I wiped my face on my uniform top as cars, pods, and hovercycles raced by, the whir of the wind mixed with the high-pitched hum of the machines. I watched, not really seeing cars, and tried to figure out what to do. But my mind came up with nothing. Any way I spun the scenarios, I came up with the same ending.

My life was over because of some groping asshole.

As I went over the scene again in my head, I could feel the heat of his hand against my butt. I gagged again but swallowed it down. I needed a shower. I wanted to crawl out of my skin. To be anyone else but me.

I let out a breath when the familiar silver Tykson stopped at the curb. Just the sight of my best friend made me feel like maybe I could get through this. Maybe I could figure something out.

The battery stuttered as he powered down. That wasn’t good. He was going to get stranded one day, and I hoped I was around to laugh at him when he did. But today his cycle needed to work.

“Let’s get you out of here.” His voice was muffled through the padded helmet.

“Thanks.” I stepped up to the cycle, and he handed me his passenger helmet. As soon as I had it on, all the surrounding sound was wiped out.

“What happened? How much trouble are you in?” Roan’s voice echoed through the helmet’s connected speakers. Not only could we talk to each other while riding, but we also didn’t have to worry about being overheard.

“Customer wanted to get friendly, and I broke his nose.” I didn’t want to tell Roan what’d happened. I hadn’t even processed it yet, but if he knew, he might be tempted to go back to the diner. He couldn’t do that. I was in enough trouble for both of us.

“You had to do that today? Of all days?”

I ground my teeth at his accusation. “It’s not like I was trying to get into a fight!”

“Are you okay?” His voice was a little calmer.

“No. Not even close to okay.” I wrapped my arms around Roan’s waist. “Get me away from here.”

He pressed the START button, and the battery powered up. My stomach dropped for a second as we jerked a foot off the ground and zoomed into the slow flow of late morning traffic.

The city rushed by for a few precious minutes until we hit a red light. The electronic billboards downtown had mostly burned out, but one at this intersection still shone. A soda ad, with brightly animated cartoons flickering over its screen. The accompanying jingle was more earworm than song, but I couldn’t help but watch. Which was exactly the point.