It was the fifth day of their vacation, the group had less then forty-eight hours before they got back on a flight to Las Vegas. Their trip to this place had been nothing less than fun so far, take aside that they had been failing woefully on their main reason for coming here.
“Alright guys, are you ready?” Oliver asked as they all mounted their bikes. They had rented bikes and were about to ride down the Kappa’s Bike path.
“Um… are you sure we should do this? I mean, wouldn’t it be better if we chose to ride SUVs,” Rosie suggested.
“No Rosie, these small bikes are more fun and faster than an SUV, moreover the path is a bit narrow so I think this is better,” Oliver replied. He already had his helmet on, set to take off.
Lena was holding on tight to him, she was riding with him as she was too young to ride a bike, that is if she even knew how to, which she doesn’t. They had asked her to stay behind but she was adamant and hell bent on going with them on the ride.
“Yeah, actually… I do support Oliver, SUVs are for kids, I love risky!” Sammy said in support. He didn’t want Rosie racing with them as he was scared that she would get hurt so he thought he could scare her by choosing that they ride with the small bikes.
“Of course, you would always support your best friend, Sammy… I don’t find that surprising because I am used to it,” Rosie retorted and mounted her own bike. She had thrown away the smile on her face as fear and excitement battled to take control of her mind.
“What? I was just stating the obvious truth, we all know these bikes are cooler as they come, SUVs don’t stand a chance against them, so if you think it’s too risky, then maybe you shouldn’t race with us sweetheart.” He replied.
“Don’t sweetheart me, now I get it, you don’t want me to ride along with you guys, right? You were against the idea of me competing with you guys from day one, isn’t that right?” Rosie fired.
“What? Why would I do that?” Sammy queried.
Rosie sighed and rolled her eyes at him. “Maybe, because you are scared that I would beat you boys in the race? I get it, you are trembling in your boots because you are scared of getting embarrassed after you lose to me,” Rosie retorted.
“Wow! Now this is getting more interesting, I think Rosie is right, Sammy has always been scared of losing, even in high school those days, especially to the ladies, so why don’t we show them what we have got,” Susan said to Rosie and she smiled.
“That is exactly what I am talking about, let’s put these boys in their place babes!!” Susan uttered loudly. She certainly loved this whole idea of racing.
“Enough chit chat already guys, let’s hit the road and see who the best rider is, I vouch for my Daddy, he can do all things,” Lena yelled from where she was seated and the others laughed.
Oliver turned behind to Aria who was standing not far away from them. She was brooding as she couldn’t join them. Aria didn’t know how to ride a bike, so she was going to miss out on this adventure. She hated the fact that she was not coming along but what she hated more was that Susan was going with them. This Susan girl might be cheerful, friendly and full of life but she didn’t trust her, not around Oliver and Lena.
“You can find something else to keep yourself busy Miss McQueen, maybe make some new friends or something, we would be back in no time.” Oliver said to her.
She was surprised that he could speak to her like any other regular person; his voice was blunt with no emotions in them. Did it mean that he didn’t have any love left for her in him again? How could he get over her so easily?
“I didn’t ask for your advice or suggestions, Mr. Gomez, I would be fine and I don’t need anyone to tell me what to do,” she replied coldly.
“Alright then, have fun,” he answered plainly and turned back to face his front. Lena held on to him tight as he was ready to take off.
“See you around, Aria,” Susan said to her with a smile, she just nodded and forced a smile of her own in reciprocation.
“So just to be clear, are there any rules?” Rosie asked curiously.
“Well yes, there is only one rule and it is ‘no rules!!'” Oliver replied loudly. With that, he turned on the bike and sped off, while the others followed suit.
Aria stood there and sighed as she watched them disappear, she didn’t believe this was happening. Maybe she should never have come here.
They racers sped through the dry pathway. Kappa bike path is approximately 4. 5 miles long, although there is another section of bike path that leads from Lydgate Park to Waialua Beach Park that is about 2. 5 miles long.
Oliver was leading the way, Susan was following, and she seemed to be a great rider. Sammy was third and Rosie was behind everyone. Maybe she wasn’t as badass at bike racing as she claimed to be.
Everything was going well, they were all enjoying the ride until Susan suddenly bumped on a rock that was in the middle of the pathway. Oliver had been quick to dodge it but Susan wasn’t so lucky.
Her bike stumbled and turned over and she fell off track. She fell out of the pathway to the side and stopped rolling after a few summersaults. Oliver was quick to match the brakes when he noticed what happened, the others did the same as well.
They all alighted and rushed towards her. Susan was lying on the floor, groaning in pain, she had been injured, but there were just scratches all over her legs and a little dislocation.
“Susan, are you alright?” Oliver asked immediately he got to her.
She groaned and tried to sit up but she couldn’t, so Oliver helped her up. “I don’t think so, I have bruises and I think I have a dislocation,” she replied immediately.
Oliver felt her arm and realized that it was true, her shoulder bone was a little out of place. “Alright Susan, this is going to hurt,” he muttered and held her arm.
“What?” she asked curiously, but before she could get an answer, Oliver straightened her arm and she screamed so loudly.
“It is done,” he said and smiled, she crumpled her face at him and he chuckled. “You would be fine, let’s get you back to the start line, and I won that race by the way,” he added and she smiled.
“I will beat you some other day Stark, I promise,” she said softly, while looking into his eyes. Oliver helped her get up immediately, and then he turned to face the others.
To be continued!!