It was raining that day. But it was still almost eighty degrees out. I was sitting inside the Coldstone. I had just finished off my butter pecan ice cream. And of course, my best friend Julia walks in with her new beau. It wasn’t uncommon. She had a new boyfriend every week. She was so beautiful that they just fell all over her. The guy she was with now looked different than the other guys I had seen her with before. He looked older, too. Maybe he was in his early twenties; twenty one or twenty two. His shaggy dark hair fell down over his eyes and he shook his head to clear his vision. He rolled his broad shoulders and Julia took his hand. He was handsome I could say…but he still looked like every other guy did on Julia’s arm; small and inferior, a slave to her beauty. She seemed to notice me as she flipped her un-naturally blonde hair over her shoulder. Her hazel gaze met mine and she smiled, showing off her two perfect dimples and white teeth.


“Hi,” she said as she came over to me. “Hey, guess what.” She said. And then before I could respond, she said, “This is my new boyfriend!”


“I can see that.” I said. “Hi,” I said to him.


“Talon, this is my best friend, Jocelyn. J, this is Talon.” She sat down across from me. “Well, aren’t you gonna sit down or just stand there like a statue?” she said to him. He pulled a chair from another table and joined us.


“So…” I said. It was usually not much too say with Julia. She was happy getting attention. She liked to do all the talking.


“So…what’s up?” she asked.


I shook my head. “Not much. I was just…having some ice-cream. Yeah.”


“Oh. Okay.” Then of course, she began telling her life story as always. I tuned out as I glanced out the window. And that was the first time I saw him.


I didn’t see his face at first. He was wearing a motorcycle helmet. Yeah, he pulled into a parking spot on a 1985 Harley. It was bright red and that’s why it caught my attention. I knew he was tall before he even got off the bike. But when he stood up, I thought that he had to be at least six-foot-three. I noticed his ripped jeans, with a few dust stains. He must have riding for a long time. Hi shirt of course, was a plain white tee shirt. And his jacket was the usual leather. Only it was bright red, too. Almost the same color as his bike. He reached up and removed his helmet. He turned and sat it on the seat of his bike. He looked down, fixing his shirt as he walked up to the door. His hair was really long, longer than most guys I had ever met. It hung down over his shoulders. As he stepped in the door, he raised his head and I finally saw his face. My heart skipped. He was gorgeous.


He walked up to the front entrance and pulled the door open, stepping inside. He seemed to glance our way before walking up to the counter. I sighed. “Hey, hey! J—Jocelyn! Are you even listening?” Julia whined. I looked back to her. “You weren’t were you?”


“Did you see him?” I asked.


“See who?”


“Him.” I nodded over her shoulder. She turned to see who I was referring to. Just as she did, he turned around and looked directly at her. His eyes were very similar to hers, only more butterscotch rather than honey or hazel. He was tan. Unnaturally tan as if he’d come from an island home. Certainly, he wasn’t from around here. People in Port Noir weren’t usually tan unless they were Italian or Black. His hair appeared cut short but when he turned back for his ice cream, I could see that it was actually long. It was just pulled back in a ponytail. Julia turned back to me.


“Are you serious? You must live under a rock. That’s the new kid, Adonis. I mean, he’s only the new hottest boy in school. Sheesh. Maybe if you got out more, you’d know.”


Talon cleared his throat. “I thought I was the hottest,” he said. I could tell he was joking. But for his sake, I hoped that Julia realized this. She never was known as the non-blunt one. She usually didn’t have a filter on her mouth. To my surprise, she laughed and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek.


“Aw, baby. Of course you are to me.” My eyebrows knitted together. She hugged him around the shoulders and whispered something in his ear. I could see it made him blush. He looked down and his hair quickly covered his face. I wondered what she said. But I didn’t really care enough to ask. I was too busy paying attention to Milton. He sat down at a table not even five feet from us and began digging into his ice cream. I couldn’t help but stare. Julia noticed. “You want me to bring him over here? I’m bringing him over here.” She said.


“Huh? Wait. No, Julia!” before I realized what she’d said, she was already at his table. She said something to him in a low voice that made him laugh. I dropped my head into my hands and cursed myself silently. I had to remember to be more discreet around her. I hear her voice, closer again. “Jocelyn.” I raised my head slowly. Sure enough there was now a plus one at our table. “J, this is Milton. Milton, this is Jocelyn.” She looked down at her watch. “Oh, look at that…I have to go. Come on, Talon.”


“Julia!” I protested. She silenced me with a look and then she left.
?


“So, Jocelyn, huh? Where are you from?” Milton asked. I squinted.


“America.”


He laughed. “I guess that’s fair. But maybe the better question is what ethnicity are you?”
I sighed and sat up straighter.


“I am black, Dominican, and Indian.” I said. He nodded his head, jutting out his lower lip as he looked down at his empty ice cream bowl. “Something wrong?” I asked.


“No. Not at all.” He looked back up. “You are three beautiful races. You are beautiful, you know.” I cocked my head to the side.


“You’re not too bad yourself. So may I ask where you are from?”


“My family just recently moved here from Greece.” He shrugged. My jaw dropped a little but I quickly recovered.


“Greece?” he nodded. “Wow. That’s amazing. I knew I heard an accent.” He smiled. After a moment, I added without a thought, “That’s why you’re so tan.” He laughed and I smiled back at him. I liked his laugh. It was deep and raspy. “So where’d you move into?”


“We found a place up in Port West. Right near the Quail High School.”


“Yeah? Is that where you’ll be going to school?”


“Um…no. I actually graduated about three years ago.” He said. “How old are you?”


“I’m sixteen. I’m guessing that you’re about twenty one.” He nodded in agreement. “Oh…?”



“Yeah. Why, is that a problem for you?” he asked.



“Why would it be a problem?” I asked in reply.



He shrugged. “I just figured you’d think I was a little too old for you.” And then it clicked in my head. I sighed.



“Oh…right. Listen, Milton, I don’t know you. You don’t know me. So I don’t really get where you were trying to take this conversation, but let’s not go there.” He cocked an eyebrow. “I don’t think it’d be a good idea.”



“Jocelyn, what are you talking about?” he frowned.



“The two of us dating.” I said with an expression that said “obviously”.



He grinned. “I didn’t ask you out on a date. I just want to be your friend, J.” I squinted and then I looked down embarrassed. Of course he wasn’t talking about dating me. He didn’t know me. Even if he did, why would he want to date me? “I mean, you’re not bad for it but…you know. You’re jail bait.” I looked up slowly and raised an eyebrow. “It means you’re young.”



“I’m not that young,” I protested. He laughed. “I’m not.” He shrugged. I glared over his shoulder and I started. How had it gotten so dark outside so soon?



“Something wrong?” he asked as he saw my expression.



I stood up and slung the strap of my bag over my shoulder. I’d made it a habit to come here after school every day. It was heavy. “It’s late. I have to go.” He looked at his watch.



“It’s only seven.” He stood up, in front of me. “Do you have to go?”



“I told my parents I’d be home at six.” I explained. “So yes…I think I have to go now.” I stepped around him and he caught my arm. Where his hand touched my skin, blood rushed. It felt like my arm was burning from his electric touch. I frowned.



“Don’t go,” he said. “You’re already late.” All I could do was stare at him. I couldn’t focus with him holding my arm so tight. I opened my mouth to reply but he sighed loudly, cutting me off. “Okay, okay. But at least let me take you home.”



“On your motorcycle?” I asked.



“Oh so you noticed me before I even came in?” he smirked. I shook my head. But I had noticed him. Remembered how my heart skipped a beat just when he pulled up on that shiny red motorcycle. It looked sleek and fast even perfectly still. I had always wanted a motorcycle but my parents never would let me have one. I couldn’t lie; I wanted to ride his motorcycle. But if I so much as thought about it, my mom would know. And she would kill me. Besides that my car was sitting out in the parking lot.



“I’m sorry. I really can’t.” I tried to pull my arm free. But he just slid his hand down to wrap around mine. I stared at it. “Listen, I had a fun time…shockingly. But I don’t know you and I’d really appreciate it if you stopped grabbing me.” He instantly released my hand.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. It’s a habit I have.”

“What, touching strangers?” I asked. He shrugged. I sighed for the third time and shook my head. “Walk me to my car, stranger.”

I felt bad. I probably came off kind of rude. I did apologize but he said it was okay. In the end, we even exchanged numbers. And I was actually looking forward to his call.