06 | fast n very furious

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

By the time my eyes clear and the pain in my head and chest have dulled, I'm far from the stuck-up suburbs that I yearned to escape. When I finally stop and take in my surroundings, nothing looks familiar. For the first time in hours, I feel a calmness roll over me. A relief from being far away from the wide streets and wraparound porches that only remind me of the suffocating lives my parents led.

I have no time to admire the unfamiliarity of the bright downtown lights and tall buildings before the deafening roar of a car's exhaust breaks through the night's silence. As the car approaches, growing louder and louder, I realize it's not one car coming toward me - but several roaring down the narrow downtown streets.

I step backward into the shadows of the parking garage next to me, pulling my Adidas hood up and watching the intimidating parade of cars approach. I find myself holding my breath, waiting for them to pass, but they never do. One by one, they swing wildly into the tight parking garage and speed up the ramp.

Just my luck.

I'm preparing to cross the street and get as far away from whatever is happening in the parking garage when the last few cars roll past. The last one catches my eye: a blacked-out Audi with chrome rims. Grayson's car, undoubtedly.

In this situation, I know the stupid decision and the smart decision. I think back to the cold, unfeeling way Grayson treated me earlier, his short fuse that I always seem to set off. I know all this but I can't seem to stop the stupid, optimistic part of me from moving my feet in the direction of the parking garage entrance.

I run through the eerily dark first floor and take the stairs up in the upward direction of the noise. When I reach the third floor, I take an involuntary step back, mesmerized by the sight of thirty sports cars parked randomly throughout the floor. People are leaned up against hoods and weaving between cars together, talking and laughing.

It feels like a dangerous, weirdly timed tailgate party for...what? I stay on the stairwell platform and continue observing them, not admitting to myself that I'm scanning the crowd for Grayson's messy brown hair.

After a few minutes of absolutely no sign of Grayson or anything important happening, I'm about to head back down the stairwell and call this a bust. That's when I see a very attractive girl being helped onto the top of a very expensive-looking car. She situates herself and a guy hands her a megaphone.

"Okay everyone! Who's ready to get this shit on the road? Start in 10 minutes and, by now, you better know where! Let's see who takes home the big bucks to their mommy tonight. See you fuckers there!" She yells into the megaphone, earning whoops and cheers from everyone. She gets down and into the car she was standing on.

It takes no time at all before everyone is sliding into their vehicles, blasting all different types of hype music, and peeling out of the garage just as fast as they came. Suddenly, Grayson's car speeds past out of nowhere, his face blurred behind the tinted windows. I step out of the shadows, suddenly afraid that I'll miss whatever is going on.

I'm about to start back down the stairwell, emotionally deflated, when one of the last cars stops abruptly in front of me. The back window rolls down and a young redhead sticks her head out.

"You coming or what, Adidas? You ain't gonna see the action from this pathetic hiding spot." She tucks her voluminous hair behind gauged ears. "Hop in, baby."

Again, I know the stupid decision and the smart decision. I loosen up and choose, opening the door and sliding in. Redhead cheers and whoops, leaning over me to close the door as the car speeds after the others.

"You choose the right creepy car, young lady. We're gonna get rockin' spots cause Snake here..." she gestures to the goateed driver driver. "...knows a shortcut to the finish line."

The man who I'm guessing is Snake speaks up. "Yeah, we'll be there in no time. So buckle up, sweetheart. And take off that sweatshirt of yours. Makes it hard to see the good stuff."

I'm about to say something back to him when redhead places her hand on my shoulder. "Snake is a fucking creep but he's right this one time. I'm not gonna ask where you came from or why you were stalking around in the shadows but I will ask you this: do you really want to show up to a street race looking like that?"

I bite back a harsh reply and turn to her, saying nothing. She's wearing cutoff shorts and a Daytona Beach t-shirt knotted in the front, showing off her belly-button piercing. She looks good.

She sits back in her seat, inspecting her manicured hands. "Suit yourself. But there are gonna be some fine men there. Like that young one, what's his name. Grayson? Ooh, baby."

I immediately sit upright at the mention of his name, which she notices. "Grayson got your attention? Well, I'm telling you, you're not gonna get his attention in that hoodie."

My face must convey my still-questioning look because she elaborates. "Don't think of it as dressing for him. Think of it as dressing for yourself. You want him and this outfit does nothing to help your case. It would be doing yourself a favor, really."

Snake makes eye contact with me in the rearview mirror and nods his head in agreement. I suppress a shudder at the gesture and reluctantly nod my head to her. She claps her hands and starts pulling off my hoodie. Snake's eyes are most definitely not on the road.

I help her get my hoodie over my fat head and smooth down my hair. She looks me up and down and I catch Snake doing the same. I try to imagine what I look like: light blue Calvin Klein sports bra, matching leggings, and white Nike Air Max 200 sneakers. I doubt I look as good as her.

She seems to think differently. "You look fucking hot. See, never would've guessed you had all this under that huge hoodie you had on."

"I guessed it," Snake says lowly. We collectively ignore him.

"Don't you feel better? Ready to see your man tear up these roads?" She hypes me up. And the thing is - I do feel a lot better. I'm still mentally picturing how I look, but now I imagine Grayson getting out of his car and seeing me like this. He's only ever seen me in my loose coaching shirt and leggings, and a sports bra replacing a shirt changes the whole look.

Will he be surprised? Unbothered? I try not to think of it and just let my hair out of its bun, teasing and ruffling my slightly sweaty hair with my fingers as the car comes to a stop off a highway exit. We seem to be in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by a few other sports cars.

I follow the two of them out of the car and we join a growing group of fellow onlookers. I talk with redhair for a while (I find out her name is Jenna) and find myself getting more and more comfortable talking and laughing with the other people. Although, I can't help but notice the awkward way the guys in the group are staring at me.

They fill me in on street racing and, even though none of them explicitly say so, I infer that what I'm participating in is, in fact, illegal. The racers start a few miles back on the highway, so we won't see them until the last few seconds of the race.

"Hey, I just got an update. They just started and it ain't lookin' too good for your friend, sweetheart. They'll be here in a few minutes," Snake says, looking down at his phone.

The crowd has grown immensely in the past ten minutes and cars are blasting music like they had in the parking garage. The atmosphere is growing to be really full and enjoyable, and I almost forget everything happening back home. Jenna places an unopened beer in my hand and I don't hesitate to open it.

Once again, I hear the cars before I see them. There's two of them in front and I feel a swell of pride recognizing Grayson's Audi as one of them. He's behind, but he has a long stretch to catch up, as least from what I can tell.

The yells grow and everyone is either screaming Grayson's name or "Baker", who I assume is the driver of the car currently beating Grayson's.

Suddenly, the roar of an engine gets impossibly louder and the noise grows as we watch Grayson's car pull forward in the last fraction of a second. The Audi crosses the makeshift finish line first and everyone goes crazy, shouting and drowning out the noise of all the cars and music.

Everyone runs toward Grayson's car, and get even louder as his door swings open. I don't realize I'm tensed up until he steps out and I finally see him. Somehow, the sight of him relaxes me.

He looks hot. Ignoring the numerous people badgering and praising him, he exits his car smoothly and runs his fingers through his hair. Slick with sweat, his hair falls messily over his forehead, making him look breathtakingly handsome. Confident and basking in the huge win he just pulled out.

His muscles flex attractively he stretches his large form and it's then that I notice the swarms of attractive girls gathering around him, reaching out to touch the winner. I tell myself that I don't care, but still scan his face for any sign of attraction toward these girls that aren't me.

I'm not surprised when his face betrays nothing but pride. A smug grin spreads across his face and his eyes are glowing in a way I've never seen before. His tanned, sweaty face looks radiant under the glow of the moon and everyone seems to notice. It's like the whole crowd is magnetized toward this man - their star - and he doesn't even seem to care.

Something in me stirs watching this breathtaking scene unfold in front of me, a feeling that I remember from long ago in a crowded hallway.

His mind seems to be elsewhere, caught up in his own world, swirling with the same passion and focus that drew me to him a year ago. He looks hotter than I've ever seen him look before and I can't deny these feelings any longer.

Just as I'm getting ready to walk toward him, his eyes cut to where I'm leaned against a car. His eyes trail down my body in a way they've never done before, drinking me in.

He meets my gaze again and my heart swells with the possibilities of what could come next. But his eyes cloud and that familiar sneer graces his features. I knew this was a mistake.

The few long minutes of carefree, confident Grayson are gone and my awe is evaporating quickly.

Because the old, infuriated Grayson is back and he's walking straight toward me.


You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net