybe she’d want to ride on his moped? It’s not like her house would be out of the way, so it would seem like an innocent offer. He’d be like Ghost Rider, having a girl on the back of his bike as he cruised the streets of L.A.!

“If you’re tired, I could give you a ride home. If you want. If not, that’s cool. But if you want.” Levi blushed a bit. It was the closest to asking out a girl he had ever come. He babbled a little, but at least he had the sense to stop. He glanced over at her, just quickly, then back to the ground. Waiting for her answer felt like an eternity!