Shade (The Last Riders 6)

Staring at the clock for the next five minutes, not hearing a word the teacher was saying, she finally heard the door open to see a dark brunette appear and try to quietly take her seat in the hopes of going unnoticed.

Sitting down beside Lake, the girl whispered, “Do you think he noticed?”

“You have come in late every day, Adalyn,” the teacher spoke, switching topics midsentence to address the tardiness.

“Yep,” Lake answered, mumbling silently under her breath.

Adalyn let out a big breath to start her story. “I apologize, Mr. Wade. See, I’ve been having a terrible week because God decided to punish all women since Eve ate an apple. Now, my Aunt Flow is visiting—”

“Okay, I get it.” Mr. Wade held his hands up in defeat.

Lake tried desperately not to laugh. And that is why she’s my best friend.

She and Adalyn had been friends since diapers. With their fathers sharing the same line of work, Lake had found herself being babysat by Adalyn’s mother when her parents wanted to go out. Well, before they got separated.

When Lake’s parents first became separated many years before, she had found herself spending one week with her father and the next with her mother. Well, until her mother got a boyfriend and then married only months later. After that, Lake would spend the weekdays with her father and weekends with her mother.

Lake rubbed her temples, trying not to think about her coming weekend. Don’t think about it, or you’ll ruin your day.

She was free until the last school bell rang, and then she could mope about it.

Tinng.

“Wow, when are they going to fix that pathetic-sounding bell?” Adalyn said as she stood and stretched from her desk.

Lake couldn’t believe class was already over. “Adalyn, you do know we go to public school, right?”

Adalyn put her hand on her hip. “So? My parents pay their taxes.”

“Wait, does tax money even go to public schools?” Lake questioned.

“Hell if I know. The government most likely keeps it.”

Lake looked around at the dirty classroom. “Yeah, you’re right.” She finally stood, and the two walked out of the room and into the equally dirty halls.

Stopping at their lockers, Lake put in her combination and opened it before starting to empty her bag, only to refill it again with other things.

“Oh, look! The devil herself is coming our way, and I have to say her face looks unhappier than usual.” Adalyn slammed her locker shut then leaned back on it, making sure to give her bitchiest face.

Lake followed suit and attempted to put on her bitchiest face to match. Even though it’s most likely a fail. “Probably because I flipped her off this morning when she tried to run me over.”

Adalyn burst out laughing.

“What the fuck are you laughing at, bitch?” Ashley said as she flipped her hair off her shoulder.

Adalyn could barely speak through her snickering. “I was just trying to picture your ugly face when Lake flipped you off.” When Ashley’s expression turned into a grimace, she continued, “Oh, wait, there it is!”

Don’t laugh, don’t laugh. Lake laughed.

“You’re just fucking asking for it, aren’t you, sister? I didn’t want to spoil the fun, but Mommy is going out with friends tonight.”

Somehow, Lake had gotten the unluckiest hand out of life by her mom marrying the devil’s father, making them stepsisters.

With her mother gone for the night, it meant … Shit no, no, no, no, no.

Looking at Ashley’s sadistic face, Lake had to think fast. “Sorry, but Adalyn and I already made plans.”

Ashley tried not to choke on her laughter. “Yeah, like you bitches go anywhere.”

Lake had dealt with enough for the day. She was going to show Ashley. “Well, I hope you have fun tonight at home while Adalyn and I are at Poison.”

When Ashley’s mouth dropped along with her friends’, Lake smiled wide. For once in her life, she had made Ashley speechless.

Now, time to leave!

Lake wasn’t stupid; she knew when to run the hell away. Especially from evil. She grabbed Adalyn’s arm and pushed her right past Ashley’s shocked face.

“Uhh … Lake, when did we decide to go there?” Adalyn’s face was just as shocked.

Lake instantly started to regret what she had said. “I couldn’t help it. It was word vomit!” She started to silently freak out a bit as realization hit her. “We have to go. You know she stalks Facebook and will expect it posted on our walls!”

Every girl in school wanted to go to Poison, which was an outrageously expensive teen lounge, just so they could post pics on their Facebook page. However, most girls weren’t allowed near the horny place and even if they were, they couldn’t find a date to go with. The boys in public school either couldn’t afford it or didn’t want to waste their money on a girl unless he was definitely getting laid by the end of the night.

“Listen, you know I’m all for shoving Poison in her face, but how the hell are we going to afford to get in there? You know my parents just bought me a new phone and clothes for the start of the semester, so they are not going to give me another advance on my allowance.” She was starting to freak out as much as Lake.

There is one way to get in…

Lake stopped walking and grabbed her friend’s shoulders. “Adalyn, how much do you love me.”

Chapter Two

You’ve Got This All Wrong, Motherfucker

It took a moment for Lake’s eyes to adjust to the neon lighting of the lounge. As soon as they did, she understood why she had thought she could smell sex in the air. There were horny teens bumping and grinding all over the dance floor.

She hadn’t even noticed the section where you could have dinner, either. She and Adalyn’s eyes could only see one thing. And I wouldn’t call it dancing.

Lake felt her arm being grabbed by her date. “Let’s dance.”

“Wait, I need to use the restroom. Sorry, be right back, Michael.” Lake jerked on Adalyn’s arm and darted off as fast as she could.

Lake had known exactly how to get inside Poison. Two boys from school had been begging them to go out all year so that day, they finally agreed—on one condition, of course.

Michael and Tim didn’t care how much money they would have to spend, because they were the first boys ever to take Lake and Adalyn out on a date, which would give them bragging rights. And that’s all guys care about, anyway.

So, the question at hand was why hadn’t they ever gone out with a guy yet? Well, it was complicated.

They were finally able to talk once they were in the bathroom, where they could still hear the bass of the music through the walls.

“Did you see Michael’s face when you said you had to go to the bathroom?” Adalyn giggled.

Lake mimicked her friend. “Yeah, he didn’t look very happy.”

“Let’s hope our plan works, and they won’t find us.”

They had come up with the plan during school: the old ‘pretend you have to go to the bathroom, wait ten minutes, and then act like you got lost’ scheme. And pray they find other girls to dance with.

Lake walked over to the mirror to see her transformation. Granted, it wasn’t much of a change; the only thing different was a bit more makeup and a dress. They had gotten their outfits at Adalyn’s favorite store with a gift card she had gotten for Christmas. Lake had insisted she had a dress to wear, but when her friend saw the black dress on the rack, she had urged Lake to try it on. Needless to say, Adalyn had made her get it.

The dress barely covered her ass from being so short, while the top part was looser and less revealing. Lake was a bit taller than other girls, having longer legs, but what she had gained in height, she lacked in curves. No matter what Lake ate, she never knew where it went when looking at her thin body. She believed this was as sexy as she would ever get, and she didn’t think of herself that way in the least.

Lake thought of

herself as average, a plain Jane. She had straight-as-paper, light brown hair and hazel eyes. When she put on makeup, she thought she still looked like a child. Even when she got side-swept bangs, it didn’t help make her look older.

Done criticizing herself, she looked over at Adalyn’s perfect reflection. “Do you think it’s been ten minutes yet?”

Adalyn grabbed Lake’s hand, ready to leave the safe haven. “Close enough. I’m ready to dance!”

The music got much louder as they exited the bathroom. They made sure to crouch down a little as they hurried to the dance floor where they managed to push their way through the sweaty couples until they reached the middle. Satisfied they weren’t going to be found anytime soon, they pulled out their phones, snapping a couple pictures of themselves.

“I think that’s good enough!” Lake yelled when she got a good picture of herself with a couple sucking each other’s faces off in the background.

Putting up her phone, Lake decided she was going to have fun for once in her life. Hell, I’m already here; might as well make the most of it.

She couldn’t be happier as she and Adalyn started dancing. The two friends had held many dance parties together when Lake spent the night with Adalyn, and they were finally at a real dance party.

* * *

Who on God’s Earth owns that sweet ass?

Vincent couldn’t move his body as he stared at the perfection before him. He was watching a girl with the longest, sexiest legs dance in a black dress which should have been illegal to wear. Especially with a tight little ass like that.

“Who is that? I need to fucking meet her.” Vincent was going to seriously need to thank his friends Nero and Amo for setting this whole thing up. He might have come to Poison with another girl and planned to get Nero’s fake date, too, but that didn’t matter anymore. He was sure the girl shaking her ass to the music would be way better than the threesome he could have had.

I’ve had threesomes before, but her … I want her.

He knew he had competition by the crowd of guys surrounding her and her friend, but then he watched her push them away. I’d like to see her push me away.

Vincent was primed and ready, thinking about all the fun and glorious rough sex they were going…

“Wait, I think I know them.” The flash of the neon light had illuminated their faces for mere seconds. In that moment, he was definitely sure he knew the hot girl’s friend in the purple dress.